Copper Control Amendment Bill: There should be no bail for thieves
Senator Voice Chinake has urged the government to remove the privilege of bail on people who would have been arrested for stealing copper cables.
The country is losing a lot of copper cables to thieves due to the prevailing economic hardships that have resulted in many people failing to find employment.
Various efforts have been employed to protect the copper cables, but they appear to be failing to deter the criminals.
Honourable Chinake is of the view that revoking bail on such people might help deter them.
Speaking in the Senate during debate on the Copper Control Amendment Bill, Senator Chinake said there should be no bail or options of paying fines.
He proposed that there should be a lengthy custodial sentence.
‘’The Bill was long overdue. Like what others have said before me, 10 years is too little. We kindly ask you to increase the imprisonment period. Secondly, for those who are caught with issues to do with copper, most of these people are being asked to pay bail.
‘’On this issue, I would like to say that bail must be denied to anyone found stealing copper. There should be no option of a fine and people must go to prison straight away. These people should not qualify for a Presidential pardon because this is killing our country.
‘’Mr. President, everyone in this country knows that if things are being transported by rail, goods become cheaper than those that are being transported by trucks. We have better transportation when we make use of trains. Mr. President, we are not aware of what the Minister has planned with regard to this issue. Copper was stolen from Harare up to Gweru. These things were happening, and we were listening and silent.
‘’My question is, what plans have we put in this Bill in such areas that have copper cables that enable the movements of trains? The distance to which copper was stolen is shocking, we are in support of this Bill. May we enact it into law?
There are people who are not afraid to break the law
Responding to Senator Chinake, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said there are certain people who are not afraid of breaking the law.
‘’There are people who are not afraid of breaking the law. This is what prompted us to come up with a bit stiffer sentence to all those who will be caught stealing copper. We have heard that 10 years is not enough, we are not saying it is 10 years only.
‘’What a magistrate is stipulated to do is that the minimum is 10 years; it is possible for the magistrate to issue any number of years above the minimum of 10 years,’’ he said.
Copper Control Amendment Bill: There should be no bail for thieves
