Gang of Five and the tollgate

26 Jul, 2015 - 00:07 0 Views
Gang of Five and the tollgate The Gang of Five collects toll fees against the wishes of motorists

The Sunday Mail

The Magariro Co-operative members say they voluntarily embarked on the plan five years ago and started building an infill road linking Msasa Park and Mukandabhutsu.
The Gang of Five collects toll fees against the wishes of motorists

The Gang of Five collects toll fees against the wishes of motorists

Motorists in Msasa Park and Mukandabhutsu, two Harare suburbs separated by Mukuvisi River, do not know whether to bless or curse five men who constructed a bridge there.

Under normal circumstances, Magariro co-operative — also known as the “Gang of Five” — which constructed the bridge would have been applauded as heroes for spearheading a community development initiative.

But alas, the motoring community using the infill road linking the two suburbs where the crossing point was constructed by the five is now being levied “toll fees” for using the bridge.

The Gang of Five says the road and the bridge do not appear on the City Council road map and so municipal authorities have no say in its use and the “tolls” they charge.

Talk about free market piracy!

“As much as we would give them kudos for identifying a development initiative which the city fathers did not, the prerogative of road taxing to the motoring public rests with the Road Authority (Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara),” said a motorist who had been refused entry for not paying the “toll”.

He said the Gang of Five should not expect any entitlements to monetary reward from their good deed and what they were doing was illegal.

However, members of the group manning the “tollgate” — who appeared intoxicated — tongue-in-cheek said this was Zim-Asset at work: they had identified a value addition project and implemented it.

The Magariro Co-operative members say they voluntarily embarked on the plan five years ago and started building an infill road linking Msasa Park and Mukandabhutsu.

Kennias Chagonda, who is in his early 20s, says the “toll fee” is a “thank you gesture” to them, and varies between 50c and $1.

“Small cars must definitely pay 50c for them to use the bridge and big lorries and kombis, who are always unfriendly to infrastructure, must part with a dollar,” he asserted with all the authority that he has given himself.

Mdara Chagonda, as he prefers to be called, said the initial plan was to have children from Msasa Park who attend Msasa Primary school, which is located in Mukandabhutsu, get safe and convenient passage.

He said they had witnessed incidents of children failing to attend lessons as a result of the flooding Mukuvisi River and so their co-operative decided to act.

The Gang of Five collects toll fees against the wishes of motorists

The Gang of Five collects toll fees against the wishes of motorists

“Myself and the other four guys who constitute Magariro Co-operative then constructed this bridge using our own resources and manpower,” he said.

Another member of the co-operative, Cliff Majuru, said the City Council was not aware of the road’s existence, thus the fruits of this infrastructure was their own.

“It is not like we are tolling the people, but what we want is to have a constant flow of income which will enable us to have money in our coffers, making it possible for us to maintain the bridge in the long run,” he said,

Majuru said their road was an integral link between the sides of Harare separated by Mukuvisi River.

“If you look at the volume of traffic which passes here, you will realise that the bridge has, indeed, become a very important link,” he said.

Mdara Chagonda interrupted Majuru and instructed him to “collect tolls from those Chinese guys”, pointing to a couple driving an all-terrain vehicle.

Asked how much they collected daily, the two bluntly told this writer that it was none of his business.

“Are you losing your marbles brother? What do you have got to do with the money?” asked a seemingly puzzled Mdara Chagonda.

Harare City Council principal spokesperson Michael Chideme said it was illegal for individuals to operate private roads and all infill roads were the municipality’s responsibility.

“Individuals have no right to levy road users on all infill roads as that is the prerogative of council,” Chideme said.

The Harare City Council has a primary responsibility of repairing and maintaining all infill roads and bridges under the Urban Councils Act, which reads: “In terms of the Urban Councils’ Act (Chapter 29.15), Second Schedule Section 198, paragraph 19(1) is specific that ‘subject to any other law, to provide and maintain roads, bridges, canals, reservoirs, dams, water courses, furrows, and culverts.”

It is unlikely that the Gang of Five cares what this law says.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds