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Residents partner ZACRO in crime prevention in Mbare
Harare Residents Trust (HRT)
December 06, 2009

Accommodation and housing emerged as the leading issues of concern to residents of Mbare at a joint meeting held at Chirodzo Primary School on Saturday by the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) and the Mbare Residents' Trust (MRT).

The meeting, bringing together 200 residents of Mbare, police officers from surrounding districts and the business community, sought to find ways to combat crime in Mbare.

With the facilitation of a German Development Services (DED) worker, residents were asked to come forward, one by one, and write down what issue they felt needed to be urgently dealt with as part of crime prevention. The person writing his/ her ideas would read them out to everyone and the paper would be pasted on a wall, identified at the meeting as a marketplace of ideas.

After this exercise, the issues were put into 15 categories that reflected everything that had been recommended. Participants then went into groups and spent the next hour discussing in detail the issues and made their recommendations.

The meeting, conducted using the open space technology, a facilitation tool that discourages speeches but promotes participation by all people, created an atmosphere of unity and dedication to uplifting the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.

Written issues related to chosen subject were pasted on the walls against a numbered envelope. Participants were then given five beans to cast their vote, choosing their top priority issue to be attended to, putting more beans in the envelope of choice.

Accommodation and housing received the highest number of votes with 167 beans, while prostitution received the least votes with only four beans. Corruption involving the police came second with 112 beans while human rights abuses came third with 103 beans, malpractices by the neighbourhood watch police came fourth with 97 beans. Employment creation was put at five with 77 beans.

Other key issues that were rated as requiring urgent attention include domestic violence (50), rape (71), HIV/Aids (59), right to education (66), garbage collection (45), baby dumping (67), drug abuse (13), and theft or robberies (32).

The leadership of the Mbare Residents Trust and ZACRO will meet and sift through the recommendations and develop practical work-plans that will ensure there is cooperation and engagement of all stakeholders in the fight against crime. A forum to discuss crime in Mbare will be firmly established to sustain this anti-crime agenda involving the community.

For details and comments on this issue, please call Mbare Residents' Trust on 0912 889 098, 0733 252 622 or email zacrehab@mweb.co.zw or mbaretrust@gmail.com

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