Mnangagwa Admits Zimbabwe is under Armed Siege

On 21 June 2021, President Mnangagwa (ED) put gun robbers on notice. Simply, this is an admission that the country is under siege from gun toting gangs. While we all Zimbabwean citizens except the out of touch ED knew the country was awash with illegal guns, the big question becomes-are these armed gangs common criminals or members of our security forces? As I read about these gun robberies, two caught my attention and I started shifting my thinking about the perpetrators.

The bizarre robbery happened against a bus coming from Harare going to Johannesburg. When the bus got near Chatsworth turnoff along the Harare-Masvingo road, the armed robbers pounced and asked the driver to follow a soldier-they had six pistols. How could this be? How can common criminals manage to move around in large groups with so many guns? Do we honestly have such a lapse security system that fails to detect such serious crimes?

As it stands, the bus crew is now facing arrest for violating COVID-19 regulations when there are supposed to be sixed armed robbers roaming free.

The second incident happened along the Harare-Mutare road near Bromley. Armed robbers pounced a victim getting away with USD$113 000-Why is this important? The Criminal Investigation Department security performed a poor play.

TWO suspected armed robbers, arrested along the Harare-Mutare road following a police shoot-out moments after allegedly robbing a motorist of US$113 000, claimed detectives from CID Homicide aimed at the wrong target and planted evidence in their car as cover up upon realising they had shot and injured innocent people.

The said suspects have an alibi; they were on the Dema-Marondera road and not Mutare Marondera road. The toll-gates history is the alibi for the suspects. If it turns out that the suspects are correct that CID planted evidence in their car, I rest my case.

While one can argue that there is a possibility that these gun toting gangs are nothing but bogus security details, the operational efficiency and intelligence to hit on the biggest targets raises a stink. In addition, the alarm sound from ED is even more revealing, it is a clear indication that things are not good. Just in one week, ED told the nation, first at the burial of Father Emmanuel Ribeiro that:

"Law enforcement agencies and the courts must work in concert to ensure that perpetrators of gun-related crimes,... are definitely smoked out and brought to book."

And at Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) 148th Recruit Correctional Officers' pass-out parade held at Ntabazinduna Prisons that:

"...the police and the prison departments along with other stakeholders are directed to urgently scale-up awareness programmes on crime prevention, conflict resolution and management."

With millions of dollars having been stolen in 2021 alone and very few arrests having been made, such directives from the highest office would be welcome news except that most of the arrests (477 from January to May) made so far are of petty copycat criminals who vandalize property at night stealing things such as copper wire. None of the million-dollar heists have been solved-and I want to leave you with this question: how can a petty thief who gets away with US$2.5 million fail to be caught? Does our security forces do not know how to follow the money trail?