When the People Can Help Police Themselves

The last time Deputy Commissioner General (Crime) Josephine Shambare made efforts to engage the public – in Murehwa District, Mashonaland East Province – her spirits were somewhat deflated by the lukewarm reception she got; there was virtually nobody at the meeting, and the few opinion leaders who were there were not exactly the kind of public Dep Commr Gen Shambare had in mind. She wanted the hoi polloi, the ordinary people in the villages who bore the brunt of their children being mugged, raped or murdered.

So the senior cop might have been forgiven for stepping on a Zaka turf with a stifled sense of optimism for a large reception – after all, they say once beaten, twice shy. 

But what she saw at the old Zaka Growth Point in Masvingo East Ditrict, Masvingo Province, was nothing short of a pleasant surprise. There were hundreds of people from all walks of life – school children, church organisations, chiefs, headmen, village heads, police officers and many other ordinary Zaka residents – patiently braving the scorching heat, awaiting her arrival. The Officer-In-Charge Zaka Police Station, Chief Inspector Chitsungo had done a great job mobilising the people for the crucial meeting.

And it seemed the attendees had done their home work too, about why they had been called to attend. It is true that the generality of the people of Masvingo did not gain their fame by being timid. When asked into a fight they bring all their body and armour, and are never the ones to pull punches. They are so bold it is actually hard not to believe the rumours about their parents charging steep bride prices for their daughters.

The Deputy Commissioner General (Crime) recently came face to face with the no-hold-barred witticism of the Masvingo folk of Zaka, whom she had asked for a meeting after noting a number of disturbing traits about their criminal tendencies. Dep Commr Gen Shambare is a passionate crime fighter who wants to make the most of her current perch at the helm of the Crime Department in the ZRP. So averse is she to crime, especially crimes against the vulnerable, that she once diverted from her prepared speech at an award ceremony in Manicaland to vent her anger at parents who left their children exposed to rapists.

"Unoona munhu achienda kuchechi achisiya mwana musikana nemukomana webasa," said at the Nyabadza Family-sponsored Cop and Stations of the Year Awards for Rusape and Nyanga Districts in Manicaland Province held in Nyanga in August this year. "Unenge uchiti uri kuenda kupi, wasiya mwana nani?"

At that time, the senior cop – who loves to call herself an ancestor in the police business – was simply trying to warn parents about their seemingly innocuous habits, which left their kids exposed. But then the crime statistics from provinces started pouring in, and – upon analysis – Dep Commr Gen Shambare discovered to her mortification that one province had apparently not heard her warning shots in Nyanga. Luckily it was not Manicaland, for it would have been embarrassing indeed for the men and woman of law from the east if they had failed to observe a direct and impassioned appeal from their commander.

The province concerned was Masvingo.

"In our crime analysis, we noted that the of all the ten crimes of concern that the ZRP tries to eradicate with varying degrees of success in the provinces, the crimes of rape and murder are mostly committed here in Masvingo Province," said Dep Commr Gen Shambare in her initial address to the multitude that had gathered at the old Zaka Growth Point to lend the law lady an ear.

"And in Masvingo Province, it is Masvingo East District that seems to be struggling with murderers and rapists, with its returns always topping the rest, or coming a close second. This development is very worrying to us as the national crime office."

It should. Just a couple of years back, Masvingo East had to launch the Black Week campaign, in which every resident in the district had to wear a black armband in solidarity with the rest of fellow citizens in the district as they strove to fight accidents that were claiming their members in swathes. The district finally triumphed against this blight, and was actually on the foothill of launching another armband campaign against murder when the crime suddenly showed an encouraging dip. So low were the numbers that a news team of Average Joe was surprised to note that Masvingo East District had the shortest crime register for almost three consecutive weeks in the month of June this year.

But could this just have been a nine days wonder? Because now, all that good work the cops in the district seem to have been doing is on the verge of being unravelled by the latest unabated upsurge of the killing and raping in Masvingo East – Zaka to be pinpoint precise.

Statistics obtained from the province show that Masvingo Province received 72 murder cases between January and September this year, in comparison to the 68 they received during the same period last year. Of these, 28 cases were recorded in Masvingo East, whose stations comprise Bhasera, Bikita, Chartsworth, Gutu, Mashoko and Zaka. 

Ten of the murder cases were reported in Zaka alone.

Masvingo East also had the highest number or rape case, which stood at 130 for the period between January and September this year. Eighty-one of these rape crimes were perpetrated against minors.

"That is why I and my team have travelled here today. We want to find out from you the residents of this place why we keep having such disturbing curses rising in your area. And we want to find out from you want we as the police can do to stop the scourge of rape and murder in Zaka. I want this discussion to be as interactive as possible, because the solutions come from you, the residents of Zaka," she said before opening the debate to the floor.

She might as well have opened a can of worms. Or a bag of snakes. Or Pandora's Box. The people of Zaka would not even agree to waste as little time as allowing a short break so the Guest of Honour could catch her breath. They were up on their feet and queuing for the microphone before Dep Commr Shambare could even sit.

"Yes it is bad that our children are being raped," said Richard Mazhetese from a village of the same name, "but zvipfeko zvavari kupfeka mazuva ano vasikana vacho hazviiti."

This was immediately quashed by some women in the crowd, who argued that there were many infants under three years being raped. Surely they were not being raped because of their skimpy dressing?

Another contributor, Mai Chigudu said, "All these new churches and their new fancy prophecies are the main reasons behind many murders in this place. Our kids today are lazy. They refuse to work and spent their time consulting these prophets who feed them the lies that we, their parents are so jealousy of their success that we use witchcraft to thwart their economic progress.

"In anger the children will then turn on us."

Some presentations were short, precise and went straight to the minutiae of the matter at hand; others were long and winding, but all the contributions were passionate. Inevitably, there were others who just could not resist to go melodramatic, as one local man did as he swayed this way and that in apparent intoxication.

"Ini ndiri kuda kutaura zvemurder," he breathed. "Murder. Mukaona panozopondwa munhu paya. Kuti ndinzi ndaponda inini… dzinenge dziri shungu dziya; kunenge kuri kurwadziwa. Munhu anenge atadzirwa chaizvo…"

"Haaaa; iwe gara pasi mhani iwe! Hapana zvauri kutaura apa!" The crowd booed at him as the operator pulled the microphone from under his nose.

"Iwe; rega ndipedze kutaura mhani iwe…"

At least the man was keeping in line with the topic at hand; there were other locals who did exactly the opposite – obviously they were of the opinion that all their problems would magically disappear before their very eyes, now that they had been visited by someone from the organisation's highest office. They dredged up cold cases twenty years old, while some took the advantage to register their displeasure with some of their constabulary, especially those working the local roads. 

Dep Commr Gen Shambare however took everything in stride, listened intently to each and every contribution and took time to respond to all the people's queries, even those that strayed off the topic of the day. But overall, it was the business of the day that prevailed, and the visiting party learned that there were other underlying reasons to the murders and juvenile rapes in Zaka, which included land disputes and drunkenness (most of the time, bottle stores were not being closed at stipulated times, and there were bars that were allegedly being allowed to continue operating even though they had no licences).  

The parents were also becoming frustrated with the growing bill of rights of their children, whom they said were no longer controllable because they were now too aware of their rights. This was said by Headman Makumbe, who added that the children ended up being victims of rape because they refused to listen to their elders' voices of reason and experience.

The locals also expressed concern that in some places, like in Baramanza area under Chief Nyakunhuwa, there were no police officers in sight for kilometres on end. The area's headman said there were literally no reporting centres, let alone bases that would at least deter would-be offenders by the simple factor of police visibility. The transport challenge faced by the cops in their daily chores was noted by the multitude, and they showed appreciation that this was one of the major reasons why some scenes took too long to be attended to. 

But then there those areas were other areas where the police were concentrated but they were accused of doing nothing to the extent of allegedly lowering themselves to just stand-by watchers as criminals terrorised villagers, especially in areas around Jerera Growth Point. As a result, the people said they saw no point in alerting the police as to the presence of wanted persons nearby because they would not be apprehended anyway.

In response, Dep Commr Gen promised the Zaka people that something would be done by the provincial command to ensure that the relations between the police and the public were improved. However, she was quick to point out that policing was not the duty of the police officers alone.

"Of course the police are there to keep our areas safe, but people should know that we all have a duty to protect our neighbourhoods safe from criminals. Police officers are not prophets who can just tell criminals from law abiding citizens," she said.

"It is also our duty as responsible citizens to inform the police through our various community policing initiatives about wanted persons that are living in our areas. I am aware that we lag behind some of our counterparts in the region and other more developed police organisations as far as resources are concerned, but the reality of the matter is material resources alone are not enough in fighting crime. 

"That is why the police launched the concept of community policing. It was an idea to encourage public participation since crime is committed in the very communities you live, and mostly by the people you know. So it is your duty as responsible citizens to alert the police as to the presence of criminals in your area." 

Indeed, as responsible citizens, there was were some wise words from the floor, especially school girls, who urged other fellow girls not to be swayed by sweet teeth and linger among men because they craved for goodies.

After the meeting, Dep Commr Gen Shambare said she was impressed by the crowd that received her and its eagerness to indulge in helpful conference with the police.