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Wanted: Cops for Zimbabwe
28/05/2007 11:30 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe has launched a recruitment drive to massively beef up its police force ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary polls, the state-run Herald newspaper said on Monday.
"As Zimbabwe Republic Police, we have already started preparations for the elections and we are in the process of mobilising manpower," the newspaper quoted police senior assistant commissioner Faustino Mazango as saying.
"We have started a massive recruitment exercise so that we have a minimum of 50 000 police officers by the time we have elections."
Zimbabwe's police force stands at 29 000 and has been losing its members who seek better-paying jobs.
It has often come under heavy criticism for brutalising civilians during protests against veteran President Robert Mugabe's rule.
In early March, scores of opposition activists including leader Morgan Tsvangirai were hospitalised after sustaining injuries when riot police crushed a planned anti-government prayer rally in Harare.
As a result of the country's severe economic crisis, junior officers often use commuter buses, cycle or walk to crime scenes as police stations either have no cars or have no fuel.
The force was dealt a further blow when a British vehicle manufacturer stopped suppling them with spares following an embargo by Zimbabwe's erstwhile partners in the West.
- AFP
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