Weed out criminal elements, Police urged
THE Police command should ensure that criminal elements in the service are weeded out without delay as directed by President Edgar Lungu who is the commander- in-chief, former Inspector General of Police, Dr Martin Malama has advised.
THE Police command should ensure that criminal elements in the service are weeded out without delay as directed by President Edgar Lungu who is the commander-in-chief, former Inspector General of Police, Dr Martin Malama has advised.
And Dr Malama has also urged the police officers to adopt the community policing model as a method of safeguarding communities and neighbourhoods.
In an interview, Dr Malama said police officers should be professional and non-partisan as the organisation moves towards rebranding its image.
“The police should be non-partisan, it should support the government of the day. And therefore, it shouldn’t look at the political colors. We need to have a police service that should not be politically inclined.
“But for those that are partisan, I am not mentioning any political party here, they are doing a lot of disservice to the uniform. The police needs to be non-partisan. Their role is to ensure that the nation is stable, but the nation cannot stabilize if law enforcement officers are partisan.
“Therefore, I would like to conquer with His Excellency, President Edgar Lungu’s directive as the commander-in-chief that criminal elements in police service should be weeded out without delay,” Mr Malama said.
He added, “I am chairman of national security and foreign affairs in Parliament and from where I stand providing oversight to the executive as far as law enforcement is concerned, it is our desire to see to it that we have a professional police.”
He also advised police officers to adhere to the Zambia Police Reform Programme, which saw transformation of police from a military organisation to a more civil one.
Dr Malama expressed hope Inspector General of Police, Mr Kakoma Kanganja and his deputies using the reforms that the police had embarked on starting from 1994, are going to create a Zambia police service that was responsive to the needs of the community.
“There must be a provision of a health relationship between the Police and the community. It is therefore our hope that the Police Command realigns to the reform program to ensure that the relationship between the community and the police is healthy.
“Those are my officers (Mr Kanganja and his two Deputy IGs). We have worked together very close and I know that they are very familiar with the police reforms and professionalism which is very cardinal. And I believe they would not find it difficult to ensure that the rank and file is aligned to what the Commander-In-Chief is calling them to do,” Dr Malama said.