Junior police officers are reportedly attending this year’s independence celebrations inspection parades wearing clothes that do not match.
They are deliberately doing this to express their disgruntlement against a critical shortage of uniforms within the force, a NewsDay report claims.
Last week, police commanders in Harare abandoned an inspection parade ahead of Thursday’s independence celebrations after it emerged that the police officers were improperly dressed.
Some police details reportedly showed up for the parade wearing civilian shoes after going for over three years without receiving new pairs of shoes.
The ZRP was preparing to be part of the provincial independence celebration parade.
NewsDay reported sources as saying members of the Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services who were part of the parade were immaculately dressed while their ZRP counterparts appeared dishevelled.
As the inspection began, senior police officers only inspected three members before leaving, expressing disappointment at how the rest of the officers dressed. Said a source:
We then proceeded into the square, and an army commander also questioned the manner in which we were dressed and he skipped the police detachment.
A senior police officer was quoted as saying they had been advised that the shortage of uniforms was due to the unavailability of the material used in making the garments. Said the police officer:
The challenge of shortages of uniforms has been overlooked for a long because the cops have been covering it up.
They have been asking for uniform items such as shirts, skirts, belts and others from among themselves. On special inspections for State events, the one without a belt shoes, or even trousers would ask another and they would show up at the parade smartly dressed.
But this time, they are singing a different tune. They are not borrowing. They are coming dressed in what they have and it’s not looking good.
ZRP spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told NewsDay that the uniform issue was being addressed. He said:
The uniform issue was being addressed in phases. We have the grand parade where national activities take place, and we have the provincial parade, but the uniforms are currently being sewn.
By tomorrow (today) morning, most provinces will have their uniform issue addressed. It was a few provinces that had uniforms that were outstanding, but it was a work in progress, not to say members were told there were not going to be any new uniforms. As for Harare, by tomorrow (today), all the uniform issues will have been addressed.
In November 2023, the Zimbabwe Republic Police indefinitely postponed a pass-out parade for that year’s recruits due to a shortage of uniforms. The recruits were eventually deployed to their respective workstations before the pass-out parade.
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