Back to Index

Startling revelations on police stations
Clemence Manyukwe, Financial Gazette
November 29, 2007

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711290578.html

THE Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Obert Matshalaga, has told Parliament that many police stations have been on the verge of closing as the force has reeled under serious lack of funding.

"It is important for this august House to note that the ZRP (the Zimbabwe Republic Police) has been under-funded for years resulting in the deterioration of infrastructure and quality of service. In 2006 ZRP ran out of operational funds. The minister had to approach Cabinet for additional funds," he said.

"The ministry, through ZRP, maintains law and order, and to do that they need resources. The department has on many occasions gone to Treasury when police stations were about to close as the department would have run out of funds to pay for electricity, water bills and other supplementary charges. The maintenance of peace is not cheap."
Matshalaga, who is ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Zvishavane, was responding to a report by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that had questioned why the Ministry of Home Affairs exceeded its budgetary allocations.

Matshalaga defended the over-expenditure, saying in the face of lack of adequate funding, "sometimes it is better to save life and bear the censure that follows".

He added that another department under his ministry, the Registrar General's office, which has a backlog of 300 000 passport applications, faces similar problems.

"Every member of this august House has witnessed the meandering queues at the passport office and at the Registrar General's offices, the major reason being the lack of funding needed for consumables ... we have had to bear the brunt. Complaints have at times turned into insults, and threatened violence. I loathe having to use the police to quell a disturbance within a sister department like the Registrar General."

He said the Public Financial Management System that Treasury introduced was not user-friendly and the ministry's submissions to Treasury on the problem had fallen on deaf ears.

Unlike other ministers that have criticised reports by parliamentary committees, the deputy minister thanked members of the PAC for highlighting weaknesses within the Ministry of Home Affairs, saying some of the recommendations in the report would be taken on board.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP