Chombo in staunch defence of roadblocks

HOME Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo has claimed Zimbabwe is the safest country in Southern Africa due to the ability of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to nab criminals.

Source: Chombo in staunch defence of roadblocks – NewsDay Zimbabwe November 2, 2016

BY VENERANDA LANGA

He said this on Monday when he appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport, where he was questioned on the numerous roadblocks mounted across the country which MPs felt were a big deterrent to investors and tourists.

Highfield East MP, Eric Murai (MDC-T) had asked Chombo to explain why there were many roadblocks in the country saying the result was it ended up resembling a war zone with police all over the place.

“It is the wish of ZRP and the Home Affairs ministry to assist people that want to do business in Zimbabwe and ensure the ease of doing business index improves,” Chombo said.

“The other reason why people like coming to our country is because there is peace and order and malcontents are arrested.”

According to the World Bank ease of doing business indicator 2017, Zimbabwe is ranked 161 out of 190 countries.

The Home Affairs minister claimed people preferred the quiet in Zimbabwe. He claimed on Thursdays and Friday nights, planes from the region were full of Zimbabweans travelling back home to see their families, whom they leave behind while they work outside the country.

“People prefer Zimbabwe compared to South Africa, Zambia or any other country for that matter. People work in other countries, but leave their families in Zimbabwe because they know they are not secure in other countries because of crime. On Saturdays and Sundays, all restaurants in the country are full of cars with foreign number plates because of the peace and quiet that Zimbabwe enjoys,” Chombo said.

He claimed Zimbabwean police were able to account for any malcontents who disturbed the peace and quiet.

“Despite the roadblocks, the possibility of improving the ease of doing business is going to be realised because people are secure and can go to shopping malls without soldiers with machine guns surrounding them. Roadblocks are not a war zone. They are just police officers stopping you to check certain items,” Chombo said.

He said police officers had never fired at or shot anyone at a roadblock. Instead, he said criminals were the ones, who at times ran over police officers.

“Some of the roadblocks are not by police. There are about five agencies, who want to check things from motorists and they cannot do it on their own, they have to mount roadblocks with the assistance of the police,” Chombo said.