25/05/2026
Happy Africa Day from the Commuter Omnibus Drivers, Conductors & Marshals Organisation
Today, 25th May, we the men and women who keep Zimbabwe moving celebrate Africa Day. From the first kombi pulling out at 3:30am to the last rank marshal closing the gates at night, we are part of the heartbeat of this continent.
1. We are the veins of Africa
Every day we transport teachers to classrooms in Epworth, nurses to clinics in Chitungwiza, market traders to Mbare, and students to UZ and Poly. Without us, Harare stops. Without transport workers across Africa, Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, and Johannesburg would stop too.
Africa Day reminds us that from Cairo to Cape Town, transport workers have always been essential. We carried people to independence rallies long back. Today we carry people to work, to hospitals, to weddings, to funerals, and to build their futures. Our work is not small. It is nation-building on wheels.
2. Celebrating our role in a united Africa,
The theme of Africa Day is unity, self-reliance, and progress. For us in the transport sector, unity means driver, conductor, marshal, and commuter working together. It means respecting the rank, respecting the passenger, respect law enforcement agents and respecting each other.
Across Africa, transport connects markets, families, and cultures. The same spirit that built our railways, roads and keeps transport system running in Africa lives in our ranks here in Zimbabwe. We are part of a continental story of hustle, resilience, and service.
3. The challenges we face, and the pride we keep,
We know the road is not easy. Fuel prices, road conditions, police checks, and long hours test us daily. Passengers are sometimes impatient, and we are sometimes misunderstood. But we show up. Rain or shine, we move people.
That is African resilience. Our fathers and mothers built this country under harder conditions. We honor them by doing our work with dignity, safety, and honesty. A clean kombi, a fair fare, a respectful word to an elder – these are our contribution to a better Africa.
4. Our commitment this Africa Day as Mahwindi for Economic Development RankMarshals,
This year, as an organisation, we commit to:
-Safety first: No overloading, no speeding, no reckless driving. Every passenger is someone’s child, parent, or breadwinner.
-Professionalism: Conductors who greet passengers, marshals who manage queues fairly, drivers who respect the rules. That’s how we change the image of our sector.
-Unity in the rank: No fighting over passengers, no tribalism, no division, no demonstrations against our ruling party governments. We are one team moving one city.
-Community service: We will partner with every groups in our communities for clean-up days and road safety awareness. Because the rank is part of the community, not separate from it.
5. A message to our passengers and leaders
To the commuters: Thank you for trusting us with your daily journey. We ask for patience and respect in return.
To government and the African Union: Support affordable fuel, better roads, and formal recognition of MahwindiRankMarshals. Invest in us, and we will invest more in the economy.
Africa Day is not just for presidents and diplomats. It is for a worker, driver wiping sweat at 1pm, the conductor counting coins in the rain, the marshal directing traffic in the dust. We are Africa working.
Let us celebrate today by driving safer, treating each other better, and remembering that a united, working Africa starts at the rank.
Forward ever, backward never. Happy Africa Day 2026.
In solidarity,
Working With People Trust
MahwindiforEDRankMarshals Organisation
Harare | Zimbabwe
