YESTERDAY we carried a depressing court story in which a soldier with the Presidential Guard Infantry Battalion was injured in a dramatic armed robbery shoot-out with police detectives in Mutorashanga.
The soldier escaped the shoot-out with a bullet lodged in his rib cage, only to be arrested upon seeking medical attention.
The increase in robbery cases involving members of the uniformed forces, in particular soldiers and police officers, is grossly worrisome.
This has increased phenomenally since President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over power in a military coup in November 2017.
It seems as if every gang of armed robbers these days includes a soldier or police officer.
We have, in the past, reported on how rampant indiscipline has become the order of the day in the rank and file of the army and what we are witnessing now is a case of that situation spiralling out of control, dangerously so.
Even more worrisome is that it is not just common soldiers who are committing such heinous crimes, but soldiers from elite brigades responsible of ensuring the safety of the presidency and Harare, the citadel of power.
This begs the question: Is the nation safe anymore?
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Mnangagwa, who doubles as commander-in-chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces should come out of his cocoon and condemn this dastardly behaviour or the country will soon be overrun by militias.
One thing Mnangagwa, and all those within the military command structure, need to know is that mutinies do not come in isolation.
They start with such sporadic acts of indiscipline and once they gain enough currency, explode with disastrous consequences.
Such criminal acts should not be treated as isolated cases. They are a crystallisation of disgruntlement in the army over poor working conditions.
It started with theft of food rations and illegal gold mining, violence, and now this.
Behold, compatriots, those in charge of the national armoury have turned rogue and from now on it is a case of a fox taking charge of the henhouse.
