Changala condemns Mung’anga sacking
By Thandizo Banda
GOVERNANCE activist Brebner Changala says President Hakainde Hichilema has betrayed Zambians by abandoning the promise of the police reforms his administration championed while in opposition.
Commenting on the dismissal of Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of administration Charity Munganga, Changala said she could have been fired not for wrongdoing but for doing something that did not please the appointing authority.
“The incident exposes exactly why reforms are urgent. Under the reforms UPND promised, the Inspector General and deputies appointed by the President would be ratified by Parliament and report to the Attorney General, shielding them from the Executive’s political interference,” he said.
Changala said reforms in the Zambia Police Service were non-negotiable.
“Under police reforms, senior officers’ contracts would be secured, not necessarily being at the pander and whims of the powers that be,” he said.
Changala said senior officers would enjoy security of tenure and could not be fired at will in the manner Munganga had been fired.
He said firing top officers and replacing them with preferred individuals would not change anything in the operation of the service.
“What Zambia needs is fundamental reforms, not musical chairs at police headquarters,” he said.
Changala warned that failure to effect progressive reforms in the Zambia Police Service amounted to endorsement of police brutality, unprofessionalism and abuse of State power.
He said many Zambians were disappointed by Hichilema’s failure to act and rebuild the broken and politically compromised police image in the country.
