Chombo to be quizzed about roadblocks tomorrow

Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo is to be quizzed tomorrow about the rationale behind the number of roadblocks on the country’s highways by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development.

Members of the public have complained about the number of police roadblocks on the country’s roads which they say are too many and are hurting tourism and slowing down business.

Commuter omnibus operators recently held a violent demonstration in Harare which saw some 105 being arrested.

Doctors also asked for a special dispensation to be allowed to pay their tickets later when rushing for emergencies as patients could die because of delays at roadblocks.

Chombo defended the police saying they had started reducing the number of roadblocks when the country was suddenly engulfed in violence by demonstrators.

“You may be aware of submissions by the ministries of Tourism and Hospitality, Industry and Commerce and other government departments regarding the same issue. In liaison with government, the ZPR has been streamlining roadblocks and indeed, they were doing that until these protests broke out,’ Chombo told the Standard.

“Faced with the current scenario, the police are now conducting security roadblocks to ensure that those who are threatening to carry out further acts of violence are detected.

“You will agree with me that social media is awash with messages of intentions to destabilise the country through violent protests and the police can only reconsider their position after being satisfied that the situation has returned to normalcy.”

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