By Correspondent
Marondera Town Council has been accused of extorting motorists with ridiculous clamping fees.
Residents said the US$31 charge is too high and should be reduced.
Marondera Residents Open Forum (MAROF) Director Tapiwa Chengeta has since written to council.
“We are concerned so much about bad publicity to the town from the operations of the clamping team.
“We are worried about the negative effects of this bad publicity to the town especially its growth,” read part of the letter.
Emmanuel Danha from Marondera Urban Business Association said clamping has become a cash cow for their municipality.
“Whoever sets these ridiculously high fines is an enemy of progress.
“Why should mere fines be this high more than national fines?
“How could someone park his or her car on undesignated place fined USD $ 31.
Danha said travelling motorists now prefer to by-pass the town to avoid clamping incidents.
“The word out there is that Marondera is no stopping zone mainly because of their ununiformed ever ready parking marshals.
“Surely these unsupervised parking marshals should be stopped,” he said.
In comparison residents said kombis and other mushika-shika vehicles operate wantonly as they pay bribes.
“A lot of mushika-shikas and kombis defy traffic laws with impunity.”
They actually seem to do all that with the consent of the municipal traffic enforcement marshals.
However, efforts to get a comment from Marondera Mayor Chengetayi Murowa were fruitless.
