Brian Rungano Temba
Zimbabwe Republic Police national spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi has dissuaded the public from speaking about their finances.
The warning comes after a recent spate of robberies.
Speaking to Tateguru TV, Asst Com Nyathi said most of the cases they closed in 2021 on home invasions and armed robberies were a result of leaked information on money being kept in homes, business premises or cars.
“We have noted with concern that people are not banking their money and resort to keeping large sums of money in their homes, workplaces or move around with them in their cars.
This has made them easy target for criminals who then commit robberies and at times armed,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
In most robbery cases, the intruders are said to be pinpointing amounts held.
“What is most disturbing is the trend that these robberies are always precise on where to find the money. This is because of leaked information and tip offs by co-workers or colleagues whom the victims would have been so trusting with information on the where abouts of their money,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
Asst Comm Nyathi said some of the armed robberies are also being staged by security companies with accurate information of cash in transit (CIT) and the route it will be transported on.
“Police have noted instances like the Gweru, ZB CIT car jacking and the Chadcombe cases where security personnel leak information leading to staged robberies.
These are all inside jobs that cost the client’s business severely,” added Asst Comm Nyathi.
“Police advise the public to keep matters of their finance a secret from anyone. It is also wise to resort to keeping one’s money in the bank as they now have Forex carrying capacity in the form of Nostro Accounts,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
Zimbabwe Republic Police has recorded in the year 2021 alone 922 arrests of robberies with 849 of them being armed robberies.
“We have had shoot outs with armed robbers leading to their apprehending by police and most of the cases are in court as we speak.
However, armed robbers are abusing the bail system whereby after being released on bail they go on to partake in heists and committing the same crimes. As Police we are engaging the Judiciary Service Commission to address the issue,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
Asst Comm Nyathi said the police will not tire in confronting the menace of armed robberies.
“Government has played its part in facilitating this endeavour with the fleet of police cars and fuel we received from President Emmerson Mnangagwa this year.
The 200 vehicles have come in handy in timeous deployment of our crack teams and response snipers to crime scenes within time to catch the offenders within the radius,” he added.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his Unity Day Speech gave a stern warning to those committing armed robberies.
“Lately, we have witnessed an upsurge in gun-related crimes. This is a cĺear upsurge in abuse of firearms including violent armed robberies.
Government now treats this as a grave threat to personal and national security. Decisive measures have now become necessary to put an end to this growing menace which threatens our otherwise peaceful, law-abiding nation and citizenry.
Those who dabble in arms will soon fall by the sword. Let them be warned,” said President Mnangagwa.
It would appear, Zimbabwe is not the only country grappling with a spike in robberies.
According to a recent statement made by South Africa Minister of Police General Bheki Cele, between April 2021 to end of June 2021, 5 760 people were killed in South Africa.
This is 2 294 more people killed compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
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