Zim police will shoot to kill machete gold miners: Govt

Justice, legal and parliamentary affairs minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi has warned machete-wielding artisanal miners against terrorising mining areas

Minister Ziyambi’s comments come after several people have been killed by machete-wielding artisanal miners over disputes in informal mining settlements.

Minister Ziyambi said the government will soon to enact legislation that allows police to shoot at those found in possession of the weapon.

The Minister who was addressing the Zanu pf Mashonaland west provincial inter-district conference in Chinhoyi said this has been necessitated by the fact that artisanal miners are not respecting the sanctity of life.

“We are going to ban mabhemba in mining areas. We instructed police to shoot to kill those to be found with machete, those arrested for possession of the weapon will not be granted bail” said Minister  Ziyambi

The justice minister also revealed that there will be delimitation of constituencies ahead of the 2023 harmonised election.

Meanwhile, the province dismissed reports circulating on social media to the effect that it endorsed another candidate other than President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the presidential candidate for the 2023 harmonised election.

The inter-district meeting also discussed issues pertaining to the forthcoming ruling party national conference set for Goromonzi this week.

zbc