HARARE - Junior members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police say they are now being terrorised almost as badly as in the run-up to the presidential election re-run in June 2008.
After Morgan Tsvangirai and his mainstream MDC had defeated Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF) in the March 29 vote, junior officers were intimidated and threatened by their superiors. Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, a war veteran and self-proclaimed supporter of Mugabes party, turned police camps into Zanu (PF) campaign grounds, deploying his trusted lieutenants to campaign for the ailing party and threaten perceived MDC supporters within police ranks.
Junior officers described how they were closely watched and were not allowed to move around freely. They were threatened with dismissal and even death by firing squad if they refused to rig the elections. They said the strict internal surveillance they were put under by the notorious Police Internal Security Intelligence (PISI) was tantamount to imprisonment.
This week, some junior officers from across the country told The Zimbabwean that an almost similar scenario has returned to most police camps, especially in four of the countrys cities Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Kwekwe. Things are beginning to heat up, following reports that elections will be held next year and our seniors have since turned station lectures into campaign rallies for Zanu (PF), just as they did in 2008, said a junior officer based in Harare.
The junior officers say that life for them, which had improved since the formation of the national unity government in February last year, took a turn for the worse last month, after an internal police communication. In 2008, the junior officers were forced to vote Zanu (PF) in the presence of their superiors, who began each voting exercise by preaching the Zanu (PF) gospel of anti-colonialism and hatred for the MDC.
Only one junior officer, Tafadzwa Gambiza, who was stationed in Kwekwe and had always clashed with his superiors over the ZRPs partisanship, refused to vote Zanu and was immediately dismissed. The threats are growing by the day. Even numbers of PISI members have been increased for maximum surveillance on those perceived to be supporters of the MDC, who are mostly junior officers, said a Bulawayo-based officer.
Even our dependants who live inside camps are being screened for where they work, where they spend most of their time and which parties they support. Police officers whose support for Zanu (PF) is questionable are being threatened with dismissal.
The internal communication, whose reference number is LDM02/2010, is dated September 9 and is titled Voter registration. It calls on commanders to educate their juniors about elections. During the last election, it was noted that some members of the force who had applied for postal ballots were not in the voters roll, reads a part of the communication, written by Commander By-elections and addressed to all stations in the country.
Commanders should therefore encourage all members under their command to register as voters. Voter registration and voter verification/inspection can be done on any working day at the Registrar Generals local offices. This command will check on voter registration compliance in due course.
Junior officers say this flies in the face of the Police Act, which prohibits active participation in politics by police officers.
Paragraph 47 and 48 of the Act says that active participation in politics and association with any political party is a chargeable offence, but the senior officers seem to be using that only against those they believe to be MDC officers, fumed another junior officer, who is based in Kwekwe.
Section 16 of the police Standing Orders Volume 1 also states that no political meetings shall be held in any police station, camp or quarters and prohibits members from canvassing any support for a political party within the force. I wonder if Co-Minister of Home Affairs Theresa Makone knows about this.
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