Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. JUSTICE minister Ziyambi Ziyambi yesterday clarified the ban on car window tints announced earlier by Presidential Affairs and Devolution permanent secretary Tafadzwa Muguti.
Ziyambi said the government had designated spokespersons.
Speaking in the National Assembly, where he was asked to clarify whether tinting car windows was criminal, Ziyambi said: “The current law states that when applying a car window tint, it should not obscure the vision of the driver. That is the current law.
“On the side window tints, we have not yet sat down with Transport minister Felix Mhona and Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe to discuss if we should implement a ban on that.
“The government follows channels. If it had been implemented, you would have seen the law being presented in Parliament.”
Asked if Muguti was daydreaming when he announced the ban and where he got the powers from, Ziyambi said the government had designated spokespersons.
“We have the minister of Information, and his permanent secretary. They are there to publicise any information which relates to government business.
“After that, we also have someone who speaks for the President. Those are the only ones who can speak on behalf of the government,” he said.
“Then at each and every ministry, we speak on behalf of our portfolios.
“If you find yourself speaking(about) anything that does not concern your ministry and you are not among the three I mentioned earlier, you would have blundered, unless it’s me standing here in Parliament, I’m the only other person who can speak for the government or anyone standing in for me.
“If I walk out of Parliament and you ask me about the Agriculture ministry, I will not respond, but the moment I come in here, I can respond.
“So (Information minister Jenfan), (Information secretary Ndavaningi) Mangwana and (Presidential spokesperson George) Charamba are the only ones who can speak about the government.”
Ziyambi was also asked to explain what will happen to motorists who had already been issued with tickets for tints on their car windows.
He responded: “No police officer acts upon information disseminated on social media or from the media without a law.
“Real police officers will tell you which law you broke when arresting you.
“Also, those tickets are supposed to be deposit fines at the courts. So for those who were issued with tickets, they can go to the courts and appeal the tickets.”
On Tuesday, Muguti declared: “Remove them immediately or the police will do it for you or your vehicle will be impounded.”
He said only government VIPs, security vehicles and cars with manufacturer-installed shading were exempt.
But not long after, Presidential spokesperson George Charamba dismissed the directive altogether, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that there was “no basis in fact or law” for Muguti’s order.
He wrote: “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!”
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