WHY IS POLICE SERVICE COMPLACENT?

Dear editor, I am sure many Zambians have been grappling with questions like, why have the police become complacent all of the sudden? Partly, the fact that the Zambia police have not been performing well can be attributed to the political inclination of some police officers. The government through the ministry of Home Affairs should conduct an audit of the Zambia police to ascertain whether the issue of tribe indeed has a bigger role to play in the levels of unprofessionalism of police officers or lack of training. It will also help the government to reduce on nepotism that is going on in the police service, allowing it to continue not good for the improvement of security in the country. I witnessed it in the last elections where a policeman was only helping tribesmen not to stand in queues but expressly vote, it was easy to know what the man was hoping for by doing that. Because of frustration that their man HH keeps losing, some cops are ready to dent the police service and subsequently, the commander in chief of the armed forces, you only need to be with a policeman for 2 minutes and you will know everything that the high command does, they easily give out information. Therefore let us not compromise on the internal security of the country in the name of not talking about tribalism. I am sure even Hon Kampyongo is wondering why his calls for discipline and professionalism falls on deaf ears, they can’t listen to him, they would rather listen to that UPND Cadre Larry Mweetwa. I agree with Wright Musona on his observation that the Zambia police are in shambles. It is high time our beloved President who is the commander in chief of the armed forces became tough and made changes to the command and propose changes to the way recruitments are done so as to balance up tribes in the service and stamp out nepotism that is being practised by some people in the police service. No wonder it is difficult to properly investigate and bring to book the arsonists. Should we continue with this nonsense? No, we must realize that when important installations and infrastructure are burnt, government will have to borrow money to replace what have been damaged at the cost of the Zambian people. I am very confident that the commander of the armed forces will decisively deal with this important institution, otherwise what is urgently needed is a complete overhaul of the service and reconstitute it as opposed to transfers and dismissals. Let us not spare the rod and spoil the child, this is hard for President Lungu but he needs to harden his heart bit to combat this cancer. Austerity measures alone will not improve our economy without sorting out the people that are standing in the way. The time for corrective measures is now. God guide us. Enock chulu Lusaka.