Chronicle Editor
WE are concerned about rising cases of violence in communities over social issues leading to either death or serious injury and urge members of the public to always find peaceful ways to resolve conflict.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has community liaison officers equipped with skills to facilitate peaceful conflict resolution and members of the public can approach them in the event they fail to find each other on issues.
They can also approach religious, traditional or community leaders who can also assist in resolving conflicts without resorting to violence.
Experts have attributed some of the cases of violence to the abuse of alcohol and drugs and we call upon communities to intervene in such matters so that the affected receive rehabilitation and counselling.
This week, we published two spine-chilling stories, one involving a 35-year-old man from Lupane who murdered his parents and another where doctors at Mpilo Central Hospital saved the life of an artisanal miner from Inyathi in Bubi district, Matabeleland North who had a spear lodged in his skull.
Clever Ngwenya is on the run after killing his elderly parents in cold blood and hunting down his two siblings whom he wanted to also attack, forcing the family to spend three nights at Lupane Police Station fearing for their lives.
He stabbed his mother, Mildress Ngwenya (71), to death then killed his father, Simon Shoemaker Ngwenya (73) in front of his elder siblings, Mr Khululani Ngwenya and Ms Fidelis Ngwenya, who had to run for their dear lives as Clever seemed determined to kill them too.
Meanwhile, Mr Ishmael Tshabalala was involved in a fierce fight with a rival suitor resulting in him being stabbed with a spear in the head and the spear was stuck in his skull.
A specialist neurosurgeon at Mpilo Central Hospital Dr Garikai Mwale who was among the doctors who conducted a surgical operation to remove the spear, said Mr Tshabalala was lucky to be alive after sustaining life-threatening injuries.
Of more concern to Dr Mwale are admissions related to violent crimes.
“Doctors who work at the weekends usually attend to many cases of individuals injured from assaults by weapons such knobkerries or stabbing by knives. This is quite a big problem,” said Dr Mwale.
He said such cases were straining limited resources at the hospital.
“When Mr Tshabalala came we were supposed to attend to a patient with a brain tumor but we had to postpone the surgical operation to attend to Mr Tshabalala since his case was an emergency,” said Dr Mwale.
Mpilo Central Hospital chief executive officer Dr Narcacius Dzvanga said as health authorities they were worried by increased cases of violence leading to injuries and sometimes death.
He blamed widespread drug and alcohol abuse which he said needs to be addressed urgently.
“There is a lot of substance abuse out there among the youth hence the increased cases of violence.
We witness very frightening cases of people coming to the hospital with spears stuck in their heads,” said Dr Dzvanga.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter