Online Child abuse; a new challenge to law enforcement agents

The advancement in technology has brought with it a new phenomenon of crime - online child sexual abuse and exploitation where perpetrators are invading cyberspace to sexually abuse children through creating content of an indecent nature.

A new breed of offences previously unheard of like revenge pornography, cyber-bullying, sexting among others are now common and this has presented challenges to the law enforcement.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police, through the help of a development partner, Save the Children International, have made inroads in trying to curtail the increasing cases of Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.

Recently, Save the Children International hosted an Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Workshop at Holiday Inn in Harare. The workshop was attended by Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) Officers from 10 stations in Harare, their district coordinators and Interpol representative.

The workshop was meant to share various experiences that investigators of online child sexual abuse encountered at their police stations following the launch of the pilot programme on online child safety last year.

The pilot project followed the donation of computers and laptops to the Victim Friendly Unit and this also included monthly internet subscriptions to VFU Harare District and 10 selected stations. Save the Children also facilitated the training of 46 police officers drawn from Harare on the investigation of Online Sexual abuse and exploitation.

In an interview, the workshop coordinator Superintendent Francis Mutema said the workshop also aided in helping officers to understand how they can carry out their investigations as well as draw lessons from what the investigators have been seeing since the programme was launched.

Gloria Nyahuma the Program Manager Child Protection and Child Right Governance for Save the Children International said ZRP VFU as the primary stakeholder need to identify and trace vulnerabilities that children face while online. Ever since their partnership, the police have been assisted in a big way in identifying these crimes.

Speaking at the official opening of the workshop, Senior Staff Officer Victim Friendly Unit, Assistant Commissioner Dadela Bonongwe said that the police’s responsibility in this project was to identify the culprits.

“One of our key responsibilities as the police in this project is to monitor the internet with a view to identifying any child sexual abuse material involving children from Zimbabwe and initiating investigations thereof. On the preventive side, we have a responsibility to carry out public education awareness campaigns in schools,” she said.

She also highlighted that Save the Children International has funded the production of a Police Pocket Book on Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation which is a critical resource to the police as they go about policing this crime.

Interpol has also a part to play in the investigation of online child abuse as they have a database that captures information from social media where child abuse is taking place. They also work with other international organisations which give them tip lines wherever the crime is being committed. As such, investigators should always make use of this database.

Meanwhile, participants at the workshop benefited immensely from the interaction.

“We have learnt that children as young as 13 and 15 are involved in these crimes sending nude pictures of their girlfriends after breaking up, cyberbullying and other crimes and parents must monitor what their children do online especially after buying them gifts of cell phones and laptops,” said one of the participants, Inspector Estina Sengwe

Mashaya’s exploits finally gets recognition in Zimbabwe

The exploits of martial arts enthusiast, Sensei Wilfred Mashaya at the international arena has landed him the greatest sporting gong in the country at an awards ceremony held at the Rainbow Towers recently.

He becomes the first police officer to be accorded that honour thereby creating a piece of history for himself.

Sensei Mashaya was nominated for the award alongside other sportspeople who were outstanding in various sporting disciplines in the country.

The Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Honourable, Dr Kirsty Coventry herself the winner of the prestigious award a record five times, was the guest of honour.

On the night, Sensei Mashaya walked away with two awards – The Sportsman of the year 2018 and the overall 2018 Sportsperson of the year.

He was elated following this achievement that comes following a string of spellbinding performances abroad where he conquered in Kobudo martial arts as well as being honoured for his outstanding performances.

Sensei Mashaya was all smiles for being honoured in his own country and attributed his success to hard work, consistency, and self-belief.

“I am happy that my nation has recognized my hard work by giving me this award. He said after winning the award.

“This is not for me alone but it is for the development of sport in Zimbabwe. Fish cannot leave without water and as such, I would like to thank my management team, Zimbabwe karate Union, my family, the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the sponsors, and the Commissioner-General of the ZRP and the police family for their tremendous support. In fact, all my sojourns in foreign lands last year were as a result of the ZRP sponsorship.

“I would like to call upon other corporates to come aboard and support this Zimbabwean talent for the better of our country,” he said.

The call for sport sponsorship was also echoed through Dr. Coventry’s speech when she called for the need by sports sectors to restore the trust that the corporate world used to have so that more and more sponsorship can be channeled towards sport programmes. This, she said, meant that good corporate governance and organizational management systems must be put in place.

For his exploits, Sensei Mashaya walked away RTGS$17 000 richer and was also given a dining table by Teachers Furnishers.

His journey towards this honour has been a tedious one for Sensei Mashaya. In April 2018, he was appointed President of Zimbabwe Sport Nunchaku by World Nunchaku Association (WNA) in Benoni, South Africa. Two months later, he won a gold medal to become Kobudo World Champion in Barcelona Spain and became the first African to be inducted into the Barcelona Hall of Honours. In September, he was again honoured with the International Master of the Year Award and another accolade for being the best participant at a Festival in Budva Montenegro.

As if that was not enough, the First Zimbabwean Internationally Certified Bujinkan Ninja was honoured once again in Venice, Italy in October 2018 with the Master of the Year Award by Martial Arts Heroes Council and was on the same token inducted into the First Edition of Martial Heroes Hall of Honours 2018. He was honoured alongside popular actors and martial artists, Shihan Steven Seagal and Sifu Donnie Yen.

In Budva, the athlete had an opportunity of a lifetime to enter into training seminars which lasted for nearly 10 days. After successfully undergoing a Security Self-Defence Course, Mashaya was awarded a Diploma in International Security Self-Defence Instructor for Police, Army and Security and other security agents. 

To add a cap in Bodyguard Security Credentials, Mashaya was also trained in Bodyguard Security Tactics by the International Association of Bodyguards and was awarded a Certificate of Representation, to be the representative of the international organisation in Zimbabwe. He also entered a Ninjutsu Technical Examination Test Exercise and was successfully graded to a first dan black belt.

 Sensei Mashaya is now a holder of First Dan Black Belt in Bujinkan Ninjutsu, Second Dan Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate, Master Degree Second Dan Black Belt in Kobudo and Fourth Degree Black Belt in Self Defense.

Sensei Mashaya is the Current Branch Chief and Ambassador of Zimbabwe Kobudo Martial Arts, Chief Instructor of Zimbabwe Bujinkan Ninjitsu and President of Zimbabwe Sport Nunchaku.

This year, many tournaments are lined up for him in Russia and Poland and he is intending to honour their invitations and conquer once more.

Magwaza lands a top post in Zim Volleyball

Police officers continue to permeate local sporting disciplines not only as players but also as sports administrators. One of such officers is Nothando Magwaza who was recently appointed Head Corporate Affairs for the Zimbabwe Volleyball League (ZVA).

Magwaza, says her appointment to the post was a great honour to her at the same time reckoning that it was something challenging given that she was being appointed to a demanding post of being the custodian of the ZVA Brand.

Her appointment is derived from her passion for the sport which led her to do research on sports sponsorship.

“Whilst studying Public Relations, I always wanted to come back home even when doing assignments. I always linked all of them to my police work and when we were told to choose a topic to research on, I being passionate about volleyball, chose to research on sponsorship. My topic was ‘Determinants of Sport Sponsorship among Zimbabwe Businesses: A case study of Zimbabwe Volleyball Association.” said Magwaza in an interview.

This was inspired by the fact that the sport she loved was lacking sponsorship.

“When I interviewed Mr Ringisai Mapondera who is the President of the ZVA, he got excited by my research as it dwelled on the element of Public Relations which the Association did not have”, she said.

That is when she finally got the post together with three other police officers –Donald Chademana, Elvis Manhanga and Talent Mubako - who also make up part of the Public Relations Team at the Association.

The Commissioner-General of Police, Tandabantu Godwin Matanga, has given his nod for the police officers to work in that capacity.

She is hardly a year in office but her results on the ground begin to show. Zimbabwe Volleyball has become one of the most visible sports in Zimbabwe owing to its extensive coverage over the past few months.

“My highest achievement with my team is establishing media relations with various media houses in Zimbabwe. The media presence of the association had been very minimal before the establishment of the office and I am happy that every volleyball game is being covered by local radio stations, newspapers and local television.”

Besides, they are running social media pages to disseminate information on the Association’s activities.

In terms of sponsorship, she said she was happy that at the end of last year, many companies were beginning to show interest in the sport and they were working towards sustaining the relations. 

“Volleyball is a growing sport in Zimbabwe and as such, it needs a lot of support because, in other countries, volleyball is recognized just like soccer while back home it is treated as a minority sport, unlike other traditional sport. We have so much potential in Zimbabwe and we have had clubs that have reached world qualifiers before and other clubs have done well in the African Club Championships. We are proud as ZVA how our clubs are doing we had 5 teams participating in the Zone IV Championships and two ladies teams,” said Magwaza.

She also spoke on how she has managed to juggle her police duties and the national appointment of handling volleyball issues countrywide.

“If you are passionate about something things can be easier, Some people fail because of a lack of passion. Though at first it was a bit difficult, I have found it much easier because when I talk about Volleyball, I know what is involved in the playing field and now as an administrator, I can handle issues on an informed point of view and can represent their interests.

“We were taught that a Public Relations Officer should be good at multi-tasking and as such I am managing to balance my police duties, my ZVA appointment, and the pressures of being a mother. I no longer have weekends or a day off. I am occupied always but I am doing a national duty,” she said.

Magwaza - a mother of two boys Jayden and Prince and a devout Christian joined ZRP as a civilian worker in 2006 and got integrated in 2012 where she has been stationed at Clothing Factory since then. She attended Warren Park 5 Primary in Harare before going to St David’s Bonda in Rusape for her Form one and two before completing her secondary education a Roosevelt High in Harare.

Her parting note was simple.

“I encourage someone out there not to shelve their dreams but always push yourself to accomplish what you have always wanted to achieve there is no limit. Above all trust in God to take you to where you want to be.”