Africa-Press – Mozambique. The police force must be implacable in its fight against kidnap gangs, insisted the General Commander of the Mozambican police, Bernadino Rafael, on Tuesday.
Speaking at a ceremony in Maputo, where he presented the new Deputy Commander of the police, Fernando Tsucane, recently promoted to that position by President Filipe Nyusi, Rafael declared that the police must also stop the illicit circulation of firearms.
He said it makes no sense, in a country where there is an organized police force, for guns to be circulating without the knowledge of the authorities.
“If there is some other force that wants to undertake an operation, the commander of the police station must know about it”, said Rafael. (The “other forces” allowed to carry firearms are bodies such as private security companies).
The police must always be on the ground to prevent the unauthorized use of firearms, he stressed. It was the police force that should be carrying guns, he declared.
Rafael also demanded tighter border security. “We want to ensure that our frontiers cannot be penetrated by illegal immigrants”, he said.
As for corruption within the police, Rafael claimed that vigorous measures are under way to stamp it out. “We shall cleanse our ranks of all those who are damaging the image of our institution”, he promised.
“We shall put our foot on the accelerator, so that people understand that the Mozambique Republic Police is not a refuge for those who have deviant behaviour”, declared the Commander.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
