Armed robbers get away with $20 Mr Try Murwiya and Ms Yonne Maseya

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief

A Southdowns family in Gweru was left terrified after armed robbers raided their home on Tuesday evening and got away with $20, and two cellphones.

The Chronicle visited the terrified couple at their lodgings in Southdowns that has been targeted by armed robbers as most residents in the area are either gold miners or business people.

Friends and relatives of the family were coming to check on them as the crew was interviewing them.

The robbery occurred at 10PM when a masked gunman pounced on Ms Yvonne Maseya, the wife to Mr Try Murwiya as she made her way to the toilet outside their cottage at a house along Westchester road.

Ms Maseya, a mother of two, said when she stepped out of the sitting room, she felt a metallic object placed on her head.

“I felt a metal object, in that split second I realised it was a masked man. He pointed the gun at me “ she said.

Ms Maseya said the man then pushed her and she screamed as she hit the ground.”

Mr Murwiya said on hearing his wife’s screams, he rushed out of the house to investigate.

“I froze on seeing the masked robber pointing a gun at my wife. He then pointed it at me and asked for money or any valuables,” he said.

The masked man, Mr Murwiya said, was brandishing what appeared to be an AK rifle.

He said he saw another robber in the shadows of a tree who also appeared to be armed while there were about three others outside their yard.

“I am not a businessperson, I work for a tertiary institution, I am not rich and as I walked into the house, I was wondering why they had targeted me and my family. 

“I collected my wallet and my cellphone and handed them to the robber. He then said he wanted more money since the wallet only had $20. I looked at my wife who was on the ground with the gun pointed at her and went back inside,” said Mr Murwiya.

He said as he was thinking of other valuables to give the robbers, he felt a gun on his back.

“The robber had followed me and he then picked up a laptop bag and my wife’s cellphone and ran away,” said Mr Murwiya.

He said fellow tenants who stay in another house were also threatened but they switched off the lights before calling the police.

“The police responded swiftly, but the robbers had gone. We are still in shock, we are still terrified. Never had I seen a gun that close in reality. Only in movies,” said Mr Murwiya.

Gweru residents are now living in fear following terrifying incidents in which robbers armed with machetes and knobkerries are raiding homes, getting away with cash and other valuables.

Last week police said the robbers broke into another house in the same suburb and robbed Ms Lucy Young, a gold dealer of R 1 700, US$37 and $150. Ms Young also lost two cellphones and some groceries.

The matter was reported at Senga Police Station.

Armed robbers also attacked Mr Luckson Musarara in Woodlands suburb and got away with US$5 000 and a Kombi.

Acting Midlands provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said she was yet to get details on the latest armed robbery.

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