The Guinea Fowl shooting incident which occurred on January 16, resulting in the death of Tatenda Munetsiwa after being shot by 52 Infantry Battalion soldiers who were reacting to a report of theft of copper cables, was a case of mistaken identity, the Zimbabwe National Army has said.
In a statement released this afternoon, ZNA director of
public relations Colonel Alphios Makotore said the mix-up emanated from the
fact that when William Shoko and Simon Muzondo reported to the soldiers at
Guinea Fowl Army Base that there was a group of thieves cutting telephone
copper wire, a military patrol was immediately sent out to the scene.
“Meanwhile, a group of civilians which had, among them the
now deceased Munetsiwa had already set up its own ambush to try and apprehend
the reported copper wire thieves.
“Unbeknown to each other, the soldiers’ patrol and the
civilian group ambush teams were working for a common purpose to apprehend the
copper wire thieves. However, as fate would have it, the two groups later clashed
as they each other of being the suspected copper wire thieves.
“Circumstances are that when the soldiers got into the
ambush, they thought the copper wire thieves wanted to disarm them. To resist
being disarmed by these civilians who were armed with machetes and iron bars,
the armed soldiers had no option but to open fire resulting in the unfortunate
death of Munetsiwa and the injury of three others,” he said.
He said when the civilians lying in ambush saw the
soldiers, they were convinced that they too were the copper wire thieves. “As
such they sprung from the ambush intending to subdue and apprehend the
soldiers.
“To demonstrate that this was an unfortunate incident, both
the civilian group and the soldiers’ patrol reported at Guinea Fowl Base what
had transpired during the incident. The civilians reported that they had been
attacked by armed robbers, while the soldiers also reported that they had been
ambushed by an armed group of copper wire thieves.”
Colonel Makotore added that against this sad development
where an innocent life was lost, it would be unfair on the part of the involved
soldiers for everyone to suggest that they were armed robbers when all the
facts are there for all to see.
“It is important at this moment to avoid speculating until
thorough investigations into the incident have been exhausted and the air
cleared as to what actually transpired on the fateful day,” he said.
On a separate note, Col Makotore said the ZNA had noted
with concern the increasing number of incidents where some rogue and
undisciplined members of the force deployed on various duties around the
country are wantonly engaging in criminal activities thereby bringing the name
of the organisation into disrepute.
“In view of the recent cases of criminal activities by
members of the force, the ZNA would like to put it on record for the umpteenth
time that as an organisation, it does not in any way condone such behaviour nor
any forms of criminality committed by any of its members purporting to be on
official duty.
“Anyone found to be on the wrong side of the law will be
dealt with in accordance with the laws of the country. Incidents of armed
robberies which were reported at Gwebi River Bridge lay-bye along
Harare-Chinhoyi Road on January 6 and in Mutawatawa, Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe on
January 19 will be thoroughly investigated and the culprits will be brought to
book.”
He said the accused rogue soldiers in both these above
incidents have since been arrested by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and are
appearing in court. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment