It is most likely that the new Inspector General of the Zambia Police Service Mr Graphel Musamba wants to impress that he wants to instill professionalism within the ranks.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But what is wrong is to start insinuating that the police officers he has found are political cadres and need re-training.
Mr Musamba’s targeted officers are those employed during the Patriotic Front tenure in government.
We would advise him to heed the counsel of the former Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Stephen Kampyongo who served in the PF administration.
We agree with Mr Kampyongo that doing so would be fanning divisions and hatred within the Police Service and create unnecessary frictions within the ranks.
Mr Kampyongo has advised that Mr Musamba should resist the temptation of fanning hatred in the police service by insinuating that police officers who were employed by the previous government were cadres who should be retrained.
He is disappointed that Mr Musamba, who has been recalled from retirement should begin to characterise police officers employed before the UPND formed government as political party cadres.
Mr Musamba, as a seasoned police officer ought to understand that Government is a going concern,that continues employing people even when there is a change of political leadership in the country.
Just as the PF inherited police officers engaged while the MMD was in government, it did not treat them as political cadres.
Moreover, there were some who joined the police service when the UNIP government was in office. We are quite sure that some are still in service.
Mr Musamba, like others before him, should work with the officers he has found in the system rather than start categorising some of them as political cadres.
Zambians want a police service that is professional and will not discriminate against citizens in carrying out its mandate.
They do not want a police service that turns a blind eye to illegalities carried out by cadres aligned to the party in government as has been the trend even under the new dawn administration.
What Mr Musamba should also work on is to change the public’s perception of the police service as being the most corrupt – particularly the traffic section.
The public should have confidence that whenever they are dealing with a police officer, their concerns would be attended to in a professional manner.
The clean up expected in the police service must do with removing the rogue elements tarnishing its image.
