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Arron Nyamayaro
Harare Municipal Police officers are milking tuckshops at Raylton Sports Club to keep them operating even though the shops do not have licences and proper registration.
The Municipal Police collect cash from each operator and, in turn, the city cops turn a blind eye to the illegal operations.
“Tanzwa nekutorerwa mari nekanzura everyday nekuti hatina malicences,” said one of the people who work in the tuckshops.
The area is strategic because the tuckshops are adjacent to the busy Roadport bus station in Harare.
The human traffic at Roadport means that there is a considerable customer base for the tuckshop owners.
There has been concern about the activities at Raylton Sports Club for some time now.
Recently, there was a change of leadership at the club at a time when its name was being dragged into controversy, including the parcelling out of land for the building of tuckshops.
Sources told H-Metro that the tuckshops were owned by a foreign national who paid US$5000 to some key people at the club to be allowed to build the shops without City Council approval.
A Raylton Sports Club manager even appeared in court on Monday facing fraud charges.
He was accused of illegally renting out Council land.
The club belongs to the National Railways of Zimbabwe and was established as a recreation facility for railway workers.
However, it has now been transformed into a market, a place for worship, complete with church halls and traders came and set up their tuckshops.
Online Reporter