FARAI CHITOTOMBE
MASVINGO CITY- Masvingo Business Against Crime Forum (BACFOZ) has donated a Toyota Wish to the ZRP Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The handover ceremony was held at Phoenix ZRP Masvingo main camp last week on Wednesday.
The BACFOZ initiative is meant to assist the local Police in the fight against crime by providing mobility for patrols in both urban and rural areas.
BACFOZ is a community policing initiative by the General Commissioner of police in which business communities gather resources to assist and support Police efforts in fighting crime through different forms of donations and sponsorships.
Masvingo Chapter BACFOZ chairman, Mleya assured the business community of resolve to fight crime in the Province.
“As BACFOZ, Masvingo we are ever committed and proud to play our part in enhancing security for our business and society at large.
“It is my hope that CID Masvingo will put the vehicle to good use by attending scenes of crime, crime investigations, patrols, among other police operations as mobility is key to the execution of their duties,” said Mleya.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Assistant Commissioner, Dr Godfrey Zimbwa expressed deep gratitude for the gesture from the business community.
“I am humbled as I stand before you to witness this momentous event of handover ceremony of a special gift from our conscious and responsible business community and during my long stay in Masvingo Province, without doubting my memory, this event is the first of its kind and this gesture by the business community under the banner of the BACFOZ, community policing initiative, is a positive step towards contemporary policing which will help us excel in our service delivery,” said Dr Zimbwa.
“I pay tribute to the committee on behalf of the entire community for conceiving the idea, pursuing it and executing it and joining BACFOZ can only be done by someone who better understands that the Police will never survive if there is no one to Police and if those who are policed are not cooperating or playing their part to ensure the eradication of crime,” added Dr. Zimbwa.
“I also urge the BACFOZ members to remain united in the fight against crime and do not hesitate to either visit or call us whenever there is need for police assistance and also to business people who are skeptical about joining BACFOZ I would say, the time is now and the results are imminent as the Shona adage says; ukaita chakanaka wazviitira, ukaita zvakaipa wazviitira thus continue to do good and good will follow you,” added Dr Zimbwa.
Cornelius Masendeke of Phill Air Conditioning on behalf of the business community said, “for this project to be a success it was through Masvingo Business community, had it not been the commitment and sacrifice of men and women here gathered and those in absentia, today we would not have been gathered here to celebrate this project,”.
“I therefore call upon for full support for each other in business, before going out of Masvingo or crossing the boarders to source for goods and services, think of a brother who is next to you.
“We should have a culture of supporting each other so that we grow together and be able to provide more resources to fight crime in our beloved City,” Masendeke added.
Officer-In-Charge CID Masvingo Detective Chief Inspector, Hazvinei Jindu paid tribute to the business community for their hand in fighting crime in the Province.
“Allow me to thank the BACFOZ committee and members for the commitment and extra effort they made through this successful event where they have given us a fishing rod to go to the deep ends to weed out criminals in Masvingo thus fulfilling our BACFOZ mantra iwe neni tine basa and the team has sent us on a mission by this crucial donation hence we are going,” said CID Masvingo Detective Chief Inspector Jindu.
“To the BACFOZ, the sacrifice you made will be remembered in the history of the ZRP and we are playing a servanthood role to you our stakeholders as I quote Lee Lacocca who said ‘the speed of the boss is the speed of the team’ and also to the criminals I say hokoyo this time with Wish manyama, Masvingo is not and will never be a safe haven for criminals,” said Jindu.
The companies and individuals who contributed in the BACFOZ are; Great Zimbabwe Realtors, Ian Dickie Supplies Parts who supply suspension parts, engine parts, body parts and electrical parts for trucks, Nyaradzo Life Assurance Company, Asher Media, AFC Bank, Auto Adjust, New Dawn Butchers and Hardwares, Aqua Culture, N. Richards Wholesale, Nyaningwe Supermarket, Nanoline, PK Hardware, ProfMed and Pamunda Hardware.
Simrac Supermarkets, Partland Autoparts, Bakers World, Byword (Jadecon) Motors, AfroChain Royal Kids Pre-school, Bonwilde Bolt and Nuts, Doczine Petroleum, Doctor Maimba, Exide Batteries, Econet Wireless, FreeCon Solar, Glow Petroleum, Masvingo Universal Hardware and Mr Muzemba. Mr Madzivire, Doctor Marangwanda, Mr Mafunu, Mr Mashamba, SteelMakers, Southern Junction, Syscot Electrical and Hardware, Silkyside Guest Houses, Sibs Logistics, Absolute Security, OK Mart, ZB Bank, Caravan Park, Mr Ganduri Recycling and ZPS.
