By 
Sheltryn Parangira
Police have postponed a pass-out parade scheduled for today owing to a shortage of uniforms for the recruits, underlining the serious challenges dogging the force.
Police authorities yesterday addressed the recruits, informing them about the postponement of the ceremony, which was set for the Mkushi Training Academy, formerly Morris Depot in Harare, sources said.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday confirmed the postponement, but dismissed reports of uniform shortage saying the event was postponed because the recruits were yet to complete their studies.
“ZRP Mkushi Training Academy is affiliated to the University of Zimbabwe as trainees undertake a certified two-year diploma in policing academic examinations, practical, rural and urban,” Nyathi said.
“This entails attachment coupled with the final research project. As we speak, the final examination results are not yet out, those who failed are yet to write supplementary examinations while the research projects are yet to be finalised. This entails that the trainees cannot graduate or go for a pass-out at the moment.”
But internal police sources said there was a shortage of police hats and shoes, which were required for the recruits to dress up for the pass-out parade.
“The DCI [depot chief inspector] has addressed the recruits this morning (yesterday) at Mkushi. He said the ceremony will be held ‘soon’, but the date is yet to be advised,” a source said yesterday.
“We have been conducting rehearsals for the pass-out since last month and we feel the parade is now long overdue. The issue is that there is a shortage of police uniforms, mostly hats and shoes.
“Some of the recruits do not have the pass-out suits as we speak, so the ceremony can’t be conducted without such necessities.”
Police details have complained about the government’s failure to improve their welfare and conditions of service, while pictures of police officers clad in torn uniforms have circulated on social media as members of the public bemoan the deterioration of conditions of service of State security agents.
Authorities recently told Parliament that soldiers’ and police officers’ morale had hit rock bottom due to a shortage of food and uniforms.
An official at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission also admitted that some of their officers and those in the police force were engaging in corrupt activities due to poor working conditions.
Addressing officers at a police conference recently, Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe appealed for Treasury intervention in dealing with financial constraints dogging the police force.
“I know that the police do not have enough resources to use, but I promise you I will do my best to make sure that you get what is needed,” Kazembe said.
In the Zimbabwe Republic Police Horizon 2025, a document which maps the organisation’s strategic plan until 2025, the police chiefs stated that the force “has perennially been underfunded, thereby impacting on operations and service delivery”.
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