As car journeys go, they are likely to consist of strained conversations and long silences reminiscent of a feuding couple. Victims of crime in Zimbabwe are being forced to chauffeur those accused of wronging them to court.
The self-drive for justice is needed because the cash-strapped Zimbabwe prison service (ZPS) has run out of fuel to transport inmates from remand cells, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported.
In the latest sign of economic decay eating into the country's state institutions, Priscilla Mtembo, a spokeswoman for the ZPS, said all the service's vehicles in the capital, Harare, were grounded.
"All our vehicles are off the road," she said. "We are actually failing to service courts in Harare but we are attending to the problem."
The Herald added that members of the public who want to speed up the legal process are using their cars to transport prisoners in the company of prison guards.
An unnamed complainant in a robbery case said: "I was tired of coming to court and being told the same story that the court had to postpone the matter because the accused persons were not brought to court by ZPS.
"I talked to the officers and they told me that it was possible for me to ferry the accused persons who will be escorted by prison officers. After court proceedings, I will also ferry the officers and the accused persons back to remand prison."
A company, Victoria Foods, reportedly carried more than five people accused of stealing flour to and from court.
The fuel shortage has resulted in trial delays and, in some instances, suspects are being referred back to police stations rather than remand prison, the paper said.
Simbarashe Moyo, the chairman of the Combined Harare Residents Association, said: "Last week I was attending a court case and some people were supposed to be taken to court, but I was told they had not come because there was no fuel.
"This is about them running out of money: I think the prisons have already used their budget for the year. There are people who are supposed to be out by now, but because of transport problems, they are still waiting for justice to be done."
In high-profile cases, the police still escort suspects to remand prison. A police officer told the Herald he waited at the courts until 10pm for a ZPS vehicle to pick them up.
Like its schools and hospitals, Zimbabwe's 42 prisons have been hit badly by the country's hyperinflation and economic meltdown. Shortages of food, medical supplies and cleaning materials left some of Zimbabwe's 15,000 inmates to starve in filthy and overcrowded cells. An estimated 1,000 prisoners died in the first six months of last year.
There has since been a slight improvement thanks to international aid efforts, but many prisoners still rely on family members to bring edible food.
It emerged last month that Chikurubi prison, a maximum security facility on the outskirts of Harare, has spent five years trying in vain to find a willing executioner. The impasse has left prisoners languishing on death row uncertain of their fate.
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