TOO MUCH DISORDER IN POLICE SERVICE - NAWAKWI
THE Police Service has been severely decimated with seasoned and professional officers having been sent home on forced leave leaving the service ineffective and incompetent, Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president Edith Nawakwi has charged.
Ms Nawakwi has said the Police Service was extremely disorganised with the resultant effect of inefficiencies and pure incompetence being exhibited because the leadership was trying to overhaul the service.
Ms Nawakwi alleged that the Police Service has been decimated because of what she claimed as nepotism and favouratism, the vices that the UPND administration has been preaching against.
She said the new dawn administration was overhauling the Police Service which has seen a huge turnover of officers some of whom had not skill and competence save for being associated with the ruling party and region.
Ms Nawakwi said a perception had been created that most of the police officers were aligned with the Patriotic Front (PF) hence the alleged purging which has left the service without professional officers.
“There is a perception that most of our police officers are PF loyalists and the new dawn has embarked on purging the officers some of whom with vast experience. The government has sent many police officers on forced leave and those that have been recruited, some being favoured on the basis of region while other on affiliation. There UPND is on a path to purge all the police officers they perceive to be PF loyalists and that is why we are seeing the incompetence we have in the service,” Ms Nawakwi said.
Ms Nawakwi said that it was unfortunate that the police had failed to track the 13 girls who were abducted and kept captive in Chilala when there were institutions like ZICTA.
“Most of the experienced people have been told to go home where they are receiving a free salary because they are suspected to be loyal to the PF,” she said.
She said her heart bled because the 13 girls were abducted in the middle of the city where they were institutions like ZICTA.
Ms Nawakwi said that the Chalala fiasco was just an indication that the country was not safe and more needed to be done.