Chihuri orders ZRP purge

A recent directive has ordered all officers-in-charge to get rid of unpatriotic officers from the force. This is well known as a euphemism for non-Zanu (PF) supporters.

According to a radio transmission from the police general headquarters and sent to all the countrys police stations, officers-in-charge are directed to hold meetings with their subordinates, lecturing them on the countrys history and taking note of anyone who resists.

It has been resolved that all members of the force need to be enlightened on the countrys history as well as to jealously safeguard our independence and sovereignty. In pursuance of this noble patriotic objective, all officers-in-charge of all stations are required to carry out lectures on the history of Zimbabwe, said the order.

May this headquarters be supplied with information of the stations that have complied or notThis information to reach HQ before the last day of this month.

A police officer stationed at HQ said they were last week addressed by senior cops who advised them that anyone suspected of supporting a party other than Zanu (PF) was going to be dismissed.

We were told that, because the country was going to have a fresh general election, officers were expected not to bite the hand that has been feeding them for a long time, meaning to say that everyone was forced to rally behind Zanu (PF), he said.

This time, we are not going to let them force us to vote for them like they did in June 2008, and officers have openly refused to be used. We want to see what comes next if we do not attend such lectures, said the officer.

A similar signal was sent out before the March 2008 general elections, and policemen and their families were forced to attend re-education lectures on how Zanu (PF) liberated Zimbabwe. The MDC was denounced during the lectures as a puppet of the West.

Civil society has complained that, since the formation of the GNU, the security forces have steadfastly resisted reforms, and that they continue to be partisan under the leadership of commissioner Augustine Chihuri, a self-avowed and vociferous Zanu (PF) supporter.

Since Chihuri took over, a large number of senior officers have been forced to resign for being insufficiently loyal to Zanu (PF). Others have been enticed to toe the party line through generous gifts of farms, vehicles and countless other perks.