The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe has reported an increase in cases of theft and vandalism of its assets which has led to the parastatal losing thousands of dollars in the process.
This was revealed by the NRZ spokesperson Mr Andrew Kunambura. The country’s parastatals that include NRZ, Zesa Holdings and Zinwa have over the years reported an increase in theft and vandalism of properties which has impacted in their service delivery. While the value of stolen property decreased, Mr Kunambura said cases of theft and vandalism increased last year compared to the previous year.
“In the year 2022, cases of theft and vandalism of NRZ assets increased from a total of 144 the previous year to 154 while the value of stolen property was reduced from US$237 573 in 2021 to USD$216 702 in 2022. Cases of vandalism also increased from 28 in 2021 to 101 in 2022. This increase can be attributed to amplified operations which resulted in more arrests and reports. It also owes to the proactive approach taken by our hardworking men and women in our Loss Control branch of hunting for these vandals taking advantage of increased mobility in the form of motor cycles and operational vehicles,” said Mr Kunambura.
Vandals are reportedly targeting in-service infrastructural items from the parastatal like wagon couplers and vacuum pipes from derailment wagons left in section, fish plates, fish pins, wheels and coach components.
While appreciating the efforts made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the courts in ensuring that criminals and vandals are brought to book and accounted for, Mr Kunambura said they have had an excellent working relationship with the police that has seen the collaborative efforts resulting in numerous successes.
“A total of 18 criminals were sentenced to years ranging between one and 10 years while others were fined or sentenced to do community service. About 30 awareness campaigns were carried out in conjunction with the police throughout the system, and 27 line tours were carried out during the course of the year, eight of which were done during the last quarter of the year. This is a supervisory mechanism meant to ensure that work is done according to plan,” said Mr Kunambura.
The parastatal is however, confident that the mandatory prison sentences being meted by the courts through the Railway Act Chapter 13:09, theft cases targeting this precious metal will decline.
Meanwhile, the parastatal has also intensified awareness campaigns as a measure to curb these criminal activities.
“Awareness campaigns have proven to be a very potent tool in the fight against crime. Security held a total of 12 awareness campaigns in all our regions. The campaigns were held in partnership with the police. Some of the notable results from these campaigns include the reduction in illegal panning activities in the Eastern Area and cases of villagers in the Midlands positively responding to offers of amnesty in lieu of returning all the stolen property. Stolen track implements estimated at USD$1413.00 were returned by villagers,” said Mr Kunambura.
Vandalism and theft of key infrastructure within the State rail firm have been reported to be one of the key derailments in the recovery of the parastatal.
@nyeve14
