THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is re-introducing the compulsory displaying of name tags and force numbers by all officers as a way to tame rising corruption among its members.
by PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said this on Wednesday at the Media and Elections Reporting Symposium organised by the University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Arts.
Charamba’s comments come in the wake of growing cases of officers being arrested for bribery and corruption, with many of them getting away because they are not known.
“All things being equal, all members of the force should have their force numbers sewn on to their uniforms, but unfortunately because of scarce resources, some don’t have. The Commissioner-General has ordered that all police officers who work in public should have name tags. They are going to sew their names and numbers on their uniforms,” Charamba said.
“This would apply to all in the streets and particularly traffic officers.”
A number of police officers especially from the traffic section have appeared in courts on charges of accepting or demanding bribes from the motoring public at roadblocks.
Charamba also said the ZRP would be training its members on how to treat and work harmoniously with journalists particularly during riots, demonstrations and electioneering periods.
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“Police have been taught to respect media and that they (media) have a role and right to election reporting,” Charamba said.
“We are engaging journalists and training institutions on how to smoothen relations. It’s not only the police that do not know how the media works, but also the media should understand how the police work.”
Charamba’s remarks came in the wake of concerns raised by Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe Chapter following the arrest of 23 journalists in the past 12 months while carrying out their professional duties.
Many of the journalists were arrested in dragnets during demonstrations that rocked the country and were charged despite proving that they were duly accredited reporters covering the events.
