Police probe armed robbery at Chief Marupi’s homestead 

Sunday News Reporters

THE recent brazen armed robbery at Chief Marupi’s homestead in Gwanda District, Matabeleland South Province, has left the community reeling.

The thieves made off with an Isuzu double cab motor vehicle, R2 700, and cellphones.

The stolen vehicle was one of 90 handed over to chiefs by President Mnangagwa to enhance their mobility and operational capacity as part of the Government’s Vision 2030 agenda.

Police National spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that two armed robbers stormed the homestead while Chief Marupi was in bed.

“The police are investigating a case where yet-to-be-identified people stormed into Chief Marupi’s homestead in Gwanda and got away with his Government-allocated vehicle, R2 700 and cellphones. On the day in question, Chief Marupi arrived home on Thursday evening and went to retire to bed, leaving the doors of the vehicle unlocked.

“While sleeping, two men wearing balaclavas stormed into the house and demanded cash. Chief Marupi then handed over R2 700 before they took their cellphones. They also drove away with his Isuzu vehicle,” said Comm Nyathi.

Born Oaheng Nare on 26 February 1996, Chief Marupi succeeded his father, Mr Lawrence Nare (Chief Marupi) who died in 2008. He was installed in 2012 as a minor awaiting to officially take over Dibilashaba in 2014 when he turned 18.

As the investigation unfolds, concerns about the safety and security of traditional leaders and their communities are being raised.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi has described the recent spate of armed robberies being experienced in the country as a national security issue which the country’s law enforcement agencies were working to address as a matter of urgency.

The minister made the remarks during an oral answer to questions without notice session in the National Assembly last Wednesday.

“It is very worrisome when incidences of lawlessness especially of this nature where carjacking happens in the country. The law enforcement agency is seized with this and in fact we believe that something must be done urgently to ensure that even on our roads, the carnage that is happening stops.

“One is that all law-abiding citizens must condemn behaviour that points to lawlessness and help the law enforcement agency to ensure that they can control that.

The second point is that as law enforcement agencies, we are going to up our game to ensure that we now deal with this menace, which we believe is actually a national security issue, to ensure that we nip it in the bud and deal with it,” said Minister Ziyambi.

He said while he could not go into details on the measures being put in place by the law enforcement agencies, strides were being taken to increase security measures in the country.

“The finer details will remain with the security agencies because they cannot disclose the methods that they want to use to ensure that we are all able to drive on our highways peacefully and we are all able to sleep at home peacefully without fearing anyone breaking into our homes or breaking into our cars,” said the minister.

The minister’s remarks come against the backdrop of a US$4 million heist that took place at Bulawayo’s Ecobank Parkade Centre branch.

The armed robbery, which could arguably be the largest-ever in the country, took place in broad daylight, with six masked men getting away with trunks of money that were destined for Harare.