Bomb Scare In Masvingo
Acting Masvingo Police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Prosper Mugauri has however, said there was nothing to panic as ‘everything was under control’.
“There is really nothing to fear. The bomb has been since disposed of by army engineers…and the road is now safe to use. We are still investigating to find out whether there are culprits who left the bomb on the street with an evil intent or maybe it could be one of those bombs left out during the liberation struggle,” said Assistant Inspector Mugauri.
The bomb was discovered by a motorist,Godfrey Marime, who was driving from Bondolfi College going to Masvingo town.
Army spokesperson in Masvingo Kingstone Chivave confirmed that army engineers were deployed at the scene to dispose the bomb.
“We sent our specialists to dispose the bomb. We believe everything is now under control, the people must not panic and they should carry on with their business as usual,” said Chivave.
However, people spoken to said they were still terrified.
“We are not used to see bombs in the roads or streets. We are actually shocked by what happened here. There is no explanation as to why the bomb was dumped in the road,” said Isheunopa Hwechuma from Stop-Over.
Meanwhile Bulawayo police have allegedly been ordered not to sanction any street protests fearing North African style uprisings.
This came out after police refused to clear planned demonstrations and meetings penciled for this month by residents over poor service delivery, saying they had been given a directive not to sanction any protests.
The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) had planned to coordinate demonstrations against poor service delivery by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), Bulawayo City Council (BCC), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), registrar general’s office and retailers in the city.
However, BPRA said police denied them permission saying they had been given a directive not to clear any meetings or demonstrations.
“Police said they were given a directive not to clear and meetings or demonstrations.
“They however did not reveal from what level the order came and the reasons,” Rodrick Fayayo, the BPRA coordinator said in an interview.
Fayayo had engaged the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) on possible legal action against the police.
Bulawayo acting police spokesperson, Inspector Precious Simango refused to comment on the matter when contacted for comment.
According to a list of grievances released by BPRA, the association wanted to demonstrate against Zesa for high tariffs, erratic and unjustified power cuts, pre-multicurrency bills that are still being charged to residents using, “an unknown and fraudulent” exchange system, and corruption.
The association accused ZRP of corruption, poor and slow response to crime scenes, police brutality, police intimidation and victimization, police conduct including disregard for duty and abuse of power.
The association accused the registrar general’s office of shortage of resources, corruption, inefficiency and abuse of office and position.