“Thieves would come here during the night and in some instances they would uproot the whole plant. Our vegetables are being sold in Karoi by the thieves,” said a member of the committee Isaiah Humbwe.
Mashonaland West Acting provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Insp Ian Kohwera, confirmed reports of vegetable thieves, but said no arrests had been made.
The village head, Thompson Mutimusakwa, has also been forced to organise a team of young people who take turns to watch over the cattle as rustling is a big problem. “We constantly report to the police but no arrests are made. So we decided to employ our own ‘police officers,’ now the cases are on the decrease,” he said.
Officer Commanding Police Hurungwe District, Chief Superintendent Justin Mandizha, has called on members of the community to herd and pen their cattle daily as most thieves target cattle which roamed free. He said the district had recorded a sharp increase in cases of stock theft during the last two weeks of July this year, and attributed this to the vulnerability of stock that was not herded during this time of the year, as they travelled long distances in search of pasture and water.
“We also encourage members of the community to put in place measures that can rein in stock theft especially cattle branding. We are happy that there has been a good response to our call for branding.
Post published in: Agriculture