LUNGU TELLS POLICE OFFICERS TO BE PROFESSIONAL

By Fulman Mukobeko

A LUSAKA-BASED Clergyman is worried that the Zambia Police Service have continued to defy President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive of not keeping suspects unnecessarily long in custody before giving them police bond or taking them to court.

In his inaugural speech, President Hichilema said suspects should not be kept in police cells beyond the stipulated time and that the police should be investigating cases thoroughly before effecting arrests.

Speaking in an interview, Reverend Moses Lungu said it was unfortunate that the Zambia Police Service was not adhering to President Hichilema’s directive.

“The President means well. He wants to uphold and see to it that the rule of law prevails but unprofessional conduct being perpetuated by people with vested interest, who have not appreciated the President’s trust to give them power that they can carry out his directive, is what is becoming worrisome,” Rev. Lungu said.

 Rev. Lungu regretted that the police were allegedly breaking the law with impunity.

“I wonder what kind of professionals we have within the police service. Professionalism in the police service is very cardinal as it boosts people’s confidence in the system and the Government of the day but what we are seeing nowadays is the exact opposite of what the President directed,” Rev. Lungu said.

“I am afraid at the rate we are going…. people are not foolish. They can lose the interest and confidence in the police system and you cannot contain the amount of chaos that you are provoking by trying to erode people’s confidence in the police service,” he added.

 He said the police had the duty to adhere to the President’s directive and ensure that whatever he directed was seriously for the good of the nation and that if the President’s directive was not obeyed, then the police should wait for the worst because people were not foolish.

 He said the police should be held to account in their individual capacity if there was professional misconduct on their part and that the motivation to always accuse the President of things he did not know about each time the police allegedly misbehaved must come to an end.

 “You can’t take people for granted. Ask UNIP, the MMD, or even the PF. They thought they were very powerful but they will tell you how it ended. Individual police officers who misbehave should be held liable to any professional misconduct within the institution of the police service,” he said.