Controversial transfer of police officers to Northern Region irks CSOs, activist
Some civil society organizations (CSOs) and activists in the northern region have spoken against the “controversial” transfer of police commissioner for the south, Richard Luhanga, to the region and they argue that it is “an insult.”
Last weekend, Luhanga and other police officers were unexpectedly transferred from their posts for allegedly “allowing” President Chakwera’s convoy blockage by some Blantyre residents on Saturday.
Luhanga is meanwhile police commissioner for the North replacing commissioner Noel Kayira who is now responsible for the South.
But reacting to the development, some CSOs led by Youth Action for Campaign (YAC) described the transfers as an insult to the northern region.
YAC executive director Jackson Msiska said they have written to the ministry of homeland security on the matter as they feel the region has been used as a dumping site.
“The transfer of Luhanga is a clear testimony that he failed in the South, and now they have dumped him here. While citizens in this region are used of such insults, they were not expecting this from the Tonse Alliance government.
“The northern region deserves better, and not failed personnel from elsewhere. If trouble workers within the civil service are being transferred to the north, how will they connect the region with government? People who connect government and citizens are the same civil servants. And if the area has more unwanted civil servants it means it will have no development,” Msiska said.
On his part, renowned Karonga-based youth activist Steve Simsokwe, the transfers have been ill-timed.
“This is the time that the MCP-led government needed to prove to the northerners that it is not a ‘Dead North’ and fulfill its campaign promises. It has done the opposite by committing this crime,” said Simsokwe.
According to Simsokwe, the northern region needs to stand up to benefit from the national cake.
“We are not only talking about the police commissioner. We have also witnessed the transfer of irresponsible District Commissioners and other senior staff from elsewhere to the northern region. This is not right,” he said.
National police spokesperson, Peter Kalaya, has however described the transfers as normal and denied reports that they were as a result of the Blantyre fracas.
He said the transfers are a way of strengthening the service’s operations on the ground.
“The transferring is normal. And that is a routine as far as police strategy to boost security in the country is concerned. The story that it is because of what happened in Blantyre is fake,” he said.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
