ABOUT THE FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. There is this tendency by some people to start praising a person when they are fired, despite the fact that when they still hard the position, they were condemning them on a daily basis. It happened with the former Special Assistant to the President for Press & Public Relations; Anthony Bwalya, and it’s happening again regarding the former Inspector General of Police; Lemmy Kajoba. Well, l am not one of those people.
2. Let’s face it; Lemmy Kajoba was one of the worst IGs that Zambia has ever had. Why do l say so? Well, he literally failed to run the Police. Before l explain any further, l just want to make it clear that my evaluation of the performance of an IG does not include their dealings with opposition politicians, because l know fully well that an IG has got no say in terms of which opposition politician to arrest, which one to give police bond etcetera. Those decisions are made directly at State House, usually without the knowledge or input of the Inspector General of Police.
3. Therefore, my assessment of Lemmy Kajoba’s tenure of office as IG is premised entirely on his ability or lack thereof to fight crime and give the Zambian people a feeling of safety and security. Most of the time, the incompetence of the Police is hidden from the general public, but under Kajoba, the case of the 14 kidnapped girls really exposed him and his institution. First of all, the Police were reluctant to properly investigate those individual kidnappings whenever relatives reported them. Spring 24 Television ran a series of documentaries outlining Police inertia to investigate kidnapping cases, long before the Pamela kidnapping.
4. After Pamela was kidnapped, Police failed to locate her kidnappers despite the fact that they were demanding a ransom by phone for more than a week. After the 14 girls were rescued by the community, Lemmy Kajoba and his men shamelessly tried to take credit, and even harassed the family of the young boy who was instrumental in rescuing the kidnapped girls.
5. Additionally, the performance of the public relations department of the Police has been shambolic under Kajoba. Whenever there is a shooting or major incident, the Police have been issuing statements that don’t make sense and are self-contradicting. Ati “Police fired warning shots in the air and one of the thieves was unfortunately hit and he died on the way to hospital”. As a result of this very poor performance by the Public Relations Unit, public confidence in the police under Lemmy Kajoba was at an all-time-low.
6. And then there was Lemmy Kajoba’s excitement with holding the position of IG where he even went and printed 3 stars for himself and issued statements that l considered to be political in nature on issues such as the mealie meal shortage. Defense and Security Chiefs attract more respect from the people when they keep away from political issues. In fact, they need to avoid being in front of the camera as much as possible, because the more you are on television, the greater the chance that you will say something that is politically lame.
7. Now that Kajoba is gone, l hope that the ZAF Commander and ZNS Commandant will learn a lesson as well and avoid issuing politically inclined statements. They also need to reduce their appetite for being on television as if they are politicians who need to be seen to be working by the people, so that they can get re-elected. Ati “no we are on the ground apprehending smugglers of mealie meal at the border who are undermining the Government”. That is cheapening your respective offices. Send your junior officers to perform such menial tasks. When a defence chief speaks in public, it should be something substantial. Something meaningful to the nation. Not chasing smugglers at the border.
8. Anyway, let me end here for today. Suffice to mention that Kajoba’s firing was good riddance. I don’t know Graphel Musamba much but my advice to him is avoid too much media attention as if you are a politician who needs to get re-elected. Work through your junior officers. Also revamp the entire Police Public Relations Unit, replace everyone if necessary. It is the face and voice of the Police, and it’s poor performance will reflect directly on you. Otherwise l wish you all the best in your new job.
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SET 15.04.2023