Malawi Police worried with recurrence of homicide cases

The Malawi Police Service has said it is still worried with the recurrence of homicide, mob justice, rape and defilement cases although its biannual report indicates that the level of crime has gone down this year to 20,000 cases from 22,000 registered cases, same period last year.

Inspector General, Merlyne Yolamu, was speaking in Lilongwe when she was reacting to the biannual report. She said human resource challenges are also affecting operations of the law enforcement agency adding that currently there are plans to build up capacity of police officers on public order management.

Inspector General Merlyne Yolamu

Yolamu further said the Malawi Police Service remains committed to investigating all outstanding cases and ensure that all police officers involved in corruption are brought to book.

“What we want to do is that anybody involved in corruption should be dealt with accordingly. We will not shield anyone on the basis that they are a police officer,” Yolamu said.

Commenting on the matter, Chairperson for Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security, Ralph Juma, said as a committee, they were satisfied with the measures the Inspector General had lined up to improve the operations of the Malawi Police Service. He however urged the service to be professional and respond timely to security and crime issues.

Ralph Juma

“We are impressed but we are yet to see if that will materialise into actions because sometimes it is easy to say but not very easy to actually do. She highlighted shortage of resources like staff, motor vehicles and houses. As a committee responsible for the oversight role on security matters in this country, we are going to support her so that these challenges are addressed,” remarked Juma.

Reports indicate that Malawi has 14,000 police officers but it requires 30,000 officers. This translates into a ratio of one police officer to 1,378 people against a standard ratio of 1 officer to 500 people.

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Agnes Banda
Agnes Banda
1 year ago

Yep, it’s a shame there isn’t a government funded force who investigates crime. Of course we have a government funded force who collect additional cash from the public and drink tea in their little buildings, but nobody walking in the communities, helping and protecting people.

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