HARARE - Police in Harare are living in sub-human conditions. Some are stationed at the horse breeding camp along Bulawayo Road while those at Morris Deport share rooms separated by curtains or furniture.A recent visit to the camp showed that stables have been turned into houses. A police officer at the farm said the accommodation woes started as early as 2005 when police officers were among the thousands forcibly removed from their homes by Operation Murambatsvina.
We were the ones at the forefront of destroying houses, but we were only pawns. We did not have our own houses, so we moved to the camps and even up to now we are still sharing flats, he said
At Morris Depot, the police live in squalid conditions sharing the same roof that is separated by curtains and furniture or cardboard. There is no secrecy at Morris Depot – you hear everything that takes place in the next room, added the officer. Windows are broken and there is dirt everywhere, including rivulets of sewage.
The situation duplicates itself at most of the police camps dotted around the capital. The Magaba police camp shows signs of age and neglect. Roofs are soot covered and the toilets are dirty or closed. Most of the police flats, which were built long before independence, have not been renovated and then were meant for bachelors. But, with nowhere else to go, families of up to five now live squashed in one bachelor flat.
Harare Police spokesperson, Inspector James Sabau, said that the camps in question were not under Harare jurisdiction even though they were in Harare. I have no idea about what you are talking about. Morris Depot is not in Harare Province and the Horse Breeding Farm is in Mashonaland West, he said.
Post published in: Politics