Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter
FIVE Zimbabwe Republic Police officers have returned home from United Nations (UN) peacekeeping duties in South Sudan, while two others are set to leave the country on a similar mission in the Abyei Area on the border with Sudan.
The Abyei Area has been accorded “special administrative status” by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.
The returnees are Chief Superintendent Josiah Chideme, Chief Inspector Abel Bvuta, and Sergeants Epiphania Makaza, Rita Tigere and Timothy Mutandewa.
The two officers leaving the country are Chief Inspector Lucia Mugwenhi and Assistant Inspector Witness Zano.
Addressing the officers in Harare, Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga said most of the officers deployed to such missions continued to exhibit hard work and a high level of discipline in their duties.
“It is a profound pleasure to address you on this important occasion, which has become a major part of the organisation’s diary events,” he said.
“As we gather to bid farewell to two officers who are destined to undertake peacekeeping duties in the Abyei Administrative Area, we also take pride in warmly welcoming home five others who completed their tour of duty in South Sudan.
“Indeed, today’s event bears testimony to the indelible footprints that the Zimbabwe Republic Police continues to leave on the international peace-keeping arena. Over the years, the organisation’s contribution and performance profile in peacekeeping missions has imprinted a consistent, traceable, and broadly acknowledged success story.”
Online Reporter