Pages

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Criminal elements in police worry Bonshe

Criminal elements in police worry Bonshe
By Abigail Chaponda
Saturday May 10, 2008 [04:01]

HOME affairs deputy minister Misheck Bonshe has expressed worry that some elements in the Zambia Police Service are contemplating engaging in crime. Bonshe’s comment follows threats by some rural based police officers’ threat that the removal of rural hardship and risk allowances would leave them with no option but to engage in corruption to earn more money.

The officers who did not want to be identified complained that the government had removed the rural hardship and risk allowances from their salaries. They said if the government wanted to fight corruption, it first had to pay police officers good salaries.

“We don’t want to be treated like children; we are human beings with families. Corruption will not end, not until government addresses the salaries of civil servants in the country,” they said.

They said that since the government had scrapped the allowances, they would find other means to increase their salaries.

But when contacted for comment Bonshe said police officers should be exemplary in their conduct.

“Corruption is a criminal offence and whoever is found committing this crime will be prosecuted. We don’t care who is involved, a crime is a crime regardless of who you are in society,” he said.

He said it was shameful and unfortunate that police officers should be thinking of engaging in corruption.

“Resorting to corruption is not the solution, but if those officers insist that they want to get into corruption, let them go ahead, they will see what we are going to do to them,” he said. “Should they be found, they will be dealt with severely.”

Bonshe said the government was adjusting salaries for police officers and that the rural hardship allowance was only paid to officers camped in remote areas.

“When I say rural areas I mean places that do not have electricity, shops and other necessary things that are supposed to be used by people, not officers who are near town where they can access things,” Bonshe said.

He said if the officers were in rural areas and were not getting their rural hardship allowances then they should claim for their money.

Bonshe said the government cared for the police officers and want them to be happy at all times.

Previously the government used to pay police officers risk allowance of K50,000.

Meanwhile, teachers in Mungwi district in Northern Province have threatened to go on strike if the government does not pay them rural hardship allowances by the end of May.

In an interview, Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) Mungwi district vice chairperson Bernard Kaoma said it was not in order for the government to remove the rural hardship allowances.

“We came up with this decision on Tuesday after the three education unions, BETUZ, SESTUZ and ZNUT, met to discuss the problems that we were facing as rural teachers,” Kaoma said.

“Teachers are people who educate the nation and we should be given respect due to us. Government should not be pushing us to and fro, we are not toys.

We have given government up to May month end to return the hardship allowances, otherwise we will have no choice but to strike,” Kaoma said.

No comments:

Post a Comment