Election Sunday 23/23: Is The ZRP Now Contaminating Our Electoral Space, Like In 2008?

By Rejoice Ngwenya One of, if not the most fundamental truths about effective democratic, human rights-based policing is proximity to citizens. It is no coincidence that whenever one travels around a country, even in the most despicable of all governance and justice systems, one sees police stations usually located in the middle of residential areas. In Zimbabwe, police posts are named after residential areas eg, Ruwa police, Amaveni police, Mkoba police, Luveve police, Dangamvura police and so on and so forth. In its own way, this nomenclature is a statement that a country’s police are not just an extension, but the first port of call; the last frontier in the community justice system. In fact, the above paragraph - to those who understand the critical role that policing plays in our lives – is an understatement. Whenever anyone – a stranger, a criminal, a neighbour, a child, a traveller – is in distress, the first question that comes to their mind is: “Where on earth is the nearest police station?” I say ‘criminal’ in the context of mob justice.