GOVERNMENT yesterday said it had given police the greenlight to shoot and kill suspected armed robbers who have become a menace in the past weeks, threatening to make the country ungovernable.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba announced the new
measures yesterday as two more suspects
involved in a shootout with law enforcement agents last week succumbed to the
injuries, bringing the number of armed robbers shot dead during the weekend
gunfire exchange to three.
One of the armed robbers who died yesterday was identified
as Richard Mutanga. “Guys, stop these armed robberies, you will die. I have
warned you, the government will not hesitate. You are a dead man walking, trust
me,” Charamba tweeted.
Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe also said government
would, from now on, show no mercy on the armed robbers.
“The armed robbers are being accounted for. Seven notorious
ones were accounted for on Sunday,” Kazembe said.
“Police will descend on them heavily and the long arm of
the law will catch up with them,” he added.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi further said police had set up crack teams across the country to track
down all suspected armed robbers and bring them to account.
“We are not going back and the crack teams that we set up
are all over the country tracking the armed robbers, so to those who will try
to hide, they will certainly be found and arrested,” he said.
“The public must rest in the comfort that the police
currently are on top of the situation and we are tracking all known armed
robbers as evidenced by what happened last weekend.
“So far, from those we arrested, three people have died.
Yesterday, we were talking of one robber who died, now they are three. One of
them died this (yesterday) morning.”
Three of the armed robbers later appeared before the courts
yesterday and one of them was remanded in custody on his hospital bed.
The trio that appeared in court were identified as
Valentine Mutasa, Godfrey Josi and his wife Juliet Gavaza. They were remanded
to July 14 pending trial. Peter Mushipe was also remanded in hospital to July
14.
The courts heard that the gang was involved in several
armed robberies around Harare. Josi is facing more than eight counts of armed
robbery, while his accomplices have various counts of the same crime.
Allegations were that Josi and his accomplices went to the
University of Zimbabwe compound on June 15 and stormed one of the directors,
Weng Dong’s house where they stole US$22 000 after exchanging gun fire with
him.
They also robbed Seedex Company on March 20 and went away
with US$20 000. During another robbery at Gateway School, the gang went away
with US$250 000 after blowing the cash vaults at the school.
Last month, Home Affairs deputy minister Ruth
Mavhungu-Maboyi told Parliament that the nation was now living in fear due to
the armed robbers.
MPs said the police were ill-equipped in most cases to deal
with the armed robbers and called on government to avail resources. Newsday
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