A short-lived ban on tinted car windows has exposed divisions within President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, after the presidential spokesperson disowned a directive announced barely a day earlier by another senior official.
On Tuesday, Tafadzwa Muguti, the Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Devolution, convened a press conference in Harare where he declared that all private and public motorists were required to “immediately” strip tints from their vehicles, citing rising criminal activities involving obscured vehicles.
He said government and VIP transport, along with factory-standard shades of tint, would be exempt from the ban.
By Wednesday morning, presidential spokesperson George Charamba, who is travelling with President Mnangagwa in China, issued a statement distancing the presidency from Muguti’s order.
“Kindly note: There is no basis in fact or law to the accompanying announcement attributed to Secretary Muguti. Kindly ignore this mis-communication from an unauthorised office and officer,” Charamba stated. Muguti’s announcement had sparked confusion among motorists and drew criticism from legal experts who noted that Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 does not prohibit tints outright.
The regulations only require that windows provide a “clear, undistorted vision” and a “safe degree of visibility.”
Lawyer Obey Shava warned that police risked unlawful action if they acted on Muguti’s statement.
“Police should be careful not to make costly decisions based on a statement which is not fully supported by the law. Tint is allowed on condition certain requirements are met,” he said.
Despite the clarification, a motorist in Dema was, on Wednesday morning, fined US$15 for tinted windows, highlighting the confusion created by the contradictory pronouncements.
The episode is seemingly exposing the tensions within government, with different officials contradicting one another on a matter that has triggered public outrage.
Critics such as former Zengeza West legislator Job Sikhala accused the authorities of trivialising national priorities.
“When old men and women have nothing more to offer and have no agenda, they spend and waste time the whole year discussing tinted windows on cars.
“The nation is crying for solutions to the gripping corruption, economic decay, collapsed health care system, rotten education system, proliferation of drugs, unemployment, poverty, hunger, and starvation then boom tinted windows on people’s motor vehicles becomes the agenda of the circus team. It’s not about anything but taking the whole nation as their yoyos,” Sikhala noted.
