Zimbabwe Plans To Procure Over 1,000 Buses In 2 Years - Finance Minister Ncube

Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has announced the government’s plans to procure over 1,000 buses in the next two years to improve Zimbabwe’s public transport system. The first batch of 250 buses, including 50 electric buses, will be delivered in the first quarter of 2024. The government aims to show progress by incorporating green buses that run on batteries. The announcement was made during the debate on the National Budget in the National Assembly last Thursday. Ncube said:

A comment was made that certainly we need more public transport.

We commit in this Budget to procure another 1 000 buses over the next two years and the first batch of 250 buses will be expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2024. We are committed to this.

I have emphasised to my Permanent Secretary, Mr George Guvamatanga and the Zupco executives that some of these buses need to be green buses; we need some buses that use batteries. We must show that we also need some progress as a nation. We need some green buses; I think they have committed to 50 at least, that will run on batteries.

Zimbabwe’s public transport system has suffered from years of collapse. Corruption and mismanagement contributed to the decline of the sector. The popularity of kombis, which offered door-to-door services also contributed to the decline in the use of government-owned buses. In recent years, the government has been working to revive the state-owned ZUPCO buses to address the chaos caused by kombis. 

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