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“It is painful to see police officers working under strenuous conditions when this country is endowed with such vast resources. The budget allocations from the Ministry of Finance leave a lot to be desired.
“Our police officers are operating on a shoe string budget. It is sad that this is done by the people who should be giving such institutions all the necessary support,” said Dr Mpofu who is also the MP for Umguza constituency.
“This encourages corruption. Our police need sufficient support in order to discharge their duties in an efficient manner. May the relevant ministry consider the plight of these officers.
“I am advocating for the situation where the police retain 100 percent of all the money generated through fines for various offences. This should be allowed to continue until reliable funding for the force is created. Police require continued financial support particularly from Government.”
At the moment the police are only allowed to retain money generated from traffic offences.
Dr Mpofu said police officers engaged in corruption mainly because of poor salaries.
He however, said there were many opportunities that officers could exploit through the ongoing indigenisation programme, especially in the mining sector.
Dr Mpofu said the Government and the Zimbabwe Republic Police have adopted zero tolerance on corruption saying those officers, who practise the vice, were tarnishing the image of the country.
Dr Mpofu said police officers should establish good relations with the communities they operate in, adding that officers who abused citizens were eroding public confidence.
“ZRP continues to maintain zero tolerance on corruption. I am reliably informed that from January up to December 2012, a total of 123 police officers were arrested for corruption and 32 members have since been discharged from the force while some cases are still pending,” he said.
Dr Mpofu also urged the force to ensure that peace prevails across the country during the forthcoming referendum, general elections and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly by ensuring that peace prevails across the country. He said the police should not hesitate to arrest perpetrators of violence.
Dr Mpofu expressed concern over the increase in road traffic accidents during the just ended festive season, which the police have described as the bloodiest.
“It is disheartening to note that the past festive season was one of the worst as our roads proved to be very unsafe. We lost 252 lives as a result of the road carnage compared to 135 deaths recorded during the same period in 2011, translating to an 87 percent increase.
“Motorists should religiously adhere to traffic laws and regulations as most of these accidents are a result of human error. The roadblocks must be maintained and if possible, be increased,” said the Minister.
Earlier on, Dr Mpofu, who was accompanied by the Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, inspected a guard of honour and later on toured trees that Comm Gen Chihuri planted at the depot on Wednesday.
During the tour, Dr Mpofu pledged to drill two boreholes at the depot to augment water supplies.
The other senior officials who attended the pass-out parade were Matabeleland North Governor Thokozile Mathuthu, Bubi-Umguza Senator Lot Mbambo, Bubi MP Clifford Sibanda, acting Chief Ndiweni and acting Provincial Administrator Ms Nosizi Dube.
Senior Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai, who is in charge of administration at Police Headquarters, the Officers Commanding Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces Senior Assistant Commissioners Stephen Mutamba and Norman Sibanda and CID coordinator for Matabeleland region Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza also attended.
A total of 271 recruits graduated.
Online Reporter