SPECIAL police operation on the Copperbelt and North Western Provinces should be deployed urgently to stop the smuggling of mealie meal into the neighbouring countries which is pushing local prices, says home affairs minister Stephen Kapyongo.
Mr. Kampyongo said government would not sit idle and watch the prices of mealie meal escalate due to selfish individuals who were smuggling the commodity.
He has since directed Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja to deploy all the police recruits that had graduated at the Kamfinsa School of Public Order Maintenance in Kitwe yesterday to this urgent operation.
Speaking in Kitwe yesterday during a pass out parade of 693 officers, Mr. Kampyongo said government also wanted to ensure adequate security in North Western Province where gold had been discovered.
He said he would personally accompany the officers on the ground to ensure that the illegalities were stopped immediately.
And President Edgar Lungu has called for training of police officers in Cybercrime in view of the rise in such crime due to technological advancement.
In a message delivered to the new police recruits through Mr Kampyongo, President Lungu said law enforcement and maintenance of public order throughout the world had become complex due to the advances in information and communication technologies hence the need for police officers to be well trained in Information and Communication Technologies (ITC).
The President noted that training in ICT was an urgent matter needed to address the security threats emerging from the abuse of the new information and communication technologies.
And Home affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo urged the new officers to go and execute their duties with full dedication and observation of the rules of the police service as well as refraining from partisan politics.
He warned that those who will fail to observe the rules of the service will be dismissed immediately.
And speaking earlier, Inspector general of Police Kakoma Kanganja said the new police offices will help increase the staffing levels in the service and mitigate the impact of the manpower deficit the service is facing.
Mr.Kanganja emplored the new officers to go out in the community and put in their best in eradicating all forms of crimes including criminal gang groupings which he said were on the increase.
And Kamfinsa School of Public Order Maintenance Commanding officer Patrick Bili also implored the newly recruited police officers to maintain high standard of discipline and ensure that they prevent crime before it was committed.-ZANIS
