Source: Police guarantees peace ahead of polls | The Herald May 8, 2018
Lawrence Chitumbain Bindura
Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga says police will create an environment conducive to hold free, fair, credible and transparent elections this year.
Addressing senior police officers in Bindura last week as part of his tour of the country’s provinces, Comm-Gen Matanga said those who will engage in conduct that is likely to put the forthcoming elections into disrepute will be arrested and dealt with according to the law.
“The elections are fast approaching and as a province, you must ensure that all your personnel are fully acquainted with their duties and responsibilities,” he said.
“As ZRP, we should remain alive to the critical Constitutional role we play in contributing towards the creation and sustenance of an environment that is conducive to the holding of free, fair, peaceful, credible and transparent elections.
“Both instigators and perpetrators of political violence or anyone and I repeat, anyone who engages in any criminal conduct that seeks to discredit the 2018 plebiscite must be arrested and be dealt with according to the law. There should not be any sacred cows.”
Comm-Gen Matanga also urged police officers to mount aggressive awareness campaigns designed to promote peace and unity among Zimbabweans, including encouraging dialogue among political opponents and their supporters and tolerance for divergent political views.
There is an on-going active campaign against political violence.
According to Comm-Gen Matanga, ZRP has since prepared pocket-size handbooks outlining the relevant laws that are peculiar to the election season.
He added that the ongoing retraining of police officers on public management should ensure that a sizeable number of provincial staff is included.
The visible policing trajectory that has found expression in the introduction of adequately supervised patrol units, he added, should also put the police force in a good stead to effectively deal with all forms of political violence or other related offences.
COMMENTS
General Lawrence Matanga you are talking to us that have felt the pain of your ZRP’s “help” and “critical Constitutional role” at our many past “free and fair” elections.
There can only be peace, freeness and fairness in our new elections if you keep yourself and all of your ZRP staff, and their greedy noses out of them.
Go spend your time looking for your past Police Commissioner Augustine Mahuri, so that we can get back all the billions of money that he stole from us.
And I am sure that you yourself have also hidden away quite a pile of our stolen dollars.
Or better still Lawrence Matanga, go and set up a car check roadblock somewhere…but somewhere where there are no cars.
The zrp has always been on the wrong in elections. They are not expected to change because some junta is now in power. They and their military and CIO counterparts should just bugger off. They have messed this country enough. Why were Kitsitatota and Mwale not prosecuted for their heinous murder of talent mabika and chiminya when there was outright murder in Buhera? Where is Itai Dzamara? Where were the police when Gukurahundists murdered tens of thousands in Matabeleland and the Ndebele speaking parts of midlands? Where were the police when the coup was executed in November 2017? Where were the police when the 2008 vote was stolen? Where were they when that Rashiwe Guzha woman was murdered? Why now? Do not talk of a new dispensation. The same junta boys were the kingpins of all the dark days in the history of Zimbabwe starting from the murder of Chitepo, Tongo, Sydney Malunga and numerous others. The police are not going to investigate anything but will assist in stealing the elections. The voice of the people has been muzzled for too long. What kind of people cannot conduct elecions within their own party. They are violent and fraudulent to the core. They nauseate anyone with a conscience. God help us out of the jaws of zanu and the military junta. You can put lipstick on the lips of a pig and help it walk on two legs, but it will remain a pig. You can call a coup anything but the fact that its a coup cannot be veiled. As long as the junta controls electoral power there will be no free and fair election let alone a credible and transparent one. Take what matanga says with a table spoon of salt.