Chihuri’s delusions of grandeur

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Written by The Editor

Sunday, 25 July 2010 12:33

We were bemused by a story last week that police commissioner Augustine Chihuri brought Bulawayo to a standstill with his 500 metre-long presidential convoy.

He must be having delusions of grandeur. Not even Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has such a motorcade. Neither does he have hordes of policeman, taken off their beat to control traffic at intersections to allow him a smooth passage.
We are always told that there is a shortage of manpower in the police, that they are short of money and short of vehicles. Before the constitutional outreach programme kicked off, Chihuri was demanding millions of dollars from Parliament to police the exercise because the police were broke.
We now know why the force is broke. There is obviously serious abuse of manpower, vehicles, fuel, etc. by Chihuri and his senior officers. This convoy is a case in point.
The police force has dismally failed to maintain law and order. They are an embarrassment to themselves and to Zimbabwe. Murderers and rapists roam our streets, while the police are unable to “find” them. They are obviously too busy controlling traffic while Chihuri drives past in his royal cavalcade.
Our parliamentarians should be asking the Ministry of Home Affairs where all the money is coming from to keep Chihuri’s extravagant
When some police stations claim they have no typewriters, let alone computers. They are unable to attend crime scenes because they have no vehicles and/or no fuel. We hear that many policemen are dressed in tatty uniforms.
We wonder what they think as they stand at street corners to allow their commanding officer to speed past in luxury.
May we suggest that parliamentarians, and the Ministry of Finance, carefully examine the Home Affairs budget to make sure it is being properly spent. The vehicle budget, for example, should be spent on utility vehicles for operational purposes, not on luxury vehicles for the commissioner’s ego trips.
It would appear the commissioner fancies himself as the president-in-training. Mugabe watch out!

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