Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said the government will descend heavily on machete-wielding gangs that are wreaking havoc in the country especially in gold-mining areas.

Chiwenga made the remarks while addressing scores of
Bindura residents who had gathered for the International Day of Co-operatives on Thursday. He said:

As a government, we are saying no to machete-wielding miners, hatidi mabhemba (we don’t want machetes)! Let me repeat, no to machete-wielding miners.

The law will descend heavily on (the rogue) artisanal miners. We cannot afford to have illegal miners wreaking havoc in the country.

The violent machete-wielding gangs, also known as
MaShurugwi , have been making headlines over the past several months with a significant number of murders perpetrated by the marauding thugs being reported.

The gangs are reportedly backed by powerful politicians who are benefiting from their illegal goal-mining activities.Credit : NewsDay