Police lament lack of people’s tips

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Malawi

Police in Dedza have expressed worry over citizens’ reluctance to report criminal activities taking place in their areas.

This was disclosed on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Court Users Committee (CUC) meeting which was organised with support from Rights Advice Centre (RAC) and ActionAid.

bloodsuckersCUC comprises of Traditional leaders, councillors, Police officers, judiciary officials (magistrates), and officials from other government departments, and members of civil society organizations.

Dedza Police Station Prosecution Officer (SPO) Superintendent Patrick Chambuluka while reacting to concerns raised by residents of Dedza that the police is not working to their expectation, observed with sadness that people are not coming forward to report crime to the Police.

He described the behaviour as worrisome since the Police depend on people to provide them with tips in order for them to effectively carry out alleged investigations.

Chambuluka cited an example of a certain family that was keeping 17 Ethiopians in their house.

“Recently there was a case where some Malawians were keeping 17 Ethiopians, nobody came to us to report the issue. But a boy aged 12 after noting that the 17 were not looking like Malawians, he came to tip us on the development, we rushed to the area and at the moment the owners of the house have been jailed for 10 years,” he said.

Chambuluka then urged traditional leaders to encourage people to report any criminal allegations to the police in order to ensure peace and stability in the district.

Reacting to the call, Senior Chief Kachere of Dedza said lack of interest among people from various villages is one of the factors which makes them not to report the criminal allegations to Police.

He then said he will civic educate his subordinates to take the responsibility of reporting cases to Police.

“We will encourage them to provide tips to the police so that justice should be prevailing. A lot of people think the police and courts are for government officers but they have to know that it is their home hence they should report the cases to the Police,” Kachere said.