NORTON — A Harare taxi driver escaped death by a whisker after three men who had hired him and spent most of the day driving them to several drinking places turned out to be armed robbers.
Police in Mashonaland West said the 34-year-old driver, Munashe Kembo, was approached by three unknown men at Chikwanha Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza.
The three allegedly indicated they wanted to be driven to Maruta Shopping Centre in Hatfield for a beer binge. After a few drinks, they allegedly asked the cab driver to take them to Mbare and later to White House near Kuwadzana Extension suburb.
According to police, at around 8pm the trio later instructed Kembo, who was driving a Toyota Spacio vehicle, to take them to Norton. On approaching Manyame Bridge on their way to Norton, police said, one of the “clients” asked to relieve himself.
After a while they resumed their journey, but along the way one of the passengers produced a pistol and pointed it at Kembo ordering him to pull off the road. The armed robber reportedly got out of the car and fired one shot at one of the rear tyres, deflating it. Kembo sped off from the scene with two of the suspects inside the car.
The pair wrestled with Kembo while the car was in motion and stole $65 cash.
The driver managed to stop at a fuel station in Norton where the two robbers immediately disembarked from the car and fled into the dark.
Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara said investigations were still in progress.
