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Chronicle Reporter
A LOCAL commuter omnibus owner has been fingered as one of those that have been leading a resistance in Bulawayo against having their vehicles affiliated with the government owned Zupco.
Commuter operators on Friday morning barricaded one of the major roads in Bulawayo- Luveve Road- attacking Zupco buses and barring them from loading commuters.
Hundreds of commuters travelling to town were left stranded and were forced to walk to town.
Under the government national lockdown measures only buses and kombis affiliated to Zupco are permitted to operate.
However, kombi owners have revealed that one of the conditions for joining the Zupco affiliated vehicles was that they should be Zanu-PF card carrying members, which some have resisted.
In the latest development, Mr Nkosilathi Mbano has been identified as one of the kombi owners behind the resistance to have their vehicles affiliated to Zupco and instead have been operating along the infamous 6th avenue bus rank.
Mr Mbano took over the family kombi business in April 2018 after the death of his father, Mr Sam ‘Special’ Moyo who was a popular transporter in the city.
“It is unfortunate that Nkosilathi Mbano has been singled out in this whole affair but the truth of the matter is that majority of the kombi owners in the city are not interested in joining the Zupco fleet because of the condition where they have to be Zanu-PF card carrying members. The few that have joined the Zupco fleet have done so out of desperation to make a little bit of money.
“Further Mr Mbano has been accused of hiring out his kombis to the opposition MDC whenever the party has a function in the city, hence why he is being targeted out of a whole fleet that have made it clear that they will not be affiliated to Zupco,” said a kombi owner who preferred anonymity.
Police sources also confirmed that Mr Mbano was wanted for questioning for the stalemate emerging in the city.
“Nkosilathi Mbano has been identified as the front runners in calling for kombis to join Zupco hence he is wanted for questioning to get to the bottom of the issue,” said the polic source.
Online Reporter