THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has instituted an aggressive transfer of officers countrywide amid reports that the police top brass is furious about rising indiscipline, incompetence and allegations of corruption, the Zimbabwe Independent reveals.
Harare province on Thursday last week transferred more than
450 police officers with immediate effect with bosses indicating that they
expected the officers to report back their new stations on Monday this week.
The transfers are reportedly being implemented across
Zimbabwe with members of ranks of the assistant inspector, sergeant-major,
sergeant and constable affected.
Transfers for higher-ranked officers are expected soon.
The ZRP, of late, has been battling rising cases of
indiscipline among the poorly remunerated officers that have resorted to
corruption and other serious criminal activities including armed robberies.
There has also been a major public outcry among Zimbabweans
over the conduct of the police, especially those from the traffic section
accused of corruption.
Police national spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi confirmed the transfers.
“That leaked police internal communication was meant for
the officer commanding Harare to transfer members within his province according
to police regulations.
“So there is nothing sinister or alarming about those
transfers because, in terms of the police regulations, officers commanding
provinces have the leeway to transfer members within their provinces to address
manpower shortages, performance and also the issue of job rotation,” Nyathi
said.
“It’s not unique to Harare. These transfers are being
effected by officers commanding provinces throughout the country and this also
relates to members from the CID.”
Indiscipline, according to sources who engaged the
Independent in unsolicited interviews, has become a major concern for ZRP
bosses who are trying to tinker with various departments to bring sanity in the
force.
“There has been an outcry across the country over the
conduct of some police officers with some having been arrested on crime-related
offences. The transfers would be implemented across Zimbabwe,” some policemen
who requested anonymity told the Independent this week.
Massive transfers will be done at the ZRP Traffic section
and the CID’s Commercial Crimes Unit (CCU) in Harare province.
“These are critical departments considering the current
state of affairs on Zimbabwe’s roads which need serious policing to control the
chaos and the increasing traffic volume, especially in urban areas. There are a
number of CCU officers facing corruption allegations with a number of letters
having been submitted,” a source said.
The sources further indicated that the culling of members
seconded to the CCU who have since been sent back to general policing duties
was due to allegations of indiscipline.
“We cannot ignore the fact that some of the transfers are
routine especially when a member moves close to his family or requests a
transfer and it is granted. However, units like the CCU are special and one
cannot just join and is then relegated to handle ordinary duties like receiving
clients at the reception desk.
“That means the member has been removed from where the
action is and would have been found unsuitable to handle critical duties
including investigations,” the sources added.
Members of the CID are considered to be elite and do not
wear police uniforms, hence resorting to normal duties in uniform is considered
a demotion.
Meanwhile, according to a memorandum released to all
stations in Harare on Thursday last week and seen by the Independent, Officer
Commanding Harare province, Commissioner Wonder Tembo announced the transfer of
464 police details from their stations.
He also instructed stations to submit “casualty returns” as
soon as the transfers were put into effect while setting a Monday deadline,
meaning these were immediate.
Of note have been transfers from the Mbare Traffic Section,
Robert Mugabe International Airport and the Harare Central CCU department.
The traffic section at Mbare saw 52 constables, two
assistant inspectors, two sergeant-majors and nine sergeants being transferred
from the station.
Unconfirmed reports, however, indicated that about
three-quarters of the affected details were spared the road since Mbare is a
busy policing district.
Another interesting development saw 38 policemen — four
assistant inspectors, a sergeant-major, 11 sergeants and 22 constables — being
removed from the CCU to start normal policing duties at Harare Central Police
Station.
The changes at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport station saw an assistant inspector,
three sergeants and 16 constables being transferred to other stations. Zimbabwe
Independent
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