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THE arrest of a machete gang behind the death of Lobengula West businessman Langelihle Dube early this month and a spate of robberies around the city has brought relief to residents who had long suffered from their reign of terror.

Dube, popularly known as Zonda, was brutally attacked and left for dead at his house when the axe and iron bar-wielding robbers pounced and went away with cellphones and US$25.

He was later declared dead by an ambulance crew.

The three suspects namely Brian Moyo alias Smally (22) from Lupane District, Lucky Sibanda alias Makhekhe (26) of Lobengula West and Kelvin Njabulo Dube (30) from Pumula South, who is on remand for other armed robbery cases, appeared before magistrate Mr Shepard Mnjanja on Monday at Western Commonage Court.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Abednico Ncube, said the suspects were arrested last Friday after one of them, Maxwell Mpofu, implicated three others in connection with the murder case.

Machetes

While their arrest cannot bring back Dube, his family must be relieved that the callous crime that led to his death will not go unpunished.

More importantly, the arrest of the suspects has disproven claims by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) that Dube’s death was a result of political attacks.

ambulance

To prove that the incident was purely criminal, the suspects, according to the police, have been arrested for a number of alleged crimes outside that of raiding Dube’s home and stabbing him resulting in his death.

Despite the family saying the death was a result of crime, neighbours testifying to the terror of the criminal gang in the area, CCC sought to gain mileage from this very unfortunate incident by alleging that Dube had been killed by affiliates of the ruling Zanu-PF as part of their well-known strategy to try and besmirch the ruling party every opportunity they get.

It is not only un-African to try and seek to score political points through the tragic death of a member of society but it is also shameful to do so by concocting false narratives to fit one’s political agenda.

Many a time, the police have urged members of the public, political parties included, to wait for investigations to unravel criminal occurrences but this is asking too much for the CCC whose agenda is not to seek justice but cash in on unfortunate incidents.

The question then is, does the CCC actually care about their supporters or to them, they are just pawns waiting to be conveniently used for political expediency.

Thanks to the great work of the police, the CCC has been exposed once again for their blatant lies.