Junior police officers have revealed that they are obliged to follow orders from their superiors without question even if it entails brutality against civilians.
A police officer who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com on condition of anonymity had this to say:
The challenge is that operational orders are not given by junior men.
We act on orders from our superiors who are very clear as to how to handle civilians in demonstrations and usually we are ordered to use force.
We are trained to follow orders without question, failure of which you are charged with insubordination or undermining authority.
If they are going to arrest me for following an order, is it not logical that they arrest the originator of that order who put the lives of innocent civilians at risk. Our seniors should also face the music.