ODZI– An illegal miner shot to death a member of the notorious machete wielding gang popularly known as Mashurugwi following an altercation over a disused gold mine in Odzi.
By Donald Nyarota
The unfortunate incident is said to have happened on Friday last week at disused Odzi Mine 2, located close to 40km from Mutare city. The mining operation were suspended by the Ministry of Mines few years ago and artisinal miners have been eking out a living from the disused mine.
Police details who attended the unfortunate disturbance had to fire gun shots to disperse the marauding crowd which was boisterous following the cold blood attack on their colleagues.
Manicaland assistant police spokesperson Luxon Chananda confirmed that police responded to the case of the fatal shooting of an unknown suspect by one Amisi Zvaida, who is currently in custody.
Chananda said the deceased was in the company of armed gangsters when he was shot on Friday around 1 midnight, for allegedly robbing the accused Zvaida.
He said the accused was in his vehicle in the company of Peter Majongwe when the gangsters pounced, breaking a window before assaulting the accused with machetes, forcing him to handover his wallet with an undisclosed amount.
While attacking the two, it is alleged that Zvaida managed to pull out a fire arm before shooting the now deceased three times in the chest.
However, sources privy to the happenings said the incident was triggered by blood thirsty Mashurugwi who invaded the area with intention of taking over the disused shafts, leading to clashes with local artisanal miners.
One artisanal miner who requested anonymity, said the daring gang had also grabbed gold ore from other illegal miners, which lead to a bloody confrontation with a group of over 50 artisanal miners.
“The incident happened during the wee hours on Thursday evening, after MaShurugwi came to invade the Odzi 2 Mine in Odzi, they grabbed the gold ore from other illegal miners, then a fight broke, almost 50 illegal miners exchanged blows while some used machetes.
“One of the gang members was struck to death, while the two who were attacked are in critical condition at Mutare General Hospital.
“It’s so sad that the body of the deceased was lying lifeless at the scene, police came late and they had to fire gunshots to disperse some illegal miners. Owners of the mine are no longer there after the ministry of mines suspended the mine due to various issue but illegal miners have been working at the mine. I hope the government is going to do something about it because we cannot be living in fear of the MaShurugwi, they have to deal with them,” said the source.
