Parly exposes squalid conditions in police camps

ANESU MASAMVU

At least 30% of Zimbabwe’s police force are residing in rented accommodation with three families sharing a single house at police camps, a situation which has seen morale  going down to lowest ebb, a latest Parliament Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services report shows.

According to the official data, the police has more than 44 000  members of the police force. Out of this,  more than 26 000 resided in police camps, where a single house is shared by three families.

The balance of close to 20 000 are renting in various suburbs outside their respective  police camps, a situation which affects  police operations’ effectiveness and efficiency.

It is also understood that in some cases, desperate police officers are using horse stables and prisoners’ cells as their accommodation.

“Current statistics reflected that, out of the human resource strength of 44 687 only 26 398 police officers resided in police camps.

“In most cases, a single house was shared by three families resulting in overcrowding.

“An estimated total of 19 999 police officers resided out of camp which affected the effectiveness and efficiency of police operations,” part of the report reads.

The legislators found that the state of accommodation in the force was deplorable.

The lawmakers also found out that  the police offices across the country were dilapidated, a move which diminishes public confidence in the organisation’s service delivery capabilities.

Most severely, the report said “affected  the rural stations where officers have now resorted to the use of tents, zinc and wooden cabins as offices.”

Parliament further reveals that some prison cells in some areas have been turned into offices for the police to use, proving how poor the conditions of service were.

“In some stations such as Makosa in Mashonaland East and Hwange in Matabeleland North, prisoners’ cells have been turned into offices.

“Some sections, for example the Victim Friendly Unit and Community Relations and Liaison Office, were sharing offices and this is not ideal considering that survivors of Gender-Based Violence and other sensitive crimes require confidentiality and privacy when being assisted.”

The report also revealed that  most police stations were battling motor vehicle shortages, which are critical for them to  attend crime and accident scenes among many other operations.

There is a national deficit of 4833 motor vehicles.

“The Committee learnt that the organisation’s national fleet was far below its   requirement of 7000 vehicles. The current motor vehicle strength stood at 2167 and only 807 were on the road. There was, therefore, a national deficit of 4833 motor vehicles.

“About 75% of the vehicles on the road were in urban areas especially at Provincial Headquarters whilst district and rural police stations accounted for the remaining 25%.”

Fuel supplies for the Zimbabwe Republic Police are very low and far from the monthly demands.

“The Committee was informed by the ZRP authorities that the organisation required an average of 500 000 litres of petrol and 800 000 litres of diesel per month at the current vehicle strength.

The figure was expected to increase as the number of vehicles increased.

However, the department was receiving an average of 10% and 7% of its monthly requirements for diesel and petrol respectively.”

The committee has however made some recommendations to the government so that the quality of policing is not compromised any further.

“The challenges bedevilling the ZRP are many and yet they cannot just be ignored. Public confidence in the Police Service is critical for peace and order to prevail in the country. Being the face of the nation, the department           needs to be adequately resourced.

In its realisation of the National Vision 2030 goals        of smart governance and upholding the rule of law, the Government should prioritise         access and usage of ICTs by the ZRP as this will effectively bolster efforts in effective policing.

The Committee implores the Central Government through the Treasury to urgently and seriously consider addressing the resource gaps existing in ZRP.”

Harare Lawyer, Philemon Mutukwa told Business Times that the report is a true reflection of the current state of affairs in the country and “pokes holes in the  Ministry of Finance and Economic Development rhetoric that all is well and he has a surplus”.

“Surely if there is a budget surplus, it should be utilised for the purposes.

A government can’t boast of surplus when the roads are not navigable due to dilapidation, when no learning is occurring in schools, no decent healthcare is being offered in public hospitals and when state institutions like the police do have the most basic of operational fundamentals. There is a serious need for direction and purpose within the higher echelons of power,” he said.