Does government care about police problems?
f it is not about poor tobacco perfomance, drug theft, hunger said to affect more than 6.2 million or 35 percent of the population, water supply problems especially in the cities and power outages which are bringing the manufacturing sector down to its knees, University of Malawi students torching cars over hiked school fees, it is about albino killings, exhumations of their bodies and sale of their body parts.
It is about Cashgates involving civil servants and business persons looting government resources. It is about forensic audits where some cabinet ministers are said to be implicated in theft of billions of kwacha and the State President trading barbs with a Member of Parliament on the same.
It is also about members of the Malawi Police Service (MPS) being involved in armed robberies—K500 million from Mzuzu Standard Bank, K100 million from the First Merchant Bank in Blantyre, K6 million from Colony Club Casino in Blantyre, a break-in at the former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s residence in Ndata by policemen guarding the property, in which building materials were stolen and 10 members of the police stealing government equipment in Salima which they were also guarding, to mention but a few.
What is for certain is that a growing number of members of the police are involved in serious organised crime, including armed robberies, car hijackings, break-ins and corruption. The Malawi Police Service has admitted this. Things have completely fallen apart. Does anyone care?
The latest about spate of crime is the murder this week of a Criminal Investigations Department (CID) senior officer in Salima, Rhoda Ng’oma. According to Police, Ng’oma was on Monday afternoon on duty during the opening of the Salima Sugar Factory by President Peter Mutharika. She is said to have gone straight home after the function. Only to be brutally murdered later in the night. May her sour rest in peace!
The citizens no longer have trust in the law-enforcement authorities. At the rate security is degenerating in the country, Malawi is sitting on a ticking time bomb. All the while authorities are talking about bringing investors in the country. Is this a country where anyone would be interested to put their money in if they can take it to Zambia, Mozambique or Tanzania all of which have a better appeal?
The citizens are wondering what authorities are doing to arrest the rising spate of insecurity in the country.
All this is happening under the watch of the Commander-in-Chief of the MPS who is the State President.
It is not a secret that working conditions for the law enforcers are poor to say nothing about their low salaries. Without condoning crime, what do you expect from a salary of K65 000 for a constable who has a wife and two children? He has to pay K12 000 in rent and K10 000 a month for a bag of maize, buy charcoal and other necessities and spend money on daily transport to work, to say nothing about school fees.
It is also no secret that political and tribal cronyism have dwindled professionalism and work ethic among the once reformed police. Promotions and postings of serving officers to higher-paid jobs are said to be largely based on one’s tribe or political affiliation. To make things worse, while their main stream civil servants have trade unions, and enjoy union rights, unionism—where the police could channel their grievances to the authorities—is not allowed in the MPS.
I am aware that there has been a proposal to form a police complaints commission in the MPS similar to South Africa’s Independent Police Investigative Directorate. But when is that happening? There is need to expedite this. Until there is a way for solving the myriad problems police officers are facing, corruption and armed robberies will continue.
