Malawi police deserve better housing: Govt must prudently priotise this!
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to housing, you wouldn’t be wrong to call our police officers as the wretched of this nation.
In fact, I have a good colleague, a police officer, whom I visit often at police compound, C Division, Area 2, Lilongwe.
He is married, with three children—10, 7 and 2. Literally 5 human beings pack themselves in a one bedroom house, decrepit and visibly lithe from years without renovation.
The two children sleeps at the sitting room and hell breaks loose when they have a visitation. It means they have to let the children sleep in that foggy and falling kitchen connected to a tiny stinking bathroom and rickety toilet.
“It’s just a shame but we are living,” he always tells me.
However, against such a State-sanctioned insult of housing, my friend is an honest and hardworking police officer who serves this nation with all his heart.
And I know a number of police officers who work so hard and so well in silence, they are professionals but their pain of housing is a tale of torture we, as a nation, we have always looked away.
These officers endure perennial insults from the public and, topping the agenda, is the state of their miserable houses.
My friend, having been in the police for over ten years, has had a fair share of podium politics, where promises were made during campaign that they will be getting new and modern houses.
It was all empty—same old rhetoric meant to steal votes and get away with it. Truth be told, it hasn’t been rosy.
You wouldn’t believe how happy my friend was when word flew that government has entered into contract with World Wide Construction to construct 140 units of three bedroomed dwelling houses, office blocks, a shooting range, a garage plus inspection pit, parade and football ground and multipurpose hall among others.
He must and, I know, several other police officers are over the moon as well with the news.
Being one of the beneficiaries, he told me the morale within the police fraternity has been heavily bolstered. Most police officers feel, finally, their pain has been heard with action, not just words.
When people who work to ensure that all of us are safe are happy, they work with all their hearts and, eventually, we all benefit from their resolve.
That is why, though only limited to Lilongwe, I feel we should all be happy with the news because it represents a giant leap in ensuring that our officers are living in dignity.
It is my hope that government will not just rush things wild in this project because word is already flying that there might be some corners that are being bypassed.
I want to believe that President Lazarus Chakwera means well for this country and he will not allow such an important project get messed up because of some few corrupt and overzealous individuals.
Otherwise, the need for better housing for our police officers is long overdue; government must prudently priotise this.
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Happy to know our police need good accommodation but I hope they don’t vendalise since they are so corrupt.
I agree the houses are so pathetic, I think they were made for the trainees not a grown person with kids, better to even give them house allowances for them to rent a discent accommodations, this is long over due no human deserve to live in that condition.
THIS POLICE HOUSE WAS IN GOOD CONDITION BUT WAS BURNED DOWN BY MCP AND UTM SUPPORTERS DURING DEMONSTRATIONS ITS TIME TO TO PAY FOR THEIR EVIL DEEDS
IWE NDI GALU KWABASI
Very thoughtless comment. Do you wake up in the morning like that, or do you work hard at being stupid.
Our Police always support a new governing party that’s why they take them for granted,now it’s time you work as our Army who works for all malawians.sorry for your refugee camp houses but at least now you got 9 parties government that will fulfill their promise..good luck
Chakwera will do koma mupatseni nthawi munthuyu
APM’s one of the best decisions to construct suitable respectable accommodation for the security.
Money that has been stolen could have easily renovated those fallen houses
Totally agree with this article. Even looking at Kanjedza police along the Chinyonga road. The houses are very pathetic and no one deserves to live in such houses, seriously. I am sorry to say, but they look like khola for livestock. For some the khondes are turned to rooms by covering with boards, mphasa or iron sheets meaning they are not able to accommodate the growing families in the houses. Please government, prioritise the houses for our friend in uniform.