Death of a taxi driver

My family is in mourning for my cousin, who would be alive today if our police did their job

On Monday of this week we buried my cousin at West Park Cemetery in Bulawayo, and I blame our corrupt police force for his death. I want to tell you why, and I will try to write as a reporter, not as a family member.

I will not name my cousin, for all the usual security reasons. He was a taxi driver in Bulawayo, our second largest city, and he was killed in cold blood by three robbers, who stabbed and axed him to death in a bushy area on the outskirts of town.

Taxi drivers all over the world run the risk of such attacks. But my cousin would be alive today if the police had done their job. They didn't. Instead, this is what happened.

It was ten o'clock in the evening, about ten days ago. My cousin was in his taxi, accompanied by his friend. It is usual now for taxi drivers to work in pairs. That's an indication of how crime-ridden our streets have become.

Three men approached the taxi. They asked to be taken to a bar a few kiometres out of town. The journey began. As soon as the car, a Mazda 323, reached a less populated area the passengers produced knives, and ordered my cousin to stop.

He and his friend were hauled out of the car, bound hand and foot, and pushed into the back seat. They set off again with one of the thugs driving - and, inevitably, they came to a police roadblock. For a moment my cousin must have thought they would be saved.

The car drew to a halt at the side of the road, a few yards from the police officers. The driver got out quickly, grabbing a handful of the money which my cousin had earned that night. He walked over and gave it to the officer, who took it, and waved the car through, not even bothering to look inside.

My cousin and his friend shouted and screamed at the police, but their cries were ignored. The thugs drove on into the bush, then stopped, demanded more money, and attacked the two men with knives and axes.

The friend survived the attack, was picked up by some good samaritan, and woke up in hospital. That's how we know what happened. My cousin died from head wounds.

I have tried to tell this story as unemotionally as I can. But now there are tears in my eyes, and there is nothing else to say.

Comments

[ExAfrica]

My condolences. So sorry for you and your family.

May Zimbabwe see peace.