Armed robberies are on the rise in Zimbabwe; some of the suspects are so daring to even rob police officers at a roadblock in broad daylight!
While a few found the incident funny and labelled the said officers weaklings and useless, I think it’s quite unfortunate and scary that crime has reached such levels in our country.
The bandits, four in number, went on to shoot and kill a man the same day, so really it’s no laughing matter.
And who knows what these robbers will do next as they made away with police uniforms. One would assume they will dress and masquerade as officers and rob people of their belongings.
Discussing these spate of robberies in our local WhatsApp group, someone pointed out a sad reality: we should expect more theft and burglary cases as many young people out there are unemployed, broke, hungry and angry and that the situation will be worsened by the tough economic environment.
Even those who are employed are finding the going tough as salaries have been eroded by inflation and the numerous taxes recently introduced by the government.
The current budget, which was presented by the Economic Minister in December, was described as anti-poor because govt introduced taxes that resulted in the prices of basic commodities going up.
Basic salaries of civil servants are now as low as P3, 000 – considering this, it’s little wonder some of the armed robbery cases are linked to police officers.
A police officer was arrested recently after he sent a gang of armed robbers to rob his best friend who is a businessman.
The robbers stole US$5, 300 (about P69, 000) and R14, 000. The accused officer has also been linked to several cases in Bulawayo.
Robbers are fully aware that most business people don’t bank their cash because of the country’s volatile banking system.
The same goes with private schools which have also been major targets for armed robbers.
It is easy to bank money in Zimbabwe but withdrawing it is a mammoth task as withdrawals are limited.
Besides, past experiences have taught people to never trust the country’s banking system.
Many lost their hard earned savings due to changes in monetary policies and never recovered to this day.
So people would rather keep their cash under pillows despite the risk of losing it to armed robbers.
In other news, the main opposition, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) is facing annihilation as its self- proclaimed Secretary General, Sengezo Tshabangu continues to recall sitting Members of Parliament while barring them from contesting again in the by elections.
The party’s Deputy Spokesperson, Gift Siziba, who has also been recalled and barred from contesting, has hinted that the party leader, Nelson Chamisa is considering dumping the party for a new political outfit.
By the way CCC was formed early 2022 as a result of squabbles within the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).