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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
LANCELOT Isaac Kadungure and a female accomplice suddenly appeared on the side of the Harare-Chegutu Highway in broad daylight just after Norton, and managed to flag down a passing car.
The man driving the car thought the two, who could easily be perceived as a married couple, needed assistance following an accident.
Instead the driver found himself being kicked off his vehicle at gun point.
Kadungure together with his female partner in crime then sped off, leaving the man stranded.
Today (Friday), Kadungure is now serving his last seven days in confinement at Mutare Farm Prison after being sentenced to 18 years for armed robbery.
In an interview with The Manica Post on the sidelines of his graduation after completing his Diploma in Theology at Mutare Farm Prison recently, Kadungure (34), who was jailed at the age of 23 said he was arrested in Chegutu at a service station after he had stolen a BMW using an unlicensed gun.
“It was on September 9, 2003 when I was planning to drive to Gokwe. I was actually on the police wanted list and I was eventually arrested and charged with two counts of armed robbery.
“I had also stolen a Mercedes Benz Kompressor a few weeks prior to being caught. When I eventually appeared in court, I was sentenced to 18 years, which were then reduced to 12 years on condition of good behaviour. I am only left with 15 days in prison,” he said.
After losing both parents while in prison, Kadungure hopes to reunite with his son, Happymore, next week.
“I have no hopes of reuniting with my wife, but my son. I left him when he was only nine and he is now 21. The sad thing is that as I walk out of prison, I am not sure what I will do for a living, but I will be moving into my parents’ home in Norton.
“These are some of the challenges that we face as ex-convicts. Some are driven back into criminality owing to lack of employment and rejection by the community,” he said.
Kadungure narrated how he used a female accomplice to rob the vehicles.
“I used to steal vehicles using a gun that I had found in one of the cars that I had initially stolen. After stealing a vehicle, I would drive it for a day before selling it or breaking it down.
“It was easy to flag down motorists as I operated with a female accomplice. Many motorists easily give females a lift along highways and that made our mission easier. When I was eventually arrested, I decided to exonerate my female accomplice,” he said.
Many motorists in Zimbabwe are ambushed at gunpoint each year and a good number have fallen victim when offering a lift after mistaking the presence of females in carjacking gangs for genuine transport seekers.
The lucky ones are left by the roadside, shaken and without their cars.
The unlucky ones are abducted, raped or murdered.
Thus as the world commemorates Women’s Month, the exploitation of women in the commission of crime comes to the fore.
A cursory internet search on criminology reveals that females commit much less crime and juvenile delinquency than males.
This gender gap in law-violation is found using data on arrests, convictions, self-reported crime, and victims’ reports about offenders.
However, it is the roles that women mostly play in armed robberies, drug trafficking, human trafficking and migrant smuggling that reveals an urgent need to empower them so that they do not get trapped in the web of crime.
Women also often serve as lookouts, known as falcons, who report on the movement of people, rival gang members and police.
Women are particularly useful in these roles as they are often overlooked by authorities and are often perceived as innocent and harmless.
Law expert, Ms Georgina Mtetwa said it is sad that some women are driven into criminal activities due to poverty.
“This is not to say women do not commit crimes. They do but to a greater extent they come in as abettors of their male colleagues.
“This calls for more empowerment initiatives for women. That would result in those committing crimes or those acting as abettors desisting from the criminal activities,” said Ms Mtetwa.
Online Reporter