New legislation to curb machete attacks in Zimbabwe.

According to the Justice minister Kazembe Kazembe, government is in the process of crafting new legislation to cage those found in possession of machetes. The notorious knife has been causing a lot of furore after machete attacks were noted to be on the increase in the country. The minister said a new statutory instrument is in the works to impose jail terms on those found with machetes.

Cases involving machetes in Kadoma alone were recorded as 224 from January to November this year. Similarly those in Chegutu rose from 108 last year to 125 this year. The numbers are simply alarming. Machete wars are common in mining areas such as Kadoma, Chegutu and Mazowe. The Justice minister said this will soon be a thing of the past if the new S.I comes into effect.

He stated,” As government we are extremely disturbed by the illegal activities of artisinal miners who continuously terrorise people using machetes”. He said he is currently in talks with the prosecutor general and the Judicial Service Commission to have specialises courts to deal with such cases. He also said the machete wars scare away investors.