Junior police officers cry for promotions
Junior police officers from Southern Region Headquarters on Friday took advantage of their annual Christmas Party to boldly express their distress to authorities over a “promotions drought”.
The discontented officers asked their commissioner for the region, Demister Chigwenembe, who was the guest of honour, to deliver the message to the Inspector General that lack of promotions was worrisome and frustrating.
Junior officers in the Malawi Police Service (MPS) are those starting from the position of constable to sub-inspector.
The 2016 Southern Region Police Headquarters Christmas Ball chairperson Lamson Seveni said it was demotivating for officers to remain in one grade for more than two decades.
“There are some officers who have remained juniors for 24 years. This demotivates work performance although it does not discourage us from working hard. We believe you will deliver our message to the Inspector General to consider us,” said Seveni, a sub-inspector.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the party, Chigwenembe agreed with Seveni’s observation, saying he was hopeful of a number of promotions in 2017.
“Promotions are always there as long as an officer is dedicated and performs professionally according to police values. The Southern Region has performed wonderfully in 2016 and we have been successful because of junior officers whose visibility has been all over strategic points.
“I am optimistic a number of them will be rewarded accordingly because when one is promoted it is like a born again, he or she is motivated and works hard, so I just urge them to continue working hard,” he said.
According to Chigwenembe, during 2016 the Southern Region managed to reduce crime by 26 percent and traffic related cases by 68 percent. n
