HARARE - Harare City Council and the police have deployed 200 officers to monitor ranks in an operation to rid the city of touts.

Council spokesperson Leslie Gwindi told journalists yesterday that the move was meant to bring sanity to commuter minibus ranks where touts were causing commotion and fleecing operators.

“We are here to announce the execution of an operation that we have been undertaking for the past one-and-a-half months meant to restore law and order in the city,” said Gwindi.

The local authority had in the past lost its statutory control of ranks and markets amid politically-motivated invasions.

Gwindi said it took long to deploy a workforce because the authority was consulting with partners, specifically the police, which he said was pivotal to the success of the operation.

The city has 10 ranks, according to Gwindi, namely Fourth Street, Charge Office, Copa Cabana, Market Square, Rezende, Chinhoyi, Mbuya Nehanda, Kwame Nkrumah/Mbuya Nehanda, Park Street/Kwame Nkrumah and Mbuya Nehanda.

“Any other ranks besides those ones are illegal and we will put a stop to them,” he said.

Gwindi said commuters should use the legal ranks to avoid being caught up in clashes.

“I appeal to the general public to avoid taking lifts from undesignated points because there is definitely going to be clashes and mishaps.

“The operation will go on until we have a working system,” he said. - Wendy Muperi