Zanu-PF Youth League district leader for Bulawayo Magura Charumbira has demanded that informal traders should pay the party $2 in protection fees. This will ensure that the traders are protected from municipal police who are on a campaign to clear out vendors following a directive from President Robert Mugabe.
Addressing ruling party-affiliated vendors on Tuesday, Charumbira is reported to have said:
As the chairperson of Zanu PF Bulawayo district, I would like to assure you that no one will harass you and impound your wares.
There is no office in this country which I am afraid of and I rest assure you that no one is going to harass you, but we need to pay $2 protection fees.
Zanu PF Bulawayo provincial chairperson Dennis Ndlovu slammed Charumbira’s actions saying:
I do not want to start any wars with Charumbira, but as a province, we do not have such a programme (demanding protection fees). I also do not know how the vendors operate and so forth on such issues.
More: NewsDay