Kudakwashe Kutamahufa
SHURUGWI- The Zimbabwe Republic Police has destroyed 44 drug and substance hotspots and apprehended over 580 drug peddlers in the Midlands province since the beginning of the year.
This was revealed by the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in Midlands Owen Ncube during the launch of the ZRP Shurugwi and community campaign against murder, drug and substance abuse, domestic violence, and machetes. The minister was concerned with the continued high rate of criminal activities in Shurugwi.
He also warned machete gangs and those involved in drug and substance abuse that the law would soon catch up with them.
The launch of the campaign was a turning point and dawn of a new era for Midlands Province and Shurugwi community as the fight against murder, drug and substance abuse, domestic violence, and machete violence is intensified.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared Drug and Substance Abuse a national disaster in terms of Section 27 subsection 2 of the Civil Protection Act, Chapter 10:06.
“This campaign, therefore, resonates with the attendant Zimbabwe Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan 2024-2030, which established an inter-ministerial drug and substance mitigation committee to deal with supply reduction, demand reduction harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation, community reintegration, psychosocial and media communication,” he said.
During the period January to September 2024, the Midlands Province Supply Reduction Pillar identified and destroyed 44 drug and substance hotspots mainly in Zvishavane, Shurugwi, Gweru Rural, Gokwe, Kwekwe, and Gweru Urban.
“A total of 587 arrests were made, demonstrating the Second Republic’s uncompromising stance against drug peddling. So, drug barons be warned, as the long arm of the law will soon catch up with you,” he said.
Under the harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation pillar, 701 drug victims were admitted for treatment at provincial and district health facilities, with 395 discharged and referred to re-integration centres among them Queen of Peace, Ngomahuru, and Ingutsheni.
Minister Ncube said experts in the area of drugs and substance abuse indicate that widely abused drugs include mbanje, ganja cake, crystal meth, mutoriro, glue, tumbwa, sex-enhancing pills, and skin-lightening creams.
ZRP Shurugwi was receiving an average of 115 cases of drug and substance abuse-related crimes each month, among them assaults, murder, domestic violence, rape, and violent crimes including the scourge of mabhemba.
The Judicial Service Commission has expressed concern over the high rate of murder cases in Midlands Province.
According to the National Prosecution Authority, the Midlands Province has the highest rate of murder cases in the country with 90 percent of these involving lethal weapons.
Out of a staggering 1 383 murder cases handled by the High Court in 2023, the Midlands Province was the bloodiest as it accounted for 379 cases while Matabeleland South was a distant second with 223 cases and Bulawayo third with 168 cases.
Matabeleland North Province had the least murder cases at 23.
Minister Ncube said; “Muno muShurugwi munozikamwa kuti kune mabhuru ekuMakusha, maZBS epaMambowa, team Chironde yakabatana neGutsa, uye Mashafutani.
“Zvino rwendo rwuno mapurisa edu vakagadzirira nekupiwa motokari mastations ose vachagadzirisa mabhuru ose kusvika zvanaka. Crime does not pay. Fore-warned is fore-armed, Gweja Nyumwa.”
The minister said violence tarnishes the image of the province, which undermines efforts to attract tourism, trade, and investment at a time they have been mandated to modernize, industrialize, and grow the provincial Gross Domestic Product.
Officer Commanding Police Midlands Province Commissioner Partson Nyabadza said the campaign aims to find the solution to reduce crimes.
“ZRP Midlands Province has organised this event and it is placed to deal with crimes that are highly concerned among the Midlands communities,” he said.
Shurugwi Officer-in-Charge Chief Inspector Hazvinei Jindu said some crimes perpetrated in her jurisdiction are harrowing.
“It was not easy to see someone with one ear, without fingers and other body parts which are some of the crimes we are coming across right here in Shurugwi,” she said.
Insp. Jindu said drug and substance abuse is the major reason why people were committing crimes using machetes with no respect for human life.
New Ziana