Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE proposed amendment to the Police Act will allow the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to give the Police Commissioner General directives that must be complied with in line with the Constitution.
Both the ZHRC and Zacc are bodies set up under the Constitution.
The Bill which was recently gazetted and is before Parliament, amends various provisions of the Police Act so that it complies with the Constitution.
The Bill also provides that the Commissioner-General should comply with the directives of the Prosecutor-General.
“The principal Act is amended by the insertion after section 12 of the following section — 12A. The Commissioner-General must comply with any directive given to him or her by (a) the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission in terms of section 243(2) of the Constitution; (b) the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission in terms of section 255(2) of the Constitution,” read the Bill.
“Section 12 (“Compliance with directives of Attorney-General”) of the principal Act is amended — (a) by the deletion of “Attorney-General” and the substitution of “Prosecutor- General.”
Along with minor amendments, such as retitling the Commissioner as the Commissioner-General and renaming the Police Force as the Police Service, the Bill proposes a number of more significant changes. In the event that the Bill is passed into law, the new Act requires that the Commissioner General will be appointed by the President, after consultation with the minister responsible for the Police Service, who in the present case is the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. The appointment is for a fixed term of five years, which can only be renewed once for five years.
This gives the Commissioner-General significant independence, since the holder of the post can only be dismissed for wrongdoing, but prevents any service after 10 years in the post. The responsible minister will be allowed to give in writing a policy directive to the Commissioner-General.
The Police Service Commission will have to formulate standing orders on the advice of the Commissioner-General and with the minister’s approval in respect of discipline, regulation and orderly conduct of the service.
On disciplinary matters, the Police Service Commission will assume certain powers of dismissal, or will have to approve of the Commissioner-General’s wish to dismiss.
The Commission will hear appeals from Police Service members who have faced disciplinary proceedings. In terms of the establishment and composition of Police Service Commission, it will consist of a chairperson, who must be the chairperson of the Civil Service Commission, and a minimum of two and a maximum of six other members appointed by the President.
Members of the Police Service Commission must be chosen for their knowledge of or experience in the maintenance of law and order, administration, or their professional qualifications or their general suitability for appointment. At least half of them must be persons who are not and have not been members of the Police Service.
One of them must have held a senior rank in the Police Service for one or more periods amounting to at least five years. The right of some members of the service to opt for a hearing before a magistrate rather than a bench of officers will be abolished._@mashnets
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