Minister says Zimbabwe under-staffed by 5 000 cops

By Nkosana Dlamini

Zimbabwe has a shortage of 5 000 police officers with the current 14 000 serving officers still running far short of the desired 50 000 required in tandem with the country’s population.

This was revealed in parliament on Wednesday by Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe while responding to questions by MPs who expressed concern over failure to provide enough police cover in all parts of the country.

“…In the country, we are expecting to have 50 000 police officers and this will be in line with our population.

“At the moment, that is the establishment we have. Even in foreign countries, there are some ratios they use.
It is a way to see how many police officers are needed.

“At the moment, we have 14 000 police officers. It is our wish to have 50 000; the ones we have at the moment are few, but it would be good if they were 50 000.

Kazembe said constant resignations by serving members of the force was militating against government efforts to maintain staff level and also increase the number.

“Some police officers are changing professions, some are resigning and some are retiring.

“So, for us to replace them, we cannot do that alone, as the police. We have to seek concurrence from the Treasury and Public Service Commission because they are the employer.

“We just informed them that we have a shortage of 5 000 police officers. We are recruiting police officers yearly and we are working towards ensuring that there is the 50 000 mark.

“We are training about 2 000 or 1 000 per year. In every company, there are structures. There are some people who get employed and they will leave employment. It is common everywhere.

“We also have the programme of replacing them. They are being trained. I think you saw that last month, there were some police officers who were graduating.”