By Staff Reporter
A fresh storm has erupted in government after President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, openly rubbished a sweeping ban on tinted car windows announced barely 24 hours earlier by the Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Devolution, Tafadzwa Muguti.
On Tuesday, Muguti stunned motorists when he declared a blanket ban on all tinted vehicle windows, exempting only government convoys and VIP vehicles. He justified the drastic measure by claiming that criminals were increasingly exploiting darkened cars to commit serious offences from armed robberies and drug trafficking to the harrowing case of a Grade 7 girl who was raped inside a tinted omnibus.
But the bold directive was short-lived. On Wednesday, Charamba, writing under his pseudonymous X (formerly Twitter) account @dhonzamusoro007, dismissed the announcement outright, urging Zimbabweans to “kindly ignore” it.
“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 unauthorized office and Officer!” Charamba posted.
His blunt dismissal has laid bare a deepening rift within the corridors of power, raising questions about who truly calls the shots on matters of public security.
The contradictory statements have thrown the public into confusion, with many Zimbabweans unsure whether the tint ban is enforceable or simply political theatre.
Social media exploded in outrage following the flip-flop. Critics blasted the government for “playing games with people’s lives,” while some motorists defended tinted windows as a deterrent against smash-and-grab thieves who often target vehicles in broad daylight. Others accused Muguti of grandstanding and exceeding his authority.
Meanwhile, rights activists argue the government is failing to strike a balance between security and personal freedoms, warning that the chaos reflects a lack of coherent policy-making at the highest levels.
For now, the fate of tinted windows on Zimbabwe’s roads hangs in limbo — with Muguti insisting they enable crime, and Charamba flatly dismissing the ban as an illegitimate decree.