Development

A century of police reforms

A century ago, Malawi Police was born amid British colonial rule in line with the lawmakers’ resolution of October 5 1921.

However, it was just a matter of time before barefoot Malawians started penetrating the all-white Nyasaland Police Force created to protect the colonial masters’ interests.

This month, Malawi Police celebrated a centenary since its colonial beginnings in 1921

The security agency was named Malawi Police Force when the country attained independence in 1964, with Malawians taking over top positions. However, its independence dwindled during the one-party rule when its primary purpose was to crush perceived enemies of founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda and the State.

Kaphaso Nyirongo, who worked with the police during the State of terror, remembers the era when the fierce law enforcers made innocent suspects shiver as if they were guilty.

Kainja: The system had to change

“It wasn’t a people’s police,” he says. “Sometimes, people could run away when an officer entered their village. Now you see them going to pubs while in uniform.”

Former Inspector General (IG) Lot Dzonzi spent 27 years in the khaki uniform.

He has fond memories of his service from 1987 to 2014. He saw the police rebrand from a force “used as an instrument of control” to a people’s service following the dawn of democracy in 1993.

Looking back, Dzonzi says: “The police had lost touch with the community it was supposed to serve.

Dzonzi: Change takes time

“Its relationship with the public was confrontational rather than cooperative and consultative.”

The excesses of the police partly persuaded Malawians to choose the lamp of democracy in the 1993 referendum. Even the police system had to change.

Current police chief George Kainja says the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of 1995 marked a turnaround in policing.

He narrates: “There sprang many human rights organisations who spoke against police malpractices, so Malawians became less submissive and more demanding.

“Our trusted tactic for many years—use of force—had been taken away by the new dispensation that promoted human rights.”

‘Change takes time’

Dzonzi, who championed community involvement in policing, says democracy required the police to change “their priorities, strategies, operations and its attitudes to reflect the aspirations of the people”.

He states: “Many people expected change to come overnight, but my experience with change management is that organisational transformation takes a long time.

“Due to the dynamic nature of society, change becomes a process rather than a point. This is the reason MPS still grapples with some of the issues 35 years on. Transformation is all about learning, unlearning and re-learning things. It calls for open mindedness.”

In July 2020, President Lazarus Chakwera appointed Kainja to restore public confidence in the police system accused of overtly leaning towards the governing party.

To serve Malawians better, MPS established specialised units, including community policing.

“The adoption of community policing is an effective strategy of policing in the wake of democracy. It reduces crime and allows the people of Malawi to participate in planning and implementing activities aimed at making their communities safer,” Kainja explains.

Community policing also holds the police accountable to the people they serve, says the IG.

Absent in the air

However, the police service has been thin and inactive in the skies. The police air wing’s sole helicopter was grounded at Mtakataka in Salima in 2003 and a four-seater fixed-wing plane at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe. Meanwhile, the police have lost planes’ fitness, pilots and engineers.

Kainja is concerned: “Air capability is crucial for any police organisation. There are things we would have been doing effectively had we a functional air wing. These include air patrols over Lake Malawi and our game parks and forests would be more effective.

“The helicopter is also effective in intercepting stolen cars before they cross the borders as well as for conducting research as well as search-and-rescue operations during natural disasters. It also improves access to hard-to-reach areas.”

Currently, the police have to enforce law and order amid low public trust and limited resources, including housing.

According to Kainja, there are only 3 000 staff houses for about 14 000 police officers.

He laments: “This means that about 79 percent of police officers find their own accommodation elsewhere.

“Sadly, those who live outside police lines are targeted when the public, sometimes criminals, are not happy with police action. At times, landlords have evicted police officers for fear that their houses would be attacked by residents angry with the police.”

Depoliticise it

Despite such challenges, security analyst Euginio Njoloma, from Mzuzu University, urges the police to strive for independence amid rising public scrutiny.

He reckons nothing much has changed despite the change of name from a force to a service.

Njoloma cites political connection as a major setbacks to the desired police reforms.

He states: “I want to see a police that has not only changed its name, but is detached from politics. The police chief is appointed by politicians, making it tough for the appointee to become completely independent.

“We have seen some past regimes using the police to fight their opponents, denting the police image in the process.”

Njoloma warned against widespread corruption, especially among traffic police and detectives.

“Some people joined the service not as a calling, but a job,” he says.

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