Norway police equips MPS

The Norwegian Police Directorate (NPD) has equipped the Malawi Police Service (MPS) with modern set of computer equipment specifically for peace missions.

NPD commissioner Bjorn Hareide handed the equipment personally to Inspector General of Police Lexten Kachama at a function which took place at Police Headquarters in Lilongwe on Thursday.

Said Hareide: “We have been working with the Malawi police in peace keeping support programmes for a long time. Today we are donating these computers and desks to the specially designed Peace Support office. The Peace support office coordinates all issues related to peacekeeping support exercise and store data for future reference,”.

He said they have been working with MPS in peace support operations since 2013.

He said: “We have trained some female police officers here in managing heavy vehicles in peacekeeping operations. Because the UN wants more females to be involved in peacekeeping activities.”

In a related development, Hareide has asked the IG to send police officers to Norway to train their counterparts in peace support operations.

Said Hareide: “We believe Malawi has the expertise in peace keeping support having been working in Darfur for years. For us to learn about the situation in Africa we need to be trained by Africans themselves.”

Kachama expressed gratitude to the NPD for the equipment saying it will go a long way in advancing peace support operations.

Said Kachama: “They have always been supporting us in areas of peace support operations and today they are her again with computers and other donations. We are relay grateful and we truly value their friendship.

“Peace Support Centre is a very important department of police as we have an operation in Darfur, though we are not restricted there. We also have been to Kosovo and other areas. We need a vibrant office with good equipment and this is very timely.”