Police inertia to blame for illegal military fatigues

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 09:39:36 +0000

By AARON CHIYANZO

POLICE are to blame for letting people wear military fatigues as they have failed to enforce the ban against the practice.

Both Police and UPND officials have blamed officers for allowing the illegal practice to continue because they were aware that there was a ban in place yet they have done nothing to stop the practice.

UPND spokesperson, Charles Kakoma told the Daily Nation that the police were to blame for not taking stern action against those abrogating the law.

Zambia Police Service (ZPS), spokesperson Esther Katongo said Police officers should stop their laissez-faire attitude towards enforcing the law as allowing political party cadres to illegally roam around in military uniform is an embarrassment Police Service.

Police deputy inspector general, Malcom Mulenga recently warned against people putting on military regalia.

UPND cadres from Southern Province, have however been spotted in recent pictures on social media putting on military fatigues.

Ms Katongo, who partially agreed with Mr Kakoma, explained that the vice had continued in some parts of the country because some police officers were reluctant to arrest the culprits found putting on military regalia.

She reiterated that the directive by the deputy inspector general was supposed to be taken seriously by all police officers across the country.

Ms Katongo said that officers must stop their laissez-faire attitude towards enforcing the law as they were an embarrassment to the service.

“As a service we committed to clamping down on this illegality, but you find that some officers are still tolerating people found putting on military regalia. The police officers are supposed to arrest any person found in military uniform because even the law is clear on this,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr Kakoma defended the cadres who were spotted in military attire that their regalia only looked like military uniform, but was not.

He claimed that the regalia the UPND cadres were putting on was one of those clothes being sold on the streets but only looked like military uniform.

Mr Kakoma however reiterated that the police should start by stopping people selling the attire on the streets if they did not want ordinary citizens to put them on.