Zimbabweans holding unlicensed or illegally acquired firearms have until 12 November to hand them in to police without facing questioning or prosecution, under an amnesty announced by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

According to the police statement, issued on Monday 19 October by spokesperson Paul Nyathi, the amnesty began on 12 October and covers both individuals and institutions. It extends to firearms and ammunition that are unlicensed, smuggled or otherwise illegally obtained. Anyone who surrenders a weapon at their nearest police station will be given an official safe custody receipt.

Police said the amnesty is being run under the Southern African Development Community protocol on the control of firearms, ammunition and related materials.

The ZRP linked poorly secured and unregistered weapons to serious crime, naming armed robbery and murder, though it did not publish figures. It said some licensed owners have failed to renew their certificates or update their records. It also pointed to guns that stay in private hands after a company closes, a gun club membership lapses, or a licence holder dies.

Police also accused some licensed dealers and gun clubs of keeping unclaimed firearms they had been holding for safekeeping, which they said breaches the Firearms Act.

The statement carries a warning. Once the amnesty ends on 12 November, police said they will carry out physical checks and verification exercises aimed at people suspected of holding illegal firearms. Licensed owners were told to update their records promptly.

The police statement has been carried by ZimLive and NewZimbabwe. Neither reported statistics on how many illegal firearms are believed to be in circulation.

Sources: Zimbabwe Republic Police statement as reported by ZimLive and NewZimbabwe.com.

A trial date has been set in the case of Dr Fortune Gomo, the Zimbabwean scientist killed in Dundee, Scotland, in July last year.

A 21-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to murdering Dr Gomo, 39, and to a separate charge of having a knife in a public place, according to The Scotsman and Voice Online. Prosecutors allege she was repeatedly struck on the body with a knife in Dundee on 5 July 2025. They say the attack was aggravated by prejudice relating to race, nationality or ethnicity. The accused is not named here because the two outlets spell his name differently.

Both outlets report that the trial is due to begin in January 2028 at the High Court in Dundee.

Dr Gomo was an environmental and water resources scientist who had recently started work with Scottish Water. Both outlets say she held a PhD from the University of Dundee. The Scotsman reports she had studied in both Scotland and Zimbabwe, graduating from the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe; it cites social media for her academic record.

The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and no evidence has yet been tested in court.

Sources: The Scotsman; Voice Online.

Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma has pleaded guilty in a Johannesburg court to illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition, and to an immigration offence — a step that clears the way for South Africa to extradite him to Britain.

Tshuma, described by the Associated Press as a British citizen of Zimbabwean heritage, is wanted by police in the United Kingdom over the deaths of his wife and their two daughters at the family home in Bedfordshire in July. Prosecutors in Britain say he will face three counts of murder.

The Associated Press reports that the guilty pleas formed part of a plea deal with South African prosecutors, and that South African authorities have said they will move to extradite him once his local court case is concluded. Eyewitness News, whose report was carried by NewZimbabwe.com, said a plea and sentence agreement between Tshuma and the State was before the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court.

He was arrested in Johannesburg in July after fleeing the UK, and was found in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

It is worth being precise about what Tshuma has and has not admitted. His guilty pleas relate only to the South African firearms and immigration charges. He has not entered a plea to the murder charges, and his lawyer, Chrispen Machingura, has indicated it is unlikely to become public soon how his client intends to plead in Britain, according to Eyewitness News.

The case has been followed closely by Zimbabwean communities in Britain and South Africa since the summer. AllInZimbabwe reported last month that the extradition matter had been rolled over to September in Johannesburg.

Sources: Associated Press, via ZimLive; Eyewitness News, via NewZimbabwe.com.