Harmonised polls: Police to pull all the stops
POLICE Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga yesterday said the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) was pulling all the stops to make sure the forthcoming harmonised elections are peaceful and strongly warned that any criminal elements bent on discrediting the outcome of the plebiscite will be dealt with decisively.
He reiterated that there will be no sacred cows in dealing with instigators or perpetrators of political violence and urged law enforcement agents to arrest culprits so that they face the full wrath of the law.
Addressing senior provincial police commanders here and other top officers drawn from across the province during his maiden tour of Masvingo since his appointment as ZRP boss, Comm-Gen Matanga said even the so-called political bigwigs will not escape the dragnet to stop political violence and ensure this year’s elections are free, fair, peaceful and credible.
“Both instigators and perpetrators of political violence or anyone, and I repeat, anyone who engages in any criminal conduct that seeks to discredit the 2018 plebiscite must be arrested and be dealt with according to the law.
“There must not be sacred cows,” he said. Comm-Gen Matanga said under his administration, police officers who do their work within the confines of the law will always have a pillar of defence.
He urged police commanders to be decisive when clamping down on crime irrespective of the perpetrator’s standing.
“I also want to stress that I have no time for commanders(police) who develop jelly-legs and become jittery in fear of taking prompt and appropriate action when the ‘so called’ political bigwigs commit crimes, be they politically motivated or otherwise.”
He challenged members to work tirelessly towards creating an environment that is conducive for holding free, fair, peaceful, transparent and credible elections. In that respect, Comm-Gen Matanga said it was crucial for the ZRP to embark on awareness campaigns to propagate messages of peace and tolerance amongst members and supporters of different political parties as harmonised elections draw closer. The awareness campaigns will focus on the need to observe peace and unity among political opponents and encouraging tolerance of divergent political views in an environment completely devoid of any form of violence.
Comm-Gen Matanga said ZRP has since created pocket-size handbooks for officers to make sure they are fully acquainted with their duties and responsibilities when policing particularly ahead of the coming elections.
He said ZRP was supposed to render policing services to the nation and conform to the wishes and aspirations of the new Government in Zimbabwe that was ushered into office after Operation Restore Legacy.
Comm-Gen Matanga said the police and the public were supposed to work in unison to create a free and harmonious society underpinned by strong police-public cooperation.
He, however, said President Mnangagwa has already made it clear in one of his previous speeches that it was not desirable for the public to provoke the police to break the law they were supposed to enforce or for the latter to provoke citizens into breaking the law.
“I am aware as you all are, that there are some misguided elements out there that might have the temerity to wilfully violate laws of the land in the face of the police. That is totally unacceptable,” said Comm-Gen Matanga.
Turning to corruption and indiscipline, the police chief said his organisation would maintain its zero-tolerance stance against the vices warning that bad apples would continue to be flushed out.
He said many organisations the world over had been severely paralysed by the twin evils of corruption and indiscipline that he said should never have a place within ZRP.
He paid tribute to the Government, led by President Mnangagwa, for showing strong will to fight the scourge of corruption by commissioning Anti-Corruption Courts to specifically and expeditiously deal with corruption cases.
ZRP, he said had responded by establishing a Police Anti-Corruption Unit (PACU), which falls under the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and was already operational.
He conceded that police operations continued to be dogged by resource constraints countrywide, but expressed optimism that the rebounding economy after the advent of the new dispensation in the country will see more fiscal support to the organisation from Government.
He appealed to ZRP members to give a hand to charity by buying raffle tickets for the Commissioner-General’s Funfair and Horse Race, but insisted that no member would be forced to buy the tickets.
Present at the tour was Acting Officer Commanding Police Masvingo Province, Assistant Commissioner Coneli Dube, Chief National Police Spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, Officer Commanding (Operations) in Masvingo Assistant Commissioner Crispen Makedenge, Officer Commanding (Crime) Masvingo Assistant Commissioner Edias Tembo among others.