Recruitment and Promotion Practices in the Zambia Police Service from 1964 to 2009

Chabu, Godrington (2014) Recruitment and Promotion Practices in the Zambia Police Service from 1964 to 2009. Masters thesis, University of Zambia.

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Abstract

Introduction Issues of recruitment and promotions are among the most important functions performed by Human Resource Managers to ensure effective and efficient performance of an organisation. Many organisations the world over, including the police, have tried to put in place policies and practices of recruitment and promotions that can enhance achievement of organisational goals. This dissertation discusses recruitment and promotion practices in the Zambia Police Service. The dissertation consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction. This chapter presents an overview of the dissertation. It examines the background of the Zambia Police Service with reference to the recruitment policy and promotion practices. It goes further to state the research problem, which prompted this research. Thereafter, the chapter gives an outline of the research objectives, the rationale of the research, the conceptual framework used in the research, literature review, research methodology and the limitations of the research. Chapter Two provides part of the historical context of the recruitment and promotion practices which were created by the colonial government, specifically from 1891 to 1964. Chapter Three examines recruitment and promotion policies in the First and Second Republics of Zambia. It highlights the practices for recruitment and criteria for promotions under the UNIP government. Chapter Four analyses recruitment and promotion practices in the Third Republic of Zambia. This period was under the MMD government. The last chapter is a presentation of the conclusions and recommendations of this dissertation . Background The present day Zambia was in the colonial era called Northern Rhodesia. The Northern Rhodesia Police, which was born in 1891, was later transformed into the Zambia Police Force at independence in 1964. Generally, the force followed the pattern of the British Police, being organised into training, general duties, investigation and administrative branches. The candidates for recruitment into the Northern Rhodesia Police Force needed to have a good standard of education, between the ages of 20 and 25 years, unmarried, not less than five-feet six inches in height, and had to be both medically and physically fit. But this was temporarily abolishedbetween 1940 and 1945 in order to attract men of the right physical type. Applications to the Police Service were required to be in writing form to the Crown Agents for overseas governments stating the desire to join the Northern Rhodesia Police. Candidates were selected by a competitive selection process based on record and general interview. A candidate was put on a three-year probation after which he/she could apply for confirmation in his/her appointment and be placed on a permanent and pensionable establishment of the Northern Rhodesia Police (Northern Rhodesia Police, 1957). There was also a system for promotion to higher ranks. For example, the rank of Assistant Inspector could be gained only after an officer had proved to be efficient, of good conduct and confirmed in her/his appointment (which was completion of a three-year probation) and had passed an examination on police duties or African language, failure to which he/she would not be re-engaged. Promotion thereafter could be gained to Senior Inspector and Chief Inspector. Promotions to gazetted ranks (that is, Assistant Superintendent and above) were normally made from the inspectorate of the police. By 1956, there were 92 gazetted officers, 420 inspectors and 3, 030 African Police Officers. By 1964, the establishment had reached a total of 6 183 officers – 143 superior officers, 549 subordinates and 5 491 other ranks (Kalombo and Mumba, 1997). When the black government came into power in 1964, some of the requirements for entry into the Police, which were found to be segregatory and discriminatory, were discarded (ibid). Cases in point included: to join the Zambia Police force at Assistant Superintendent level, a candidate was required to be a Zambian citizen, and a university graduate, not less than 1.67 metres in height for both male and female applicants. For appointment as direct entry sub-inspector, a candidate was supposed to be a Zambia citizen in possession of a school certificate with three ordinary level passes in English, Mathematics and Science. The candidate would be between 20 and 25 years of age and not less than 1.67 meters in height (for men) and not less than 1.57 metres in height (for women), both medically and physically fit. For the position of constable, the candidates were supposed to be between 18 and 25 years, of not less than 1.67 metres in height with a chest measurement of 81.28cm (deflated) for males only and not less than 1.57 metres in height for females, be medically fit and holders of form two, three or five certificates. At the discretion of the Commissioner of Police (Now Inspector General), some Grade 7 schoolleavers were taken on as per provision permitting the commissioner of police to dispense any qualifications at his discretion regarding the recruitment of police personnel below the rank of assistant superintendent (Kalombo, and Mumba 1997). In 1980, a total of 800 recruits were enrolled as constables. In 1981 only 144 were recruited and the majority of these were men. It was by the use of this provision that at one point in 1980, many candidates from families of serving officers were recruited into the police force. The number of recruits varied from one province of the country to another due to some other factors such as lack of funds. In 1995, the Zambian government formulated the Zambia Police Strategic Development Plan (ZPSDP), whose main aim was to make changes to the existing structures (Musonda, 2002) Statement of the Problem After independence in 1964, the Zambia Police Force accelerated its recruitment exercise to match the growing population and high demand for police services, especially in urban areas. However, in the recent past, the staffing levels in the Police Service have remained relatively at a lower ratio of about 1:700 (one police officer to 700 citizens). This is by far short of the United Nations recommended level of 450 citizens to one police officer, (United Nations, 2008). To a greater extent, this inadequacy of police officers has led to escalation of crime levels, increased reports of police inefficiencies in service delivery (Musonda, 2002). There are several reports of armed robberies and murder cases in both urban and rural areas of Zambia which have resulted in both loss of lives and property, denial of personal security, lack of order and preservation of laws. In some cases there are reports of structures that have been built for police operations sometime back but are lying idle due to lack of police officers to man them. Against this backdrop, little has been written to explain factors inhibiting the expansion of the police service in terms of recruitment and promotions. This research therefore sought to investigate factors constraining the expansion of the Zambia Police Service in terms of recruitment and promotions in order to meet police service demands.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2018 10:01
Last Modified:	03 Dec 2018 10:01
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/7886

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