Chihuri urges police officers to be non-partisan

Police officers  have been urged to uphold a section of the Constitution which entails them to be non-partisan and respect civilian authority.

Speaking at the 31st graduation ceremony of 598 police officers at the Zimbabwe Staff College on Friday, ZRP Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri urged officers in the force to uphold patriotism and loyalty.

"The thrust (of the overall organisational strategy, mission and vision) underscores the first 2012 Guiding Principle in the ZRP which states: 'Officers are to give customers a full measure of their service'. The guiding principle speaks to the core of our constitutional mandate. The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 20 Act 2013, Section 219, which says and I quote: 'Subsection 1(c) there is a police service which is responsible for protecting and securing the lives and property of the people.'

"According to Subsection 3, the police service must be non-partisan, national in character, patriotic, professional and subordinate to the civilian authority.

"The content of the national character of the organisation should exude patriotism, loyalty and integrity. Patriotism and loyalty are vital tenets for the affirmation of our privileged place as the fundamental primary pillar entrusted with the internal security, peace and tranquillity of the country," said Chihuri.

The police boss reminded the officers that a peaceful environment in the country puts the ZRP at the epi-centre of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset).

"As a matter of fact, the recently unveiled national programmes, namely ZimAsset and the complementary Integrated Result-Based Management places the organisation at the core of crucial national programmes. That attributes weave us into the fabric of the country," he said.

Chihuri paid tribute to the graduands and called them to impart their newly acquired knowledge to the force.

"The organisation in particular and the country in general are eagerly anticipating the injection of their acquired  knowledge for complementing the effort already existing on the ground. Certainly, we expect the graduands to bring flair and wisdom to the entire range of documented strategic instruments for the harmonious implementation of our work progress. The organisation's objective in committing resources to the learning, training and development of officers is to improve service delivery to our clients efficiently and effectively," he said.