Police scuffle for money at thrift ‘bank’

Fri, 17 Mar 2017 07:16:30 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

COMMOTION and a near-stampede erupted yesterday at the Zambia Police Service Thrift and Credit Co-operative Society offices at Sikanze police camp in Lusaka after police officers stormed the premises to demand for money from their savings.

And some police officers deployed to man matches at the just-ended AfCON Under-20 tournament have demanded for an investigation into their allowances as some senior officers are alleged to have pocketed their money.

A spot-check by the Daily Nation found officers scuffling for their money at the co-operative society offices in a disorderly manner as pulling and pushing characterised the process which led to the smashing of one of the windows to the office where they were getting the money from.

The police officers refused to leave the premises, saying they had been duped on a number of occasions that there was no money in their accounts yet their salaries were deducted every month towards the scheme.

Orderliness was only restored after the Police Command summoned officers from the anti-robbery squad who quelled and calmed the situation.

Speaking after getting their money, some officers who spoke on condition of anonymity said the scheme had lost its original purpose and that there was need to close it to prevent further confusion, saying that was not the first time that officers were complaining about the issue.

“We have been coming here to get our money since last week but we have always been told that there is no money yet these people deduct our money from our salaries every month and we are entitled to withdraw our money from this scheme at least once every month.

‘‘This scheme is voluntary and has no conditions attached. If they have failed, let them close it because some people can’t be making a fortune out of our sweat,” one of the officers said.

Meanwhile, some police officers deployed to man matches at the just-ended AfCON tournament have demanded for a thorough investigation into their allowances as some senior officers are alleged to have pocketed their money.

“Initially we were told that CAF would pay us K1,000 per day. Later, we were told the command said we would be paid at the Government rate. We worked for two weeks but we were only given K1,700 and we don’t know what rate this translates into.

‘‘Someone got our money and because we rarely talk about these things in public, they think we will just fold our hands as usual but this is unfair.

But when contacted for a comment, police spokesperson Esther Katongo said she was not aware of the fracas at the thrift society offices and referred all queries on allowances to CAF.