BY DR MASIMBA MAVAZA | A police officer was killed and another officer was seriously injured by the Mashurugwi machete wielding gold panners. The Mashurugwi are identified with their dirty outfits covered in mud and always move around with assorted weaponry. Only in 2019 several police officers and soldiers were murdered by these Mashurugwi and hundreds of civilians were and are still being buried alive in the mine shafts all thanks to the Brutal Mashurugwi gangs.
Is Zimbabwe failing to control these Mashurugwi or there is one powerful person who is behind this barbaric group blood sucking idiots whose hands are dripping of the blood of the innocent people?
Mashurugwi murdered three soldiers in Bindura injuring seven others. Besides the soldiers several members of the public were killed in several towns by the Mashurugwi. their infamous presence has spread from Kwekwe to all towns of Zimbabwe. In Chitungwiza in December a young man was killed ruthlessly by the Mashurugwi. No one has been arrested yet and the carnage continues. Now they have again killed a police officer and injured one. Zimbabwe now leaves as if it is in the war time.
The Mashurugwi were created by one of the now senior ministers who is now so senior and filthy rich. Because of his proximity to the president the police are afraid to go out full throttle to these Mashurugwi murderers.
When they started they were called Alshabab. They were created as a protection unity of the minister and his criminal cabal. They were then transformed to be debt collectors. The senior officials will send them to the mines and collect thirty percent from any and every miner in the area. The officials will collect the money telling their victims that the money is for the president. This gave a very cold chill run down the spines of the law and security agents in the area. This was the main reason why ZANU PF lost in Kwekwe.
Any person who complained about these violent blood sucking vampires will be labelled a G40. As a result the Mashurugwi’s became a power unto themselves. Now the blood of the innocent floors down the streets of Zimbabwe with no protection from our law enforcement agents. Is Zimbabwe degenerating into security abyss.
Looking to the future, the MaShurugwi poses a bigger threat to the stability of the country. They are already beyond the police’s reach; they have shown it by the recent killing of a policeman. They killed three army officers in Bindura and the army has not acted. The people of Zimbabwe have their hope in the army, Only the army can now deal with them; but the army has been poked in the eye yet they are silent. for how long shall we suffer at the hands of the Mashurugwi.
MaShurugwi & related factions are aligned to politicians in the Midlands province, these politicians are known and feared. The army is very strong and well trained. If given a go ahead the Mashurugwi will be a thing of the past.
The Mashurugwi do not stand a chance with our army. So why are they flourishing. A military operation against MaShurugwi could easily overrun them. why is the army not called in. is there someone being protected. is the president aware of this. Gaika mine exposed these pretenders. Mashurugwis are allowed to survive because of impacts on economic interests of those now sitting in the seats of power.
If this is allowed we as a country are drifting into serious security risks.
The bigger risk for the nation is that MaShurugwi could become an even more ruthless armed insurgence. Already they are. They show how minerals have been abused to fund wars in the world. The Mashurugwi aim to exert their powers and authority in all areas where mining is operated.
If the Mashurugwi and their Godfather are not stopped another opposing group will be created and there will be more blood in our streets.
Zimbabwe is on the verge of a dangerous scenario with MaShurugwi. it is surely playing in the danger zone. Their link to politics and resource exploitation could lead to very serious armed conflict in the country.
If this is not taken seriously Zimbabwe will be the history of Somalia. There is a sense of paralysis when it comes to what should be done about gangs that have overrun areas where gold panning activities have become pronounced and how the attendant violence should be tackled effectively.
The number of lives lost and the people maimed or injured due to violence perpetrated by “Mashurugwi” throughout the country is
threatening to rival those lost to road traffic accidents. “Mashurugwi” is the term used to refer to outlaws that have become the terror of artisanal miners and mining companies.
As an example, in Kadoma District alone during the first 10 months of this year, police recorded 234 machete-related crimes, while in neighbouring Chegutu District, similar cases have risen from 108 to 125.
The belt stretching from Chegutu, Kadoma right down to Kwekwe has been the foremost active theatre of the most viciously fought battles, rendering it the equivalent of Zimbabwe’s Wild West. In Kwekwe a number of miners were burried alife in the mine shafts by the Mashurugwi. Nothing has been done and this has encouraged the Mashurugwi to perpetrate more violent acts.
“Artisanal miners are attacked, robbed, evicted, seriously injured if they are lucky to survive — and, in the worst case scenario, killed in the vile and barbaric attacks that defy conduct expected of normal human beings.”
The gangs can attack artisanal miners and take over their claims, but a pattern that is beginning to emerge is that they do not go that route because that is the more difficult approach. They wait for the miners at the end of the day’s work before pouncing because this is the easier, less taxing way.
In some instances, the gangs wait for the miners to sell their ore, before they move in and rob them. In this modern day, the savagery with which this is carried out is shocking. It is more shocking that nothing is being done about this behaviour.
The weapon of choice in most of the attacks has been the machete —ordinarily used in the manual harvesting of sugar cane or clearing brush.
These are weapons which are now turned to our people.
In Mazowe the Mashurugwis arrive and held the minors hostage. they will be forced to dig and dig. all the days work will be confiscated including their food and any other property.
These Mashurugwis have now taken their carnage into towns.
if they pick a fight in the bars The Mashurugwi retreat only to come back with an army of tens of machete wielding dirty men infamously known as Mashurugwi.
These people have no respect for Human life and they have no fear of the law. how can they be afraid of the law when they are backed by those who think they are above the law.
Action must be taken now and this year 2020 must be the year to protect the nation. Government must remove the murderous mindset that is driving the violence. who knows what next will these gangs use, guns, crowbars, knobkerries or spears?
Does the government need to wake up after more blood.
Minister Kazembe Kazembe must deal with this scourge as a matter of national emmergency How long will we be killed while Kazembe swims in fear of those vampires surrounding the president.
The army must be called to Cordon off areas found to have deposits or where there are official mining activities, they must help in providing a secure working environment for mining companies and gold panners.
Minister Muchinguri Kashiri must show her beauty by modelling the army towards the areas which bread the Mashurugwis The inclusion of the police, security companies and other resources from entities involved in mining activities could constitute a concerted response that could shut out the marauding gangs.
The war lords who are using the president’s name in crime must be flashed out. Zimbabwe does not need this.
The Army must secure the transportation of the gold from the mining areas to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the counry’s official gold buyer and processor.
“Gold deposits continue to be found in the belt that stretches from Gwanda in the south of the country; Mberengwa, Shurugwi, Kwekwe in the Midlands; Kadoma, Chegutu and Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West; and Bindura, Guruve, Mazowe and Shamva in Mashonaland Central.
There are areas in Manicaland where gold is mined, but these are defined by the absence of violence accompanying them.”
Shurugwi itself is very peaceful. people of Shurugwi are angered by this abuse of their name. Shurugwi is a very beautiful town and it is not a violent town. The name given to these murderers is an insult to the real Shurugwi people.
The mystery of these killers is the question how the barbaric and brutal conduct of these gangs has been allowed to spiral out of control for so long yet they are under the watch of law enforcement agents. This comes to the point that the bigwigs should be reigned in.
Less inspiring is the absence of a coherent strategy to deal with and arrest the menace. Instead with each day and each gold find, the audacity of the gangs multiplies. the deaths of people goes unrecorded. The stories from the gold fields are knee shaking deeply depressing and flabbergasting.
The President had an opportunity to address the issue when he visited Kadoma for a youth conference which was held in November. Kadoma, Kwekwe and Chegutu are among the epicentres of violence in gold panning or mining areas in the country. The silence of our armed forces is telling.
We should all remember that In the beginning, the violence associated with artisanal mining was specific to the Midlands town of Kwekwe and Shurugwi but, like a raging wildfire, it has since spread throughout the country. The Midlands, Mashonaland Central and West provinces, however, come up as the worst theatres of violence in which the gangs are the lead actors. Shurugwi is only involved and blamed for allowing its name to be associated with these murderers.
Communities all over the country live in absolute terror of the gangs.
Somalia descended into chaos because the lawlessness there began as pockets confined to specific areas, but in due course spun out of control and to this day, the continent bears the brunt of that conflict. Zimbabwe must never allow this to happen. Zimbabweans are generally peaceful people and these gangs must be dealt with now and now is now.
Without action Zimbabwe risks falling into the hands of these warlords. That would be a recipe for disaster and Zimbabwean security is at risk. The situation with Mashurugwi now resembles a dog’s breakfast. There is, therefore, an urgent need for a comprehensive response that must bring the activities of these gangs so that artisanal miners can go about their work unperturbed. Marshalling in law enforcement agents alongside private security companies will be part of the required response.
There should be no sacred cows in dealing with this scourge.
As a country we are fast descending into the pool of confusion.
The Mashurugwi must be arraigned together with their sponsors.
