A gun was found in a room at a lodge along Masotsha Ndlovu Road in Hatfield, Harare on Friday last week, while another loaded firearm was discovered on the bank of the Manyame River.
According to H-Metro, the Norinco Star pistol was found in a room that had been booked by an unknown man and woman.
The owner of the lodge filed a police report after the couple did not return to claim the weapon.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) acting spokesperson in Harare Province, Assistant Inspector Faith Mapisa, said an investigation to determine ownership of the gun is currently underway. She said:
The gun was found in a black leather pouch on a couch in a room.
Circumstances are that on January 5 at around 2.45 PM, an unidentified car was reported to have dropped a man and a lady and took off.
The duo booked a room at the lodge and around 3.50 PM on the same day, they left and an employee went to clean the room.
As he was cleaning, he noticed a black pouch on the couch and saw that it was a pistol.
The cleaner put the pistol in a cardboard box and placed it in a staff bedroom expecting the owner to come back and claim it.
But no one came to claim the pistol.
Asst Insp Mapisa said a loaded rifle was recovered on the banks of Manyame River in St Mary’s on Saturday.
A Nyau dancer reportedly stumbled on the weapon which was placed between rocks and contained seven rounds.
The discovery of guns in public places is a worrisome development given the rise in armed robbery cases in recent years.
In 2022, President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted a firearms amnesty to members of the public still in possession of unregistered firearms and ammunition so they could voluntarily hand these in at any police station and face no criminal charges.
As a result, 580 firearms and 260 rounds of ammunition were surrendered to the police.
The President granted the amnesty in line with Article 12 of the SADC Protocol on the control of firearms, ammunition and related materials.
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