Maravi

Getting the best out of cops

Getting the best out of cops
By Editor
Tuesday October 09, 2007 [04:00]

It is said that one does not achieve greatness by claiming greatness. A man is judged by his actions, not his boasting. We have heard many stories from successive governments on how they are concerned about, and determined to address the plight of police officers in as far as accommodation is concerned. Many stories have been told but very little action, if any, has been seen in this regard.

We remember how, a few years ago, we exposed a case of police officers that shared accommodation with horses in the stables at Sikanze Police Camp in Lusaka.

We also recall how we brought to light another case of police officers spending nights at a market in Lusaka’s Chilenje compound. Only a couple of weeks ago, we wrote about how families of three officers accommodated in a three-bedroomed house in Lusaka were clashing.

This is just a tip of how gloomy the picture is countrywide in as far as accommodation for our police officers is concerned. Most of our officers live as though they were in concentration camps.

For many years, very little has been done by the government to improve this situation. They all sound very concerned with this state of affairs but there is no action to show for this concern.

Police officers are there to maintain law and order in the country. If they are to effectively play this role, these officers are supposed to be provided for both in terms of conditions of service and accommodation. Because of the nature of their work, police and army officers have traditionally been accommodated in camps.

This is not the case anymore. Our officers are now spread all over the compounds due to lack of accommodation. This not only compromises the officers’ security but even that of the people around them, the civilians.

We sometimes see police officers walking about in the compounds with firearms. And because some of these officers have become part of the local communities, they sometimes do not mind going to imbibe whilst armed with their firearms.

Clearly, government assurances on the plight of officers have been nothing but rhetoric. Various home affairs ministers, including current minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha, have made varied assurances both in Parliament and outside on how they intended to resolve problems facing officers, especially those problems to do with accommodation.

It will be difficult for us as a country to get valuable security services from officers who lack self-esteem and dignity because the conditions under which they serve make it impossible for them to manifest these attributes. We cannot get good services from officers who are forever complaining.

It cannot be denied that our police officers are very angry men and women in uniform for different reasons, most of them very genuine. That is why last year they decided to express their anger by voting against President Levy Mwanawasa at the State House Polling Station.

The government should realise that anger is death. Anger can lead to disastrous situations. That is why there is every need for the government to keep the officers’ anger under control by providing for their needs.

But our government does not even know how to cool off this anger by our officers because they don’t seem to be aware of some, if not most of their problems. It is said that if one is familiar with the beginning, the end will not give him trouble.

If one plans a task well at the beginning, the chances of successful completion will be greater. Our government, or our various ministers of home affairs, do not seem to be familiar with the beginning so the end is giving them trouble.

They do not know how to address these problems which have been going on for so many years now.

Apart from accommodation, police officers have a myriad of problems which have remained unattended to for years. These are some of the problems that contribute to ineffective work that we sometimes receive from the police.

When citizens lodge complaints with the police, the complainants have to provide transport and fuel in most cases if they want speedy investigations to take place.

What is happening is that the people in authority mask these problems. What they forget is that when one’s problems are hidden, no one else is aware of them. When problems are revealed, people are in a better position to help.

We are saying this because we have seen many private citizens who have come to the aid of police officers because their problems were brought to the fore.

We have seen individuals who have provided transport and fuel because they were touched by the officers’ lack of these items which are key in the execution of their duties. We have seen individuals who have assisted in lifting the image of our police by taking care of the physical appearance of some police stations. There are so many examples we can give on this matter.

It is high time those in authority became pragmatic and faced our police officers’ challenges and problems. We cannot milk a cow that we have not fed. If we want quality service from our police officers, we should ensure that most of these problems and challenges are attended to. Otherwise it will be difficult to get the best out of our police service.

Labels: EDITORIAL, POLICE

posted by MrK @ 3:32 AM