By SYLVESTER MWALE –
HOME Affairs Permanent Secretary Chileshe Mulenga has challenged indisciplined police officers to resign before being kicked out because there is no place for disorderliness in the Police Service.
Dr Mulenga said that there were a few police officers who were denting the image of the Service because of their indiscipline, but advised such officers to resign instead of being pushed out.
The permanent secretary was speaking on Friday when he commissioned the refurbished police cells at Kabwe’s Chowa Police Station. The renovation of the cells, which included improved sanitation and painting, was funded by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) at a cost of K84,000.
“Most of our officers are extremely disciplined and, as permanent secretary, I am extremely proud of them. There are, however, a small number who are indiscipline and who bring the name of the Police Service into disrepute,” Dr Mulenga said.
“My advice to those indiscipline officers is to improve immediately or get out of the Zambia Police Service because there is no place for indiscipline officers in the Zambia Police Service,” he said.
Dr Mulenga also warned superior officers to ensure that they remained firm in ensuring that their subordinates adhered to the code of conduct of the Service in the interest of the country.
He said the Government was aware of the accommodation challenges faced by men and women in uniform, hence the decision to construct 12,000 houses for defence and security personnel.
Dr Mulenga said President Edgar Lungu, who is also former Home Affairs minister, had allowed the commencement of the second phase of the project even when the first one had not been concluded.
The permanent secretary said that most police infrastructure was in a dilapidated state as they were built in the 1950s, and commended CDC for funding the renovation of police cells at Chowa Police Station.
Earlier, Central Province Police Commissioner Lombe Kamukoshi said the police station covered a catchment area of 26,174 with a ratio of one police officer to 430 people.
Ms Kamukoshi said that the increase in population being policed by the station had resulted into a steady rise of the number of suspects in police custody, hence the need to have modern police cells.
“This requires a decent cell which promotes human rights and dignity, so this is a concerted effort between the Police Command and cooperating partners to fight diseases such as TB which people easily contract in congested places,” she said.