By Lloyd Msipa| Kwekwe a small mining town that owes its very existence to the mines sites around it. These mines are abandoned interests of international companies who found it unprofitable to continue operations in an environment of political toxicity.
As the political environment worsened the owners of mines like Globe and Phoenix, Gaika, Sabakwe and many others packed their bags and left Zimbabwe. It was not long before the local Godfather and his boys took over those mines and assumed ownership of all mining claims mined and un-mined. Everybody knows who the local Godfather is and no mining is authorised without his say so. He is known for saying “unowana madoor avarwa, woshaya kuti avarwa nani “
In a region were unemployment is high,the closure of ZISCO and other companoes, mining quickly became the only game in town. At the behest of the local Godfather under the guise of indigenisation young people were encouraged to invade mines owned by international companies in violation of international and regional bilateral agreements.
In return for political and legal protection from arrest, these youth pay a percentage of the loot to the Godfather. The most popular and right hand man of the Godfather is now the Minister of State Security. What that means is that the MaShurugwi are now a law unto themselves. They have a direct line to the head of state through the Minister of State Security.
It therefore can’t be a surprise that the MaShurugwis are behaving this way. They are the new ‘Boko Haram’ They command political power. They are protected. They kill at will with little fear of consequence. Lest we forget, these same MaShurugwi are used for political purposes during election time as evidenced by killings during campaigns in kwekwe during the last 2018 elections. It therefore is no surprise that the Police has to run for cover when one of their own was attacked with a machete In broad daylight. A regional power block of criminals runs Kwekwe and surrounding areas. And guess what, they have the presidents ear and he is a listening president. So the Machete wielding Mashurugwi are the new centre of power. Ichoo!