Armed robbers terrorise Zim

Source: Armed robbers terrorise Zim – DailyNews Live

Tarisai Machakaire      1 May 2017

HARARE – Police have warned both businesses and members of the public to
be wary of gangs of armed robbers who have mounted a spate of heists,
particularly in and around Harare – in a new crime wave that is targeting
companies and homesteads.

The warning comes as the dangerous robbers have also used detonators to
rob a fuel station on the outskirts of Harare last week, among their other
recent heists.

“Armed robbers are on the prowl and members of the public are therefore
discouraged from keeping large sums of money in person, cars and business
premises.

“Police are urging the public to deposit their money in banks and engage
reputable security companies to guard their premises.

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police is concerned with the cases of armed robbery
that of late have been occurring mainly at service stations and other
business premises,” national police spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, warned
yesterday.

“We also urge the public to desist from travelling during the night,
especially in isolated places, to avoid being victims of this heinous
crime.

“The robbers target places where they know large sums of money are being
kept, by pouncing on their unsuspecting victims. In most instances, they
are armed with pistols or dangerous weapons,” he added.

Elaborating on the criminals’ modus operandi, Nyathi said one or more of
these lowlifes would enter the targeted places and point a weapon at
people there, before announcing that a robbery was under way and stealing
valuables.

In one incident, on April 22 this year, five robbers wearing hoodies
stormed a fuel station in Beatrice, holding hostage four employees at
gunpoint, including a security guard.

They subsequently broke into an office and blew open a safe using
explosives, before escaping with $10 161.

On April 26, Nyathi said, armed robbers also left a Chegutu man for dead
after they attacked him with an okapi knife and machete, while he was on
his way to Bosbury Mine.

In another Harare incident at Hopley Farm in Waterfalls, a 40-year-old
woman and her teenage daughter were attacked by two armed robbers while
they were on their way to the tobacco auction floors.

Analysts who spoke to the Daily News yesterday attributed the alarming
rise in crime to the country’s dying economy and the worsening poverty
levels.

Zimbabwe is deep in the throes of a debilitating economic crisis which has
led to horrendous company closures and the consequent loss of hundreds of
thousands of jobs.

At the same time, economists have said that poverty levels in the country
are skyrocketing, with average incomes now at their lowest levels in more
than 60 years – with more than 76 percent of the country’s families now
having to make do with pitiful incomes that are well below the poverty
datum line.

This comes as Zimbabwe has recently been officially ranked as the poorest
country in Africa.

According to the Africa 2016 Wealth Report, Zimbabwe has been ranked as
the country with the poorest people on the continent, with average wealth
of $200 per person.

In the report, AfrAsia – a Mauritius-domiciled financial institution which
once operated in Zimbabwe after acquiring the now-defunct Kingdom
Financial Holdings Limited – noted that back in 2000, Zimbabwe was one of
the wealthiest countries in sub-Saharan Africa on a wealth per capita
basis.