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A Zimbabwean car rental company is fighting a tainted image after one of its rental cars was used in the kidnapping of 22-year-old activist Tawanda Muchehiwa in Bulawayo ahead of the frustrated July 31 protests.
One of Harare-based Impala Car Rental’s white Ford Rangers was seen in recently released CCTV footage capturing the hijacking. Since then, Zimbabweans on social media have asked the company to reveal who hired the vehicle or it will face a boycott of its services.
In a statement, CEO Thompson Dondo distanced the company from the hijacking adventure, arguing that it was “limited” in controlling how customers used their vehicles.
“As a service provider, we have limitations in controlling where and how our vehicles will be used because our customers are not required to disclose their vehicle rental purposes,” he said.
He added that if the need arose, they would cooperate with police investigations.
Even so, the Twitter account of the car rental company, which goes by the name of @impalacarrental, was flooded with calls from people asking the company to disclose the name, address and contact details of the person. who hired the car. Some also urged the firm to post CCTV footage of its facilities revealing the mystery customer.
Some legal experts told TimesLIVE that Impala Car Rental could be legally obligated to disclose information if the police decide to investigate the matter.
MDC Alliance General Treasurer David Coltart said the vehicle “would be a great asset to a professional police force. You must have fingerprints all over it … but under Zanu-PF nothing will be done. “
There was also concern that the company could be lying that it had no knowledge of where customers drive their cars because all vehicles normally have a tracker to monitor movements.
Meanwhile, speaking for the first time about his three-day torture at the hands of alleged state security operators, Muchehiwa claimed that a youth leader of the MDC Alliance, Tendai Masocha, led the kidnappers towards him. The MDC Alliance in a statement said it would investigate the matter.
TimesLIVE
