CONWAY TUTANI ECHOES
As I was about to walk out after being served, a distressed supermarket staffer rushed in and told fellow employees and customers inside that a young boy appeared to have died after being knocked down by a commuter omnibus fleeing from a baton-charging policeman at the next intersection along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.I immediately phoned sub editor Garie Tunhira asking him to inform the news editor so that he would deploy a news crew to the scene, which he duly did.
Most sadly, the innocent three-year-old boy was pronounced dead soon after he was rushed to hospital by ambulance.
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This was an unnecessary, senseless loss of a precious, young life.
Which parent does not remember and treasure memories of bouncing their giggling, vivacious, curious toddler at that age?Was young Neil Mutyora’s life as cheap as the $20 or so that corrupt traffic police now routinely extort as bribes from omnibus crews in their ongoing war?
The police are supposed to be much more responsible than criminals, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell them apart.Like an organised crime ring, corrupt police induce kombi crews to pay protection fees first thing in the morning or else they will be hounded throughout the day.
The “menacing cop” reportedly disappeared soon after the tragedy which he had largely caused. It cannot be more cowardly than that. Before and soon after independence, police would render first aid in such situations.
Maybe on Tuesday the cop made a quick getaway because he very well knew that the angry onlookers would have torn him apart. Instant justice can quickly follow if you incense a crowd. You should be careful not to bring this upon yourself.
That is why restraint and reasonableness are called for in such situations; not brute enforcement of physical power. Is it far much better and sensible to let a kombi driver escape than imperil lives.
The people roundly condemned the kombi driver, but more so the police for heavy-handedness. For a city of Harare’s size teeming with millions of people having no viable public transport system for two decades, this brings kombis to fill the gap.
The kombi menace is a creation of this very government which let the efficient urban transport system under Zupco collapse. Now it’s a complete traffic jungle with no solution in sight.
This has completely gone out of hand. Despite warnings that the police should exercise restraint, they haven’t listened. How many more lives have to be lost before they finally heed?
An accident is defined as an unplanned event. But to me this was no pure accident. Heavy-handedness on the part of the police led to that.The tragedy was avoidable by a trillion times, but for Stone Age bludgeoning police tactics.
Where has professionalism gone? Human life is precious above all else. Members of the public need not be caught in the cross-fire or be regarded as casualties of collateral damage. Under whatever circumstances, safety of people and preservation of human life is paramount.
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It should not be like a rescue team which shoots wildly, killing all the hostages while most of the hostage takers escape. What kind of rescue operation is that? The police should pounce at the safest time.
This is supposed to be peacetime. Streets should not be turned into war zones. The police are there to alleviate and assuage; that is, assist and make the situation more bearable, to pacify and calm; not to make a bad situation even worse by endangering people and heightening tension.When did we last see routine patrols by police vehicles in residential areas?
Children born in the last decade or two don’t know that this used to happen; that the police were only a phone call away; that a dead body would not be baked in the sun for a whole day before collection by the police.What they mostly associate police with is striking at commuter omnibus and taxi windows with batons and going by the roadside to extort bribes from motorists.
All today’s generation knows is the menacing presence of the police.
The state of the police stations themselves tells the full story of this rot. Time was when they were spotlessly clean. You knew you had stepped into another world. It immediately gave you trust and faith, a reassuring sight that you would be served to your satisfaction.
Now police stations are as dirty as can be. This can’t be blamed on sanctions.The extent of the neglect is appalling. This points to a shocking deterioration of discipline — an element which is essential for efficient and effective policing.Lack of discipline indicates absence of leadership. Leadership is not there because they are busy doing other things than policing. Corrupt police thrive in this mess and chaos. Nothing outstanding, excellent and upright can come out of such dirt. Where there is cleanliness, there is orderliness. Where there is not, it’s the complete opposite.
The public image of the police has been further severely dented and there is no let-up. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)’s motto is Pro lege, pro patria, pro populo, or For the law, the nation, and the people.
What happened on Tuesday and preceding that does not measure up to that by any standards. Retraining and reorientation is called for among this lost generation of police. They have become witting and unwitting victims of the commercialisation of the ZRP. Spot fine collection has become their core business with daily targets reportedly set for each police station.
That said, the police officer at the centre of the tragedy should be asked: “Do you sleep well at night?”Rest in eternal peace, Neil. You went too soon and needlessly so.
