Police in eastern Zimbabwe will soon launch night raids on businesses and bus companies trying to circumvent price controls by operating only in the dark, press reports said Friday, according to dpa. Police spokesman for Manicaland province, Brian Makomeke warned that anyone trying to dodge President Robert Mugabe's highly- controversial price slash would be punished, reported the state- controlled Manica Post newspaper. "Every gap should be closed and the police shall extend night price monitoring patrols well into the night in order to curb these illegal transactions," said the spokesman. Shortages of basics have been worsening since 83-year-old Mugabe ordered prices be slashed by at least 50 percent early last month. The opposition says the price blitz was a political gimmick meant to buy the support of Zimbabweans struggling under record inflation levels ahead of next years polls. "Desperate businesspeople say they can't afford to operate at a loss. Some are now opening their doors only after 5 pm when police and price inspectors knock off for the day," said the Manica Post, which, like the Herald daily, is tightly controlled by the authorities. "Butchers are offering scarce meat in the moonlight," the paper said. "Buses are plying their routes mainly at night, charging between 600,000 and 800,000 Zimbabwe dollars (40 and 53 US at the official rate of exchange) for a trip between the border city of Mutare and the capital Harare," the paper said. The government says the fare must be less than half that at 265,000 dollars. "Road blocks will be extended to ensure that no operator charges ungazetted fares," police spokesman Makomeke warned. In a bizarre twist, the Manica Post also carried claims that queues seen in many supermarkets these days - usually for scarce commodities like bread - were artificially-created and meant to tarnish Zimbabwe's image. "The queues at some shops are suspicious. Some of these people are just a rented crowd," an unnamed source told the paper.
