Ambulance used to ferry inmates

BUSINESS at the Gweru courts has been at a standstill since Tuesday after the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services failed to transport prisoners from Wha Wha prison due to lack of fuel.

The dire situation emerged on Tuesday when prisoners on remand who were brought to court in the morning had to be ferried back to Wha Wha Prison in an ambulance. ZPS allegedly failed to provide fuel for the truck that normally transports prisoners.

Court processes have also being affected as convicted persons cannot be sent to prison while remand prisoners who were due for sentencing are still languishing in remand prison.

This has forced court officials to remand indefinitely new and old cases until the situation is rectified.

Witnesses and complainants were not spared either as most were turned away after their cases failed to kick-off.

ZPS spokesperson Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Banda acknowledged the fuel challenges affecting her organisation.

She said they were working flat out to fix the problem.

"The reason why normal transportation has been disrupted is because of the shortage of fuel. Fuel supplies from the treasury are at times erratic and even when that fuel comes its far less than the fuel required to sustain our operations," she said.

Chief Supt Banda, however, expressed confidence that the challenges would have been attended to before the end of this week.

"We are optimistic that the situation will be rectified by Friday or Monday latest so that normal operations can resume. We are working flat out to resolve the fuel shortage challenge," she said.