CEASAR MBEWE writes
@SunZambian
A GANG of criminals in Lusaka’s Makeni Villa Park is reported to be terrorising mini bus drivers from whom the crooks extort money on each trip made.
The bus drivers have since appealed to relevant authorities to come to their rescue as they could not go on losing money in that fashion to the criminals in broad day light.
The drivers complained that if they failed to pay the criminals, they were threatened with a ban from operating on that route.
One of the drivers Ben Musa who drives a Rosa Bus, narrated how he was almost beaten after he had refused to pay the criminals who moved in large numbers
“Ba menya ngati wakana kulipila ndalama olo kukupwanyila bus” (they will beat you if you refuse to pay them or they will stone your bus), Musa.
The drivers said that the money they are asked to pay by the gangs is adding to the already high payments they make to the council in all bus terminals per trip.
Another driver, Roby Sakala lamented that despite reporting the problem to the Bus and Taxis Association of Zambia nothing had been done to restore sanity.
“We reported the matter to our association for action but nothing has happened, if you make 10 trips and the gangs are demanding K10 that’s K100 per day. Then you add the K25 we pay to the council, per trip how much will I remain with for my employer?
“So we are appealing to anyone who can help us stop these gangs which seem to be growing by the day,” said Sakala.
The youthful gangs in the area had been collecting money from bus drivers since mid-2017 and the vice was still going on.
However some self-appointed gang leaders who refused to disclose their names told The Sun that the reason they were collecting money from the drivers was because they had no source of income for their survival.
