“GOVERNMENT WILL
NOT STAND BY AND
WATCH WHILE HARDEARNED INCOMES OF
OUR WORKERS ARE
BEING STOLEN BY
MUSHIKASHIKA AND
MAKORONYERA.
NO!
”
PRESIDENT EMMERSON
MNANGAGWA
INSIDE
Zimbabwe’s
troubled public
transport sector
#TRANSPORTCRISIS
When President Mnangagwa made a statement
reversing his earlier order to ban private transport
operators through a police operation, it was a
welcome move considering that the government
owned Zupco, which had held a monopoly on public
transport for three years, had failed to cater for the
daily needs of commuters.
This came after people had died, unfortunately.
In the last week of April, the Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP), working in conjunction with the
Zimbabwe National Roads Authority, and local
authorities, began a special operation to arrest and
impound private and unregistered vehicles that were
illegally transporting the commuting public.
Only the government operated Zupco buses were
allowed to operate in line with a law issued by
government in 2019.
The result of this was, as expected, a massive
shortage of transport that left commuters, especially
in Harare, spending hours in queues.
The few private transporters that managed to evade
the police increased their fares by as much as 400
percent, to US$2 per trip, up from the normal US50
cents.
For a week, government remained bold such that in
his address on Workers Day, President Mnangagwa
vowed his government would continue its clampdown
on private operators, known as mushikashika.
“Government will not stand by and watch while hardearned incomes of our workers are being stolen by
mushikashika and makoronyera. No!” he said in a
pre-recorded speech.
“You, as our workers, deserve an efficient and
affordable transport system so that production time
as well as your family time is not lost in transport
queues. During peak hours, workers must be
transported with the greatest ease.”
Ironically, President Mnangagwa’s message was in
stark contrast to the situation on the ground, where
the majority of the Zupco buses are in bad shape, and
the 340 buses that have been imported by
Mnangagwa are hardly adequate to meet the huge
demand for public transport.
A large number of the transport operators, who had
joined the Zupco franchise withdrew their vehicles,
citing poor management, late payment for their
service and incessant fuel shortages.
11