Police-to-civilian ratio worsens

Malawi’s police-to-civilian ratio has over the past seven years worsened, moving from one officer per 1 300 civilians in 2015 to one officer serving 1 800 civilians in 2022.

Malawi Police Service (MPS) has attributed the growing divide to a recruitment freeze in the past five years while security and public policy experts have blamed it on the country’s economic woes.

This means the country falls short of the United Nations (UN) recommended ratio of one officer to 450 civilians.

Malawi is not even doing better than neighbouring countries although they, too, are struggling to meet the UN ratio.

Zambia, for instance, has a police-to-civilian ratio of 1: 850. Tanzania has police-to-civilian ratio of 1: 1 097, Mozambique has 1: 1 000 and Zimbabwe has 1: 1 025.

The figures are based on official police profiles from various countries.

Mzuzu University governance, peace and security studies lecturer Aubrey Kabisala argued that the UN ratio does not work in certain contexts due to economic disparities among countries.

He said Malawi may struggle to achieve the ratio due to its low income status.

Kabisala said: “It is good to aspire to meet the UN recommended ratio, but the challenge is our economic status.”

Political analyst Ernest Thindwa agreed with Kabisala that Malawi does not have adequate resources to attain the UN ratio.

He said lack of resources is not only conspicuous in the security, but also in other sectors such as agriculture, health and education.

Thindwa said: “As for the police, the solution not only lies in recruiting more officers, but using them efficiently.”

He alleged that the police have shifted focus from providing security to citizens and their property to generating revenue for the government.

Thindwa argued that while the ratio leaves a lot to be desired, he urged MPS to focus on their mandate of enforcing laws and providing security to citizens.

National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya argued that their ratio is below the recommended one because of government’s recruitment freeze in the past five years.

According to him, Malawi has only 16 000 police officers serving over 18 million people.

He, however, expressed hope that the number would be boosted since they are now allowed to recruit.

Kalaya said: “Last year, government gave us the go-ahead to start recruiting and at the moment we had two intakes.

“This year, more officers will also be recruited and we hope in future to narrow the gap.”