The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) recently announced that they had launched an operation “Restore Order” which is meant to restore order on the major roads of Harare. The operation is going to target unregistered vehicles as well s vehicles that do not have licences or have re-upped their third-party insurance payments. According to the police, such vehicles have been a menace and a lot of vehicle-related crimes involving unregistered cars.

t is difficult for law enforcement agencies to identify owners of unregistered vehicles after committing such crimes as they are not on the Central Vehicle Registry database.

Most vehicles plying the country’s roads are either not registered or the vehicle owners deliberately remove number plates to avoid identification.

The unregistered vehicles are being used to commit serious crimes and drivers of such motor vehicles cause chaos on the roads.

These unruly elements have reduced Harare from a Sunshine City status to a dirty and chaotic capital.

It is against this background that the district shall embark on an operation to clean up and restore sanity in Greater Harare, by arresting touts, mushika-shika operators, street car washers and car repairers operating at undesignated places.
Chief Superintendent M. Majojo Officer Commanding Police in Harare South District

The police have said that vehicles netted during the operation will be taken to various yards where they will be subjected to vetting and clearing process by departments such as the Vehicle Theft Squad (VTS), Central Vehicle Registry (CVR), ZINARA, ZIMRA, Harare City Council Traffic Police as well as the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID).

It seems the operation will mainly target two vehicle-related issues that have plagued Harare. One is the issue of mushikashika or illegal pirate taxis that have Harare in their grip and are constantly involved in traffic-related offences. The second one is the issue of robberies using stolen and unregistered vehicles. Robbery cases have been on the rise in recent months.