via Where will you hide? 10 December 2014 by Magari Mandebvu
On Tuesday 2nd December I saw a kombi hijacked by a couple of diminutive youngsters in riot police gear.
This didn’t look like another episode in the ongoing story of the cops’ principal income generating project and the war it has led them into with the country’s informal public transport system. For a start, those two juvenile “lawmen” singled out this one kombi for their attention, not bothering any of the others.
Secondly almost every one of the many kombis in sight was older, dirtier, or had more worn tyres and brakes than the one they targeted. In a street full of such vehicles, their target was not the easiest one to arraign for not being roadworthy or properly licensed. It was, in fact, one of the smarter members of Boss K’s fleet, which are, as everybody admits, on average better maintained than their competitors.
One needs to look elsewhere for the cause of this incident. My thoughts wandered towards that circus that had pitched its tents next to the Sheraton Hotel. The organisers of that event had announced they were expecting about 12,000 visitors and, however exciting and intriguing the show being provided for them, some of those would probably need transporting, at least from their lodgings to the circus site.
If I’m right, the kombi I saw was not the only one being “borrowed” for that purpose that morning. If I’m wrong, someone can probably prove it, so I only offer a possible explanation of what a lot of people saw in Mbare that morning.
What is clear is that there was no sign of legality in the actions of those two little boys with blue helmets and big baton sticks. We didn’t see them present any evidence that they were, in fact, policemen and certainly they did not display their force numbers, which would enable honest citizens to identify these individuals. But you probably need to be as old as me to remember when cops did wear their numbers.
We didn’t see any warrant to justify their actions. We’ve given up expecting to hear anything of the private exchanges between cop and driver at road blocks. We do not so often see a kombi’s passengers being unceremoniously ordered out on to the street, and when that does happen, they are usually being ejected from a vehicle less roadworthy or more overloaded than it should be.
Another thing that struck me was that these two kids showed a delight in what seemed to be just a new game for them. I’ve often seen passengers abused by the cops, but I’ve not seen many cops visibly gloating at their victims. May be I’m out of touch, but think about this:
The people kicked out of that circus on Rotten Row are not innocent victims. Not long ago they were riding high after staging the kind of coup that has now been used against them. They may be less ruthless and unscrupulous than their rivals, but they too seem to only appeal to legality when it serves them. No law, even the party constitution, is going to stop any Zanu (PF) leader who is sufficiently determined and armed.
But that does mean any victory they score is only secure until someone stronger or more ruthless comes along. Then the foot-soldiers who do the dirty work for the leaders are always the first victims – while the clever bosses will have escape routes ready.
A wise man once said to a younger one who was eager to improve the people’s life, but felt hedged in and restrained by laws; “Yes, the law is like a dense forest you can’t run in, but if you fell the forest, where will you hide when the Devil comes after you?” The Devil stalks Zimbabwe today and not even those on top now know when he’ll turn on them.
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