Chronicle Editor
Senior Business Reporter
THE government is working towards ensuring that municipal police are accorded arresting powers in order for them to deal with certain crimes that occur within local authorities’ jurisdiction.
Illegal vending and some traffic offences should be handled by municipal police, the minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi said.
Responding to legislators at the National Assembly on Wednesday who were keen to know Government policy with regards to giving municipal police arresting powers so that they augment the national police service, the minister said it was work in progress.
“The Minister of Local Government and Public Works is working towards ensuring that we realise that,” said the minister.
“We have realised that there are certain crimes that occur within the municipal area, like vending crimes and some of the traffic crimes. The municipal court should surely be dealing with that. So, we are working at ensuring that we get to that.
“It is work in progress between my Ministry and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.”
Local authorities have been lobbying for Municipal Police to be granted arresting powers
Illegal vendors have continued to flood the streets of Bulawayo, with the BCC battling to get rid of them, resulting in bitter clashes between the vendors and the council cops.
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