"The Constitution Empowers The Army To Flush Out Threats Including Machete Gangs," Mliswa

Norton legislator (independent), Temba Mliswa has said that the Zimbabwe National Army should now be deployed to deal with machete gangs since it seems the police is overwhelmed now.

Mliswa made these remarks at a policy dialogue meeting organised by the Southern African Political Economy Series (Sapes) Trust in conjunction with the Information for Development Trust (IDT) in Harare on Thursday. He said:

Section 251 (of the Constitution) gives the army the mandate to carry out such an operation of flushing out machete gangsters. The army conducted Operation Restore Legacy which removed the late President Robert Mugabe from power. So it means the army is powerful and can manage to deal with the problem of machete gangsters.

Speaking at the same event, MDC legislator for Mbizo, Settlement Chikwinya suggested that the suspects who would have been captured must be interrogated so as to establish the “big fish behind them.”

Chikwinya and Mliswa’s remarks come when some members of the public have slammed little action or lack of it thereof by authorities against the gangs whilst some are saying that the gangs are a creation of political elites hence the impunity.

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