The ManicaPost
ELSEWHERE in this issue we carry two disturbing articles in which the lives of people were needlessly taken away because of the act of greed.
Last Wednesday, two armed robbers wrecked havoc in Marange after pouncing on the house of a well known diamond dealer whom they shot indiscriminately four times and stole $3 000 from his house.
The incident was callous as it sent shock waves across the diamond rich area.
As the case was still on the lips of many, tragedy struck in Sakubva after a rank marshal was beaten to death three days later by fellow colleagues over an apparent fight to control a lucrative kombi loading spot.
Like the Marange case the murder was a result of greed and unwarranted.
If these crimes are left to continue with the rate at which they are being committed, soon our peaceful neighbourhoods will be turned into real hunting grounds by criminals.
When bad things happen, members of the community must learn some lessons and position themselves better in case such circumstances happen not in the near future.
The police have said it on numerous occasions that it is dangerous to keep huge amounts of cash in your house for robbers will prey on you. Those two robbers came to Blessing Chikwangura’s house because they knew very well that the diamond dealer will have money in the house.
We are told that after the robbers raided his house he tried to resist their demands and even armed himself with a machete which he used to attack one of the criminals.
Yes, he wanted to ward off the criminals but it is advisable not to confront armed robbers because they will shoot you. No amount of money is worth one’s life.
We sympathise with those who lost their loved one in such gruesome circumstances and hope that the long arm of the law will soon catch up with those who perpetrated the crime.
The rank marshal case is equally disturbing. The police are partly to blame for the unfortunate incident because rank marshals have literally become a law unto themselves.
They have formed up gangs or rather cartels and they ruthlessly attack anyone who crosses their path.
These fights started long back and some of the cases are on trial at the courts. Had the police stamped their authority and brought order at bus termini in the city by removing all touts, Josphat Munyoro could be alive today.
Rank marshals are behaving badly because they are being left to do so. It is the duty of the police, as enshrined in the Constitution, to protect peace loving citizens from criminals who take the law into their own hands.
We urge the police to put a stop to unlawful activities that are being done by touts. Travellers are having nightmares at bus termini because of these touts who man handle or even assault passengers forcing them to board certain buses.
This is a simple task which the police can act on and achieve results immediately. We have confidence in our police and we believe that those who call the shots must act quickly to arrest this seemingly unending menace.
Criminals have no place in our society.
