EDITORIAL COMMENT: Government should be applauded for providing resources to ZRP

The Zimbabwe Republic Police’s constitutional mandate is to maintain law and order in the country and for the force to be able to fulfil this mandate it has to be well resourced.

What this entails is that the police force must have adequate resources to enable it to perform its duties.

These resources include, among others, adequate vehicles for the officers’ mobility, well equipped offices and other such resources to enable the force to effectively discharge its duties.

It is therefore absurd and mind-boggling when members of the public cry foul when Government provides resources to the police to enable them to meet their obligation of maintaining law and order in the Second Republic.

Government recently bought 80 police vehicles at less than $3 million and there was a public outcry via social media.

The individuals who wanted to whip up the people’s emotions deliberately inflated the figure to 800 vehicles said to have cost $100 million.

These people who are deliberately peddling falsehoods via social media want to create the impression that Government is getting its priorities wrong when the opposite is true.

We totally agree with the Finance and Economic Development permanent secretary Mr George Guvamatanga that a fully equipped police service is an imperative in any country.

Mr Guvamatanga who set the record straight on Saturday regarding the purchase of the police vehicles, said the country cannot have a police service that cannot effectively discharge its Constitutional mandate due to lack of transport.

He said while Government has adopted austerity measures as it works to turn around the economy, it does not mean creating a dysfunctional Government through lack of basic resources and equipment needed for maintenance of peace and order in the country.

It is a fact that some of the people that are criticising Government for buying police vehicles are the same people who complain daily about police’s failure to respond promptly to reports of crime due to lack of transport.

It had become common in the past for police to ask victims of crime to provide them with transport to enable them to travel to the scene of crime as well as conduct investigations.

Police officers are sometimes forced to use public transport to travel to scenes of crime with suspects for indications which makes a mockery of the whole crime investigation process.

The peace and tranquility we are enjoying today is as a result of dedicated police officers and other security agents despite the limited resources at their disposal.

We therefore want to commend Government for its commitment to resourcing the police so that they are able to swiftly respond to reports of crime as well as take preventive measures to rid our communities of criminal elements.

The police on their part should ensure that the vehicles being provided by Government are used for their intended purpose which is to maintain law and order as well as fight crime.

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