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Marvelous Moyo , Gwanda Correspondent
HUNDREDS of commuters were on Tuesday stranded when taxi operators in Gwanda Town suspended operations protesting against alleged extortion and corruption by police officers manning roadblocks in the mining town.

The taxis- mainly Honda Fits- are the major mode of transport for commuters in the town.  The taxi operators blamed the police officers for crippling their businesses by demanding $5 bribes to pass through roadblocks.

The protest almost turned nasty when taxi operators turned on each other as groups blocked the few taxis that continued with business.  Calm was restored when the Officer-in-Charge of police operations in Gwanda District, Superintendent Stephen Mutema met the taxi operators and listened to their grievances at the taxi rank.

They told Supt Mutema that police officers were crippling their businesses by demanding a $5 bribe from each of them and those who did not pay were slapped with a $20 spot fine.

“It seems we are now working for the police because they take almost all the money we make. They inspect our vehicles until they find something to make us pay the bribes. We make $2 per trip and police continued bribe demands are hurting us,” said a taxi driver.

“Surprisingly, taxis owned by police officers pass through the roadblocks freely without being stopped even if they don’t have proper documents. We are not happy with this kind of treatment. We should all be treated the same.”

They said some police officers openly tell defiant drivers they would make it impossible for them to operate.

“One police officer said I was their target and my life would never be easy on the road,” said a driver.  The drivers said they wanted police to stop “milking” them as they had families to fend for.

“We are working for our children but police are making things difficult for us. We are tired of police actions and today we are saying all that must stop,” said another disgruntled driver.

Supt Mutema advised the taxi operators through their association, to put their grievances in writing so that they can be attended to.  He said a list of the alleged police owned taxis should be compiled and submitted to him, to deal with the matter.

“People in Gwanda are known to be peace loving, let us maintain that. We appreciate there is a problem that needs to be solved. We want to have smooth flow of traffic in our town,” said Supt Mutema.

He also advised the taxi drivers to stop bribing police officers, saying it was an offence.

In Bulawayo, five traffic police officers are in court facing charges of demanding bribes.  They allegedly demand a $3 daily “passage fee” from all commuter omnibus operators that use Khami road to go to the city centre.