Zimbabwe's legislature just backed a plan to slap down more tollgates across the country after Speaker Jacob Mudenda spent November telling officials to jack up fees on big trucks. Knowledge Kaitano, who chairs the transport committee, told parliament that drivers keep dodging existing toll points by taking back roads, and the government needs that cash for road maintenance and general revenue.
The committee already has a hit list of routes they want to monetize, like the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls highway and the Harare to Domboshava to Bindura road that truckers use to skip payments. Mudenda previously got super specific about wanting five tollgates on the Hwange route instead of three, plus he kept repeating that they should charge heavy commercial vehicles way more.
The whole push is getting framed as a financial necessity, even though regular people are getting tired of paying more just to use public roads. Mudenda even wants weighbridges installed at strategic points using money from ZINARA, the national roads administration.
The committee already has a hit list of routes they want to monetize, like the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls highway and the Harare to Domboshava to Bindura road that truckers use to skip payments. Mudenda previously got super specific about wanting five tollgates on the Hwange route instead of three, plus he kept repeating that they should charge heavy commercial vehicles way more.
The whole push is getting framed as a financial necessity, even though regular people are getting tired of paying more just to use public roads. Mudenda even wants weighbridges installed at strategic points using money from ZINARA, the national roads administration.
