In a heavy-handed late-night operation, police in Hurungwe deployed tear gas on a residential mining community in an attempt to apprehend sex workers, leaving innocent residents, including pregnant women and infants, suffering from respiratory distress.
Last Wednesday’s midnight raid at Chikuti, a mining hub along the Harare-Chirundu highway, escalated from a routine police sweep into a public health hazard, with choking smoke seeping into nearby homes and affecting sleeping families.
The operation forced pregnant women and young children to flee their beds in the early hours of the morning, with many seeking urgent medical care the following day.
However, some victims were turned away at Kasimure Clinic because they lacked police reports.
Heavily pregnant Millicent Banda was among the few who received immediate attention.
"I don't know what happened. I woke up around 01:00 to thick smoke of tear gas, choked and had difficulty breathing," said Banda.
Her experience was echoed by Nomsa Mutengu, whose nine-month-old daughter, Miya Zinyama, was also affected.
Mutengu rushed to the local clinic and was referred to Karoi Hospital, where she received a prescription, she could not afford and was advised to return for a check-up.
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Obtaining the required police report to access medication proved to be an additional ordeal for victims.
"After being tear-gassed in the middle of the night, I went to the clinic and they asked me to bring a police report, which I was given after some harsh words from the police officer," complained Mutengu.
"The officer implied that tear gas smoke was not that harmful."
The official authorisation for her child's treatment was scribbled on a plain piece of paper by one assistant sergeant Damba, who noted that the force's official "Form 234" was out of stock.
"This office has run out of forms 234 medical… can you assist the bearer," wrote Damba,” the note read. “The child's clinic card officially recorded a "hot body" and "inhaled tear gas smoke". According to a sex worker identified only as Talent, the midnight operation came as a surprise.
"The police raided us at the shops and we ran in different directions, with some hiding in nearby houses.
They tear-gassed the whole area to punish just a few sex workers they had failed to arrest," said Talent.
When contacted for comment, Mashonaland West police spokesperson inspector Ian Kohwera repeatedly promised an update, but ultimately remained silent.
"I will come back to you after getting a report from the relevant station," Kohwera said.
Police officers in the area have become notorious for their aggressive crackdowns on sex workers, who regularly travel from Harare, Chirundu, Chinhoyi, and Karoi to follow the money trail left by artisanal miners.
