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Africa Moyo
Deputy News Editor
Zimbabwe starts a fresh year today, a year that President Mnangagwa declared last year should see economic growth, after the recovery that was noted last year.
Citizens are optimistic that the fresh year will bring with it accelerated infrastructure development that has been ongoing since 2018, but paced up last year under devolution.
As more infrastructure projects take-off while others gather momentum, and the manufacturing, agriculture and mining sectors seek to boost their operations, more jobs will become available for more people.
And as the construction of new schools, which should see 3 000 schools built by 2025 takes off, more trained teachers that remain out of employment will be co-opted.
Last year started with a lot of promise due to the developmental projects that were in motion, despite the Covid-19 lockdowns following a surge in infections of the Delta and Beta variants.
A lot was achieved, notably the over 240km of road that were completed on the Harare-Beitbridge highway modernisation that were completed and opened to traffic, and the clean water and health facilities that were provided under the devolution programme.
But a spate of armed robberies blighted an otherwise good year.
To his credit, President Mnangagwa noted the trend and warned the armed robbers that their days were numbered, as security forces will descend on them like a tsunami, in the fight against the vice.
And as citizens lost lives, thousands of dollars and property during some of the armed robberies, it is critical for police and other security forces to translate the President’s words into action.
Already, police officers have done commendably well to swiftly arrest some of the suspected armed robbers, but going forward, the courts must also play ball, and where necessary, amendments to the laws should be done to ensure law abiding citizens and investors are safe from the malcontents.
This comes as some of armed robbery cases were allegedly committed by suspected armed robbers while they were on bail over other cases.
From the arrest of alleged armed robbery kingpin, Musa Taj Adbul and his accomplices in Beitbridge around mid-last year, to the immediate swoop on suspects in the Macheke case where a 10-month-old toddler was shot dead while the mother was injured during an armed robbery raid, police have generally done well.
Two armed robbers also attacked six private security guards who were securing the refugees’ monthly allowances at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge this Tuesday, and got away with over US$60 000.
A manhunt is also underway for two armed robbers that pounced on Mant Lavina Farm in Beatrice owned by a white man, Mr Graham Warren, and shot dead his wife.
The robbers must be immediately accounted for so that they are brought to justice or justice is taken to them.
So harrowing are the experiences of people that are attacked by armed robbers, whether they get away with anything or not, and this madness just has to been drastically reduced, if not eliminated.
Long distance buses feel the heat
The torture and indignity that passengers aboard a CAG bus on its way to Chirundu towards Christmas last year, of being stripped naked and rob of all your belongings is difficult to live with, worse for people that could have been travelling with in-laws on the same bus.
Passengers lost over US$20 000 to the armed robbers, who, at least, have been rounded up by police and appeared in court.
It was obviously not the first attack on a bus as other buses, especially those travelling to either Beitbridge or South Africa were also attacked and passengers lost large sums of hard-earned cash.
Sometime in June last year, a Boundary Express coach was pounced on by armed robbers, some of whom had boarded the bus at Mbudzi roundabout in Harare around 8pm on its way to Beitbridge.
The robbers later produced knives, pistols and machetes, ordered the driver to switch off the lights and they attacked some passengers, leaving deep cuts before demanding cash and other valuables.
Cash-in-transit heists: Who will guard the guard?
Inasmuch as the country recorded a surge in the number armed robberies targeting homesteads and long distance buses, an equally worrying phenomenon was the cash-in-transit heists, involving huge sums of money for that matter.
Police found a concerning trend that some of the alleged “armed robberies” were, in fact, inside jobs.
The most prominent of all involved ZB Bank’s US$2,7 million that occurred at Gwebi River bridge along the Harare-Chinhoyi highway on January 6.
The money, some of which was found in possession of other suspects, was meant for ZB branches in Kadoma, Chinhoyi, Gweru, Zvishavane, Gwanda and Bulawayo.
The deal involved up to 15 people, of which the bulk of them were nabbed and have appeared in court and some have been jailed for three years.
The most exhilarating part of the US$2,7 million “robbery” — described by police as staged- was when son of the alleged heist mastermind was spotted digging part of the money from the robbery underground at their homestead in Mudakwenda Village, Mhondoro.
Job Njowa, son to Shadreck Njowa, thought to be the brains behind the heist, was spotted by his cousin Tichaona Njowa digging about US$100 000 underground near their hut at around 9pm.
Knowing that Job’s father was wanted in connection with the heist, Tichaona then went to steal the money that Job had buried underground and went on a spending spree at Turf in Ngezi, with his spending patterns raising the suspicion of residents leading to his arrest.
As he was lavishly spent the money, the young man reportedly bought a Honda Fit car and when it broke down after a few days, he abandoned it by the road-side and bought another one.
Police allegedly found him with US$20 500, having blown about US$80 000.
The latest cash-in-transit heist, again believed to have been staged, a vehicle from Fawcett Security Company on November 25 at the 243km peg along the Harare-Bulawayo highway. Over US$334 000 was stolen and police investigations established that it was an inside job. Police arrested Fawcett Security guard, Bongani Mpofu, Blessing Luwizhi and Josphine Ndlovu in connection with the case.
Josphine Ndlovu, from whom US$18 000 was recovered, is wife to Blessing Luwizhi.
Mukuru.com under siege
Also under siege last year were Mukuru.com outlets that were hard hit by armed robbers. In March 2021, two burglars raided a Mukuru Send Money Home transfer agent offices in Bulawayo city centre and got away with over US$17 000 and R100 000.
Again, police suspected the robbery to be an inside job. In October, another Mukuru branch at Rutenga Growth Point lost US$10 000 to armed robbers while December 24, a Mukuru branch in Chegutu lost US$17 000 to armed robbers.
Online Reporter