Home affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe and transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza Wednesday officially launched a joint 2020 festive season campaign under the theme “Eradicating Human Error”.
Matiza said police officers would increase patrols to combat crimes and curb road accidents.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police will be out in full force conducting patrols and roadblocks this festive season,” said Matiza.
The launch of the awareness campaign also combines the efforts of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe(TSCZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA).
“Accordingly, robust measures have been put in place to ensure that our police officers together with key stakeholders such as Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Vehicle Inspection Department and Zimbabwe National Roads Administration are highly mobile and visible on our roads, enforcing rules and regulations during the festive season,” Matiza said.
He said 24 teams across the country will be deployed and motorised while some will stage static campaigns on road safety at strategically chosen roads.
“Vehicle Inspectorate Department will, with immediate effect, be on the road 24/7 stopping and inspecting vehicles randomly selected including private cars. The VID will also thoroughly check drivers’ documents for authenticity.”
The aspect of people boarding kombis without sliding glass windows was alluded to as a suicidal attempt in retrospect to the Covid-19 pandemic and people were urged to maintain social distancing and continue to sanitise themselves on a regular basis to reduce infections.
Kazembe urged people to celebrate the festive season responsibly to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
“On the same note, as we enjoy our festive season, may we all remember that we are not yet out of the woods, but rather we are currently grappling with the second wave of Covid-19 virus. In the past few weeks, we have all witnessed an upsurge in the number of confirmed cases including loss of lives,” Kazembe added.
He also advised citizens to be security conscious and not to leave their properties unattended as criminals may take advantage of the festivities.