23 December 2021
Shamila N Mdlongwa
Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube
The festive season is a time for giving and celebrating but this mood is being dampened by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, ZRP, who are intentionally disturbing the mood in guise of doing thier jobs.
Christmas season is the busiest time of the year but this time around in the Central Business District the situation is compounded with a presence of heavy traffic in all streets as well as people, shoppers, vendors, money changers and teenagers who are roaming about aimlessly.
Shoppers are flooding Fast food outlets, Restaurants, Supermarkets, Clothing Retailers, Chinese Shops as well as street vendors.
There is unprecedented influx of motor vehicles in the city causing slow movement of cars at most times traffic jams.
This is when the presence of the ZRP would expected to be visible running around controlling traffic and movement of people
But shockingly the police in Bulawayo are busy prying on people who are not wearing their masks properly, handicuffing and leading them to Drill Hall Police Station.
The traffic section of the police are busy setting up roadblocks in peripherals of the city were there is less congestion of traffic and or running around town on their motorbikes and recently acquired smaller police vehicles cars doing nothing about the conjestion of people and traffic in areas like corner 5th and 6th Avenues and Hebert Chitepo and also 10th Avenue and Fort Street, Fife Street were there is heavy traffic jams and movement of people.
Instead, these reporters have spotted the police hiding in bushes with spikes so as to waylaid drivers who try to circumvent their roadblocks.
One such pointless roadblocks is one setup near Heath Streak Academy corner 4th Avenue extension/7th street.
Last night police officers were busy arresting clients and hairdressers who were still in Beauty Salons after the 7 O’clock closing period.
One such incident is a salon along Fife Street and 9th Avenue, were, at around ten past seven in the evening a visibly drunk ZRP officer pushed open the salon door and declared everyone inside arrested.
While the Bulawayo police officers are seen hiding in bushes and making then pay traffic offence fines, and arresting those who would have been improperly wearing masks, the police in Ocala, Florida, USA are seen in a video posing as Santa Claus stopping and giving people a $100 note as a Christmas gift.
The community of Ocala is perplexed with this gesture and are left in awe. In the video there is a young man (black) who has committed a traffic offence and the citation of the offence is US$100.00. The young man is agreeable to the crime, but instead of being asked to pay, he is given the same amount as a Christmas present.
But back home in Bulawayo police officers are taking away money from people during these hard Covid-19 pandemic times instead of sympathising with the general populace.
What is even more unfortunate is the chaos that happened in Harare on Monday.
MDC Allience leader Nelson Chamisa’s charity event for the elderly and people with disabilities was blocked by a heavily armed anti-riot task force in Hartfield.
The event is held yearly as a get together where the party donates gifts to the elderly and disabled but this year before the party could even begin it was blocked by the police.
A deeply disturbed old granny is seen in a video shouting at the police saying,
“We are been refused by the police to be given food.”
“Your work as police is to look out and protect, why are you doing rubbish?”
“You refuse us to get food which is not even coming from your own homes because Garwe (in reference to President Mnangagwa ‘s moniker) gives you food. Am I known by Garwe?
The ZRP knows no caution. Once an offender is arrested there is no admonitioning of the culprit, the treatment is as if the offender is already a convict.
Even on fineable offences our police officers lack respect of the other person.
Is it maybe there is no Public Relations course in their training or they are simply taking the general public for granted?
The police officers are, today, flooding the city and its peripherals not to bring sanity but to dampen the Christmas spirit.