CHRR weighs in on murdered Malawi cop, calls for swift investigation
Centre for Human Rights Rehabilitation (CHRR) has strongly come in to comment on the death of Rhoda Ng’oma, a Salima police officer whose head was chopped off Tuesday, subsequently calling on the police to be swift in their investigation.
Ng’oma, head of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Chipoka Police Station, was murdered in cold blood by a gang of unidentified robbers while sleeping in her house.
According to police, the robbers used a panga knife when chopping off the head.
And on Wednesday, CHRR in a statement signed by its executive director, Timothy Mtambo, highlighted that the act was “a serious violation of the right to life.”
Reads the statement in part: “The incident also seriously undermines the significant role female police officers have in enforcing law and order in the country. CHRR, however, believes that the incident impresses upon the government and all stakeholders involved to indulge in a soul searching exercise regarding the troubling trend of insecurity in the country.
“ For umpteenth time, CHRR has lamented serious incapacity challenges that have consistently undermined the professionalism, effectiveness and efficiency of the country’s Malawi Police Service (MPS).”
According to CHRR, much as government tries as much as possible to heighten a conducive environment for the MPS the Tuesday scenario brands such efforts wanting.
“The murder has clearly exposed the fact that the citizens that are supposed to enforce law and order in the country lack even the basic capacity to protect themselves. Now, how will the citizens have confidence in an MPS which is equally vulnerable at the hands of armed robbers?
“CHRR understands that it is unanswered questions such as the one above that have regrettably compelled the citizens to take the laws into their hands through mob justice, which is illegal under the laws of the country,” the statement adds.
The rights centre has also strongly called on government to equip police officers with self-defense training and resources.
Thanks that you r the first NGO to talk about this brutal killing of the cop coz , you are same people who talk tough when Police officer have killed a suspect incidentally. What would happen had it been the same cop we are talking today (deceased) killed the so called the brutal killers in defence. Tiyeni zisamakomere mbuzi kuguna galu. Depite being a cops nawonso ndi anthu. Chachikulu amabungwe ndi udindo wanu kulakhilira anthu including the police officer to be accommodated in police camp because their in no safety in these called rented houses
Timothy should not regard this as a gender issue. Its not. I said sometime back that the Government should now put deadlines to investigations. We should know where the police has failed which will mean incompetency on the leaders. Then the lead person should be held accountable. We can not have open blanket investigations without anyone ticking since they know no one person will be held accountable and taken to task for failing the Malawi Police. In the end the IG is seen as having no solutions in his head. The people who killed him did not come as far… Read more »
Government Machinery at work.