The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has become incapacitated to such an extent that police officers are forced to accept transport to their stations from suspects they would have arrested.
This was revealed by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Ruth Mavhunga-Maboyi during the Senate’s latest sitting. She said:
It is true that police officers are travelling distances to arrest a criminal who owns a car whilst they are travelling on foot which then becomes a very difficult situation.
When they arrive at the scene, they are the ones who are now given a lift by the perpetrator.
However, we have put a budget aside, especially on the supplementary budget.
The Minister of Finance is going to look into our plight in order that we may increase the fleet of vehicles at hand.
At the moment, we have cars but they are very few and some are not working.
The cars are not only going to be used to go and attend criminals with minor offences but also other major crimes like murder.
Recently, Inspector Kamutanho, the officer-in-charge at Harare’s Southerton police station, appealed to an unnamed company for a donation of stationery.
However, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) later issued a statement saying Kamutanho acted on his own accord. | The Standard