The History of Policing in Zimbabwe Author: Commissioner General Dr Augustine Chihuri Publisher: Greatness Clinic Trust lSBN 978079746300 THE assertion by Home Affairs Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo that the book, The History of Policing in Zimbabwe, by police chief, Commissioner-General Dr Augustine Chihuri is ‘priceless’ is apt in many ways. The book shows how policing is closely related with the politics of the day among other things. The West using its obscene ‘megaphones’ continually make noise that the police should not interfere with politics. But Rhodesia’s British South Africa Police (BSAP), first the British South Africa Company Police (BSACP), as clearly shown for the first time by a Zimbabwean author, ensured that colonial rule was firmly entrenched. In Rhodesia, the police force was the backbone of the politics of the day. The country was invaded by a para-military police force called the BSACP. “Besides safeguarding company property and providing general security to the settlers, policing extended to cover securing of the territorial boundaries of Rhodesia, conducting general patrols, collection of taxes on behalf of the company, enforcement of draconian and discriminatory laws, spearheading forced resettlement of displaced indigenes… confiscating cattle…conscripting blacks into forced labour for white settlers…,” writes Dr Chihuri. This book is a must read. Why not? It is a book written by an expert who played a critical role in transforming the police force into a people’s organisation. For instance, accountants, lawyers, medical and information technology practitioners, lap up every latest article or book in their fields. And why should not members of the police force similarly enrich themselves? The book considering that it is the first of its kind in the country can best be described as an invaluable and concise compilation of the ethos of policing in Zimbabwe. Did you know that even after independence the Rhodesian element in the force that had been embraced as the nation pursued a policy of reconciliation was bent on perpetuating the ideals of Rhodesia? Four years into independence, Rhodesians that were still in the police force and had not been molested, harassed and still practised racism against people who had been gracious and forgiven them. “In another very nasty incident, in 1984 the former BSAP instructors at Tomlinson Police Training Depot forced Rupondo, a black recruit constable who was a former combatant into the swimming pool carrying a backpack full of bricks without verifying his ability to swim,” writes Dr Chihuri. “They bluntly chided him to swim across the swimming pool as he was used to doing while crossing the mighty Zambezi River during the liberation struggle. “Recruit constable Rupondo could not swim and he drowned.” The book is the first that puts on paper how policing was conducted before the coming of the white invaders and looters. The West wants the world to believe it brought civilisation and systems of governance to Africa. “There is a general misconception in the minds of many in this country and elsewhere that policing in Zimbabwe as we know it today, started on the day when the British South Africa Company Police crossed the Shashi River,” says Dr Chihuri. “But the people of the Great Plateau had their own methods of policing that were anchored on uniquely African traditions, values, norms and practices.” Policing, the author clearly shows, did not come with the Pioneer Column in the country, it was already in place. It is just that colonialism brought cruelty to policing. “The effective model of policing involving folklore, proverbs and idioms disappeared giving way to brutal, inhumane and degrading policing values and systems of the colonial order,” Dr Chihuri writes. This book blasts to smithereens notions held by the likes of former United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray who declared that where we are going matters much more than where we have come from. Dr Chihuri’s book delivers a fuller perspective of policing. It is a historical account, a story of present day policing and a presentation of aspirations of the police force. This is a book that every citizen and law enforcement agent must read to gain a comprehensive understanding of this critical component of our society. Dr Chihuri on assuming leadership of the force was tasked with transforming it into a people’s force and in The History of Policing in Zimbabwe he lays bare what he inherited when he assumed leadership, his orders from his principals, from the masses and his obligation to those he leads. “Policing in Zimbabwe has been tactfully transformed from the old BSAP tradition of policing that was characterised by threats and coercion, into a vibrant people-centred approach that upholds first and foremost, the sanctity of life as well as the values and aspirations of all Zimbabweans regardless of their status, race, tribe, religion, colour or creed,” says Dr Chihuri in his book. And who is better placed to talk about the transformation of the force than Chihuri himself who has been at the helm for the past 20 years?