Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has made a plea to both ordinary and senior Zanu PF officials, urging them to refrain from abusing tollgates amid reports of activists refusing to pay passage fees.
Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Zanu PF chairperson, acknowledged last year receiving reports of party members across the country failing to pay toll fees.
Addressing the issue at the party’s annual conference in December, Muchinguri-Kashiri highlighted instances where Zanu PF members allegedly used party credentials to intimidate Zinara officials into exempting them from toll fees.
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Reports from officials at the 30km peg tollgate along the Masvingo-Mutare Highway have indicated that Zanu PF representatives have been reluctant to pay toll fees. Party officials are said to sometimes utilize dummy number plates bearing “Zanu PF” or “ED-Pfee” and display party scarves on dashboards, or quickly speed away without payment.
In response, Zinara has displayed a notice at the tollgate, quoting a statement from Information Ministry secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana, relaying Muchinguri-Kashiri’s warning against evading tollgates.
The notice reads: “Respecting rules and regulations of the party is important. There are those of you who arrive at tollgates with every evidence that you are Zanu PF members and say we are Zanu PF members so we should be exempted from paying. That kind of indiscipline is shameful and it does not reflect well on the President, Comrade OCZ Muchinguri K.”
Zinara spokesperson, Tendai Mugabe, stated that Zanu PF officials have generally adhered to toll payment regulations, although he was not aware of the notice.
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