Minister denies police, army involvement in robberies

HOME Affairs deputy minister Ruth Mavhunga-Maboyi has professed ignorance to the involvement of serving and ex-police and army members allegedly committing robberies and various other crimes in the country.

This was after opposition legislators on Wednesday took Mavhunga-Maboyi to task over armed robbery cases involving State security agents.

Mutare Central MP Innocent Gonese had asked:  "What is the ministry doing to ascertain why so many serving members of the police or army services are being involved in armed robbery cases?"

Some ex-soldiers have been arraigned before the courts charged with armed robbery, triggering public security concerns.

The robbers mostly target individuals carrying large sums of money, corporates as well as gold mines.

But the deputy minister professed ignorance that people in the security services were involved in some armed robberies.

"I am not very aware that all those armed robberies are being done by the army and the police. I know of course that there are some who have been arrested but if you are insisting that I should talk more about it, I have no words to say," Maboyi said.

She added: "We also have police officers who are experts, but we cannot say the police or the army are the ones who are stealing.  Even ourselves here, we might be some of those doing that.

"We are saying once they are arrested we are going to deal with them. We are trying by all means to make sure that we make a follow-up of whatever is happening.

Last year, Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe admitted before Parliament that some ex-members of the security services were involved in armed robberies.