Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Correspondent
POLICE in Bulawayo have clarified their service vehicle status following news reports that the province had only six vehicles.
The claims were attributed to officer commanding Bulawayo Province, Commissioner Patton Mbangwa who recently had an engagement with the Bulawayo business community over the recent spate of armed robbery cases in the city and cited resource limitations within the force.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube, in a statement issued yesterday, told the Chronicle that Bulawayo province had 15 service vehicles distributed across its 17 operational stations.
He however said only six of the vehicles were in top shape and relatively new while the rest of the feet was old and unreliable.
“On 31 May 2021 Bulawayo province held a meeting with business owners in the wake of a spate of unlawful entry and armed robbery cases. The meeting was attended by representatives from various business entities. The purpose of the meeting was to raise crime awareness to stakeholders, enhance target hardening and target removal techniques as well as encouraging police public partnership in the fight against crime”, said Inspector Ncube.
He said during meeting, the business community and other stakeholders probed the police on preparedness in terms of availability of resources to respond to crises and emergencies in the city, where Commissioner Mbangwa then laid bare, in transparency, the vehicle status for police in the province.
“It was however, during the meeting that stakeholders questioned police capacity in terms of reliable vehicles to react to robberies and attend scenes considering the demands caused by the upsurge in crime. They also asked if police are open to receive donations that can help improve police mobility and fight crime. Responding to the concerns of the meeting, the Officer Commanding Police Bulawayo province, Commissioner Patton Mbangwa informed the house that Bulawayo province is doing everything in its powers to combat crime.
“The province has a fleet of vehicles where a good number of them are exhausted and those are mostly Mazda B1800 vehicles which are used to attend scenes and investigations but are no longer reliable,” said Inspector Ncube.
“He (Commissioner Mbangwa) highlighted that the province however, has six new reliable pick-up vehicles that criss-cross the province in reaction and in each of the four police districts there is a new pick-up vehicle supporting at least four stations. For the proper record, 17 operational stations in Bulawayo have 15 motor vehicles where six of them are reliable,” said Insp Ncube.
He said the business community was advised that donations are welcome through normal police channels and described it as regrettable that social media had carried a misconception that the province only had six vehicles.-@andile_tshuma
Online Reporter