Recommendations
Media organisations, civil society, political parties, the police,
and state security should engage and collaborate effectively to
develop guidelines that will safeguard election observers and
journalists.
An Untrustworthy Police Service?
During a Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ)
press club discussion held in Harare on the 2nd
of April the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi stated that the ZRP was training its
officers to deal with anticipated election-related
violence and had further set up an internal
committee to investigate poll-based crimes.
Despite this being a positive development, the
Pan Africa research network Afrobarometer
revealed that the majority of Zimbabweans view
most members of the country’s police force as
corrupt. In its latest report published on the 31st
of March this year, the Ghana based research
network disclosed that Zimbabweans had little
faith in the police because of their
unprofessional conduct. Survey findings from
the majority of respondents who encountered
the police within the 2022 period revealed that it
was difficult to obtain assistance and about onethird said they had to pay a bribe. Many also
complained of unprofessional conduct, stating
that the police often used excessive force,
stopped drivers without good reason, engaged
in criminal activities, and failed to respect
citizens’ rights.
Among respondents who asked
for help from the police,
59%
mentioned that it was difficult to
get the assistance they needed, and
37%
said they had to pay a bribe,
thus in total
60%
said ‘most’ or ‘all’ police
were corrupt.
As political activities heighten ahead of this
year’s general elections, the ZRP continues to
defend its bans on some political gatherings,
THE ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT | APRIL 2023
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