Commander-in-chief of Mozambican police defends urgent restructuring

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Commander-in-chief of Mozambican police defends urgent restructuring

4:43 CAT | 27 Jan 2021

FILE PHOTO - Rafael criticised the fact that many agents had had their careers frozen for several years, because the PRM law had not been reviewed for 42 years.. [File photo: noticias de Defesa]

The commander-general of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Bernardino Rafael, yesterday proposed the urgent restructuring of the corporation to adapt it to the new dynamics.

“We need to solve the PRM’s problems urgently,” Bernardino Rafael said in an interview with the state-owned newspaper Notícias, Mozambique’s main daily, because not all “run at the same speed, and the dynamics are not always understood”.

Rafael criticised the fact that many agents had had their careers frozen for several years, because the PRM law had not been reviewed for 42 years.

“We have colleagues who have been stagnating for 40 years or more in the same post, and these situations have to be resolved, putting them in their post, properly,” Rafael stressed.

Rafael said that the restructuring “must include the improvement of infrastructure and logistics, so that agents can carry out their activities and meet requirements”.

Rafael said that the process of revising the PRM Law was underway and that the government has shown itself receptive to the need for structural transformation.

Another of the challenges facing the police is corruption, he continued, citing lack of professionalism as one of the causes.

“I always tell my colleagues that the money we earn is not enough. It is not possible to solve all problems with the money we earn, so it is necessary to know how to manage our needs,” he stressed.

The commander-general of the PRM pointed in particular to corruption in the Traffic Police, admitting that it persists despite the intensification of disciplinary and criminal measures.

“We do not assent to corruption; we are relentless against this type of behaviour and we are convinced that it is not a lost war,” he said.

Rafael considered it unacceptable that a traffic police officer should found in possession of the driving licenses of persons who had allegedly committed infractions, noting that in cases of transgression, the respective documentation must immediately be referred to the competent bodies.