Handing arrest authority to every municipal officer walking a beat is precisely the piece residents want carved out first. ZNOART, through chairman Shepherd Shalvar Chikomba, backs the Municipal Police and Courts Bill that Cabinet approved, calling the reform overdue.
Their fix involves building a Special Municipal Enforcement Unit, staffed only by officers clearing defined entry requirements and finishing serious training beforehand. Criminal law, municipal law, human rights, investigations, conflict resolution, ethics, the entire curriculum.
Beyond schooling, they want certification pegged to national competency benchmarks, written procedures covering arrests and lawful force, independent oversight running a complaints channel, and hiring kept merit-based rather than partisan.
Chikomba admitted recent incidents involving municipal officers rattled people, though he treats those as isolated rather than grounds for killing a national reform. Structured properly, these officers cover by-laws, traffic, environmental protection, and public infrastructure while the ZRP concentrates elsewhere.
Municipal courts earned his approval as well, since petty by-law matters could clear far quicker through them. His pitch to Parliament stays blunt. Powerful legislation means nothing unless accountability gets wired in beside it.
Their fix involves building a Special Municipal Enforcement Unit, staffed only by officers clearing defined entry requirements and finishing serious training beforehand. Criminal law, municipal law, human rights, investigations, conflict resolution, ethics, the entire curriculum.
Beyond schooling, they want certification pegged to national competency benchmarks, written procedures covering arrests and lawful force, independent oversight running a complaints channel, and hiring kept merit-based rather than partisan.
Chikomba admitted recent incidents involving municipal officers rattled people, though he treats those as isolated rather than grounds for killing a national reform. Structured properly, these officers cover by-laws, traffic, environmental protection, and public infrastructure while the ZRP concentrates elsewhere.
Municipal courts earned his approval as well, since petty by-law matters could clear far quicker through them. His pitch to Parliament stays blunt. Powerful legislation means nothing unless accountability gets wired in beside it.
