…..As council fails to return long-distance buses to Mucheke rank
By Amos Nyanzero
Tempers flared in a Masvingo City full council meeting held at the Civic Centre on Monday January 27 as councillors debated over the installation of a boom gate at the Old Croco Motors pickup point for revenue collection from long distance buses.
Deputy Mayor and ward 5 councillor Daniel Mberikunashe proposed the removal of the illegal bus terminus at Old Croco Motors, proposing that the area be used as a pick-and-drop area for long distance travellers.
“The bus rank must be removed, and I suggest it be used as pick-and-drop area for long distance travellers, with a boom gate for revenue collection,” said Mberikunashe.
Ward 8 Councillor Richard Musekiwa the stood to support Mberikunashe suggesting that installing a boom gate at the site was a practical solution because it could help regulate the flow of buses, allowing council to monitor and keep track of how many buses enter and exit the area.
“By implementing the boom gate system, it would become easier to manage and maintain order at the rank, ensuring better control of transport operation,” said Musekiwa.
Ward 2 councillor Benson Hwata however criticized the idea, arguing that there was no need to establish a pick-and-drop point there, saying touts making noise while loading buses were disturbing learning at Victoria Primary School located across the road.
“Rather than creating unnecessary complications, the buses should use the already existing rank (Mucheke Rank) because there is a school across the road.
“They should only pick and drop off passengers after coming from the old rank. This approach makes sense because currently they start picking people from garages and industrial areas.
“You said Masimba Construction would do the renovations, so they should focus on upgrading the rank rather than the Old-Croco Motors,” said Hwata.
Masvingo City Council, during former Mayor Collen Maboke’s tenure, made a resolution to move all long distance buses to the old Mucheke Rank, but struggled with the implementation of that resolution to date.
The Mucheke terminus was meant to be refurbished through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) system, copying Gweru’s Kudzanayi bus terminus model, but that also failed to materialize, leading transporters to continue using the Central Business District (CBD) for pick-ups and drop-offs.
In 2022 Mucheke Bus Terminus was cited in the city council budget consultation report under investment promotion, where council was looking for business partnership opportunities.
The bus terminus was a potential revenue cashcow for the cash strapped city council, as it has been lying idle for years without any meaningful efforts to refurbish.
In 2024, Mayor Alec Tabe said the bus terminus was going to be transformed into a state of art rank to benefit local businesses and vendors around the terminus to have more customers as travellers would buy from them.
“Masvingo City Council is determined to upgrade Mucheke bus terminus into a state of the art rank. We want it to be of standard level.
“The terminus was benefiting people when it used to run properly, so we want to revive and upgrade it so that those who stay in Mucheke and other local business benefit,” Tabe said then.
