Last week passengers in Zimbabwe’s capital woke up to another price hike. Routes that used to cost $2 were now costing $3 and routes that used to cost a dollar were not going for two. To many of us this just the latest price squeeze as prices for basically everything have been going up in recent weeks.
Like all things in Zimbabwe we thought all we could do was just make dark jokes about it. Turns out there is an association for passengers in Zimbabwe. Besides help us collectively complain it’s not clear what its mandate is. Recently, Paz president Tafadzwa Goliati complained about fare hikes:
The commuting public is being forced to use other forms of transport such as open trucks, which will be overloaded.
In many instances, school children end up sitting on each other’s laps in order to cut down on the amount of commuter omnibus fares that they will be paying.
In addition, many people are getting home as late as 10pm because of shortage of commuter omnibuses. This affects children, mothers and some people who live in areas where it’s not safe to walk during late hours. The mass transportation system introduced by the government is inadequate and most people still depend on commuter omnibuses (kombis) for daily commuting to work or school.
We recommend that the Government of Zimbabwe should prioritise and allocate fuel to commuter omnibuses who are in associations, for the convenience of the commuting public.
PaZ is an example of pressure groups. You can learn more about these here.
