MUNICIPAL police officers who use public transport risk the wrath of vendors who are regularly harassed by the cops while operating in the city centre, Harare city fathers have said.

BY MOSES MATENGA

Council’s informal sector committee said the safety and security of municipal cops, who arrest vendors and confiscate their wares, was under threat as management seemed not concerned about their welfare.

Councillor Wilton Janjazi, who chairs the committee, noted at a meeting held on October 27 that management was not concerned about municipal police officers injured on duty.

“It was alleged that the officers had to go to general hospitals where they took long to receive attention when council had hospitals where they could be attended to timeously,” part of the minutes of the meeting read. “Further to that, the same officers were not given transport after working late shifts, which puts their lives at risk as they have to use public transport.”

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Acting town clerk Josephine Ncube said she had taken the matter up with the relevant department to ensure there were systems in place that protected municipal officers.

Vendors have been fighting running battles with council police while resisting attempts to relocate them from the city centre to designated sites such as City Sports Centre, Tsiga in Mbare, Coventry Holding Bay and others where they say business is slow.