Africa-Press – Malawi. Police in the county have turned to the citizenry for help in their quest to curb cross border crime such as trafficking in persons and aiding illegal immigrants, which are still widespread in the country.
Speaking during a Christmas Ball and New Year party for senior police officers in the Northern Region, Commissioner Rhoda Manjolo said it is not only the duty of police to curb crime, arguing everybody is duty bound.
Manjolo said they have been holding several meetings with their counterparts in countries such as Tanzania in the hope of finding a lasting solution. She downplayed lack of capacity on the part of the law enforcers, arguing that in most cases, the irregular migrants are aided by the citizenry who frustrate efforts of the men in uniform.
“We are trying our best because we have been holding sensitisation campaigns with our friends in Tanzania and other neighbouring countries. Even the media has a role to play in sensitizing the people to stop aiding and abetting immigrants to enter our country because doing such is not helpful to the country, we should love our country as Malawians. It is not the duty of the police only,” she said.
Other issues that Manjolo touched on hinged on people taking the law in their hands, asking Malawians to trust their police for lawful action on suspects.
Commissioner of Police responsible for Human Resource Management and Development at Police headquarters, Dennis Chipao, said much as they are hit by insufficient financial resources, prudence is key.
On corruption which is still intrinsic within police formations as established by various corruption indices, Chipao said this is a wakeup call for them.
“This is indeed a challenge, we want to acknowledge that there have been those incidences but this does not mean that every police officer is corrupt but we acknowledge the incidences. So what we are trying to say is that management will leave no stone unturned to make sure that this vice is addressed. Some of the measures are internal which include strengthening the professional standards unit,” he said.
During the event, the MPS rated their performance on a high due to among others reduction of road accidents and crime in 2022 as compared to 2021, owing it to among others increased number of police patrols in collaboration with communities and other stakeholders.
Information made available online by the Organised Crime index shows that people, mainly from Zambia, Mozambique and the Great Lakes region, are trafficked into Malawi for forced labour and sexual exploitation. Recently, the law enforcers and fellow security agents uncovered a mass grave in Mzimba believed to be that of immigrants from Ethiopia.
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