Farai Mabeza
The Zimbabwe Republic Police in Harare has issued a directive barring police details from possessing cellphones while on duty.
According to an internal memo dated February 6, 2020 from the Officer Commanding Police, Harare Province and addressed to all stations in the capital the directive was with immediate effect.
The memo is titled “No member/officer to possess a Cellphone whilst on official duty”.
“As a matter of policy, no member/officer on official duty shall be in possession of a non-officially allocated cellphone. Repeat no member/officer shall be in possession of a cellphone on official duty. For instance, a dispol (officer commanding district) who is issued with an official cellphone shall be allowed to use the cellphone.
“All other members/officers should utilise the radios whilst on official duty. Any deviations from this standing instruction will result in the member and his/her immediate supervisor charged for disobeying an official order,” the memo reads.
The memo does not give any reasons for the ban.
