Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has welcomed the judiciary’s firm stance after four men were each sentenced to 10 years in prison this week for vandalising railway infrastructure.Zimbabwean wine guide
In Mutare, three suspects, Tinashe Makonese, Collins Ziyadhuma, and Innocent Mhlanga, were convicted and handed mandatory jail terms by the local magistrates’ court.
The trio was arrested on 4 April 2025 after being found in possession of electrical cables within the Mutare Repair Siding, a restricted NRZ operational zone.
In a separate incident in Gweru, Crispen Wesa, whose residential address could not be verified, was apprehended by NRZ Loss Control officers while digging up underground signal copper cables along the Fairmile Hotel–Gweru station corridor.
He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, just days after another individual with no fixed abode received an identical sentence for a similar act of sabotage in the same area.
The NRZ, which continues to face relentless vandalism targeting signalling systems, power infrastructure, and other critical rail components, praised the judiciary for its robust response to acts that threaten national infrastructure and public safety. The parastatal said in a statement:
The NRZ commends the courts for consistently imposing mandatory jail terms on individuals convicted of vandalising railway infrastructure… Such acts not only endanger public safety but also compromise national transport and logistics efficiency.
Vandalism of public infrastructure has become a major problem in the country, prompting courts to increasingly impose maximum penalties in a bid to curb the alarming rise in cable and metal theft.
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