REMARKS TO MARK POLICE DAY
On March 4, we celebrated the Police Day mainly through public processions to mark our collective respect for the police.
But quite often, it is not difficult to take for granted the importance of this group of men and women who put, literally, their lives on the line to keep us safe.
It is in this regard that I take this opportunity to recognise, not just symbolically, but realistically, the indispensable importance of the presence of the police in our lives.
Our Zambia Police Service, is charged with the onerous duty and responsibility of maintaining peace, law and order in all our communities.
And they do this at great personal sacrifice.
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by legitimate State authority, with the duty to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health, and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder.
Their lawful powers include arrest and the use of force, and only they, have the monopoly to deploy legitimate violence.
In a democratic society, this onerous power is held in trust for the people and only the people themselves can determine whether this power is deployed in excess or with illegitimate motives.
It is on this score that I congratulate the police for trying under very difficult circumstances, to police our democracy in a fair and humane manner.
I take this opportunity too, to remind both those in charge of the command and control functions of the police, and those in the rank and file downwards, to always rise to the democratic aspirations of the country as they undertake tions.
The delicate balance to protect life and property on the one hand, and to uphold the civil liberties of individuals on the other, will always be a challenging task to accomplish.
But the sanctity of human freedom must never ever be sacrificed at the altar of political bias in policing.
The leadership of the police must always have a constant reminder of the realisation of the competing demands between order and freedom.
It will always be a dialectical constant that a free and democratic society is only possible if the population is fairly policed.
Order without freedom will constrain the very foundation upon which democracy is based; conversely, freedom without order will entail a chaotic environment where peaceful coexistence will not be possible.
My greetings to police ends with this challenge on this auspicious day of their recognition as an integral part of our society.