Source: Police must perform their duties without interference: Eng Muguti | The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
SECRETARY for Presidential Affairs and Devolution in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, has urged the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to fully embrace the whole-of-government approach in support of national development.
Speaking on the sidelines of a training workshop for chief superintendents held yesterday at Mkushi Academy in Harare, Eng Muguti said police must go beyond traditional law enforcement and play a broader role in fostering peace, order and economic progress.
“The Commissioner-General of Police, (Stephen) Mutamba, requested our office — particularly the Presidential Affairs and Devolution Office, led by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya — to train all chief superintendents on the whole-of-government approach,” he said.
“The idea is that policing is no longer just about enforcing the law.
“It is also about understanding and addressing issues that affect people’s livelihoods and the country’s economic development.”
He stressed the importance of allowing police officers to perform their duties without interference and warned against individuals, especially politicians, who use their positions to intimidate or influence the police.
“We also looked into issues of name-dropping by certain individuals, especially the name of the President,” he added.
“We were assisting them to understand that the President does not allow that.
“We want the police around the country to discharge their duties freely without hesitation.
“The police should also not be intimidated or influenced in discharging their duties by certain people who claim to be from certain political parties.
“For us to attain Vision 2030, the police should be doing their duties without interference and people should be working according to the country’s laws.”
As part of the training, police officers were also educated on the structure and functions of various Government institutions.
The workshop, Eng Muguti added, covered key governance topics, including fiscal discipline, sovereign discipline and inter-governmental coordination.
“We also taught them on what is called sovereign discipline and fiscal discipline, where we discussed how to handle finances and channelling it towards programmes that assist all Government departments to work towards economic development,” he continued.
“We also trained them on devolution, central government, provincial government and local government.
“We discussed the legislative side and its functions, provincial councils and what those voted as provincial councillors are expected to do.
“We also talked about councillors and their functions.”
Police officers also received instruction on the roles of senior Government officials, such as permanent secretaries and chief directors, to improve coordination and understanding across ministries and departments.
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