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invited to take part in various missions under the auspices of the United Nations and the African Union. Contrary to claims in some sections of the private media that the force was inept, its members continued to be called to participate as senior officers in peace keeping missions.
A member of the force, Assistant Commissioner Charles Makono, returned home after serving for seven years as the first African Union Commissioner in Somalia. Before his deployment, Asst Comm Makono goes through an intense selection process conducted by the AU with assistance from UN where he competed with several senior police officers from the continent.
During his tenure in Somalia, Ass Comm Makono registered tremendous successes as he was involved in crafting the Somali police strategic plan that would guide it until next year. As part of his duties, Asst Comm Makono was responsible for advising the Somali Police Commissioner and giving periodic security briefings to the Somali Minister of Interior and the President.
Under his leadership, Asst Comm Makono managed to conduct basic crime investigation courses where 80 Somali police officers were trained.
He also trained 38 officers in explosives identification and disarming the explosives among other important duties. Asst Comm Makono and the police unit under his leadership recovered more than 100 guns and explosives and the unit also used to conduct day and night patrols in Mogadishu.
In his end of mission briefing at Police General Headquarters in Harare on Thursday, Asst Comm Makono highlighted the rampant existence of ethnic politics in Somalia.
He said ethnic politics was fanning tribal wars in Somalia.
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“The rigorous adherence to clan system created political and economic rivalry among the clans and this is what sparked civil war in Somalia,” he said.
Asst Comm Makono said the civil war that had ravaged the country for more than two decades had destroyed infrastructure, killed and maimed millions of people. He said the high levels of lawlessness culminated in many cases of crime such as piracy, money laundering, rape, public floggings and other serious human rights abuses. During his stay in Somalia, Asst Comm Makono said he learnt how to deal with complex challenges where there were no definite answers.
Apart from Asst Comm Makono, several other senior ZRP officers had also excelled in international duties.
Asst Comm Crowd Chirenje is serving as co-ordinator for the African Union Peace Support Operations Division based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while Asst Comm Charity Charamba served at a senior level in another Peace Keeping Mission in Liberia.
Online Reporter