Nchelenge wants more police officers
Written by Millennium on August 3, 2019
THE low numbers of Police officers in Nchelenge is worrying and something should be quickly done to redress the situation, says district commissioner Derrick Mwelwa.
Mr Mwelwa said the district only has less than 50 police officers against a population of over 176,000 Zambians and about 14,000 refugees.
He said this when the Public Police Complaints Commission (PPCC) delegation led by its chairperson Frederick Musonda called on him at his office.
Mr Mwelwa said there was need to beef up the number of police officers in the district especially that it was on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He said although the security situation was calm, the district was concerned with certain areas such as Kaputa which has a population of about 30,000 with only 6 police officers.
Mr Mwelwa said that the district recently conducted an operation in which 56 illegal fishermen were apprehended.
And Mr Musonda said his commission was concerned with increasing complaints from the public about the conduct of some traffic officers.
He said while it was necessary for Police to mount road blocks because of the many defective vehicles on the roads, there was need for them to be professional in their conduct.
He said due to numerous suspicions from the public who felt the fees which were being collected at road blocks were not properly accounted for, PPCC had agreed with the Police High Command that motorists should be allowed to deposit the fines directly in the police bank account.
The Commission chairperson explained that erring traffic offenders should be given 7 days in which to pay their traffic fines.-ZANIS
