Tanzania: Record Number of Police Officers Earn Promotion

 By Hilda Mhagama

IN a historic gesture, a record number of 24,850 police officers have earned promotion to various ranks at a go.

Equally, the government has issued a permit to recruit 3,103 police officers to beef up the force and increase efficiency.

The number of new police officers to be recruited this year is way far compared to 812 who were employed in the past five years, the Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro has said.

IGP Sirro made the revelation at the Senior Police Officers Conference 2021 which kicked off on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam.

He said they have recorded the achievement in a short period since President Samia Suluhu Hassan took over the office.

"In five years, we have not promoted our officers to the capacity of Inspector of Police and rank-and-file... in the history of the force we have never promoted such a big number of officers," he noted.

IGP Sirro also revealed that the government has dished out 1.3bn/- for construction of Singida Police Station, lauding measures taken to improve the working environment for the law enforcers.

The Police Chief further stated that the government had disbursed 40.2bn/- to pay arrears of bidders, 12.3bn / - to pay arrears of police officers and 2.7bn/ - to pay retirees.

According to the IGP, the last time the government bought a helicopter for the force was in 1984 which is in poor condition, but they have received a new helicopter for police operations.

IGP Sirro also issued an update on the security situation in the country, saying it has continued to improve, citing a drop in criminal offences.

He said statistics pointed to a decline in crime whereby the number of offences reported to police stations between July 2020 and June 2021 was 49,508 compared to 56,397 offences in the same period of 2019/2020.

IGP Sirro however warned that crime incidents were still a big challenge in the country especially with the growing insecurity caused by terrorists in neighbouring Mozambique.

According to the Inspector General, the police are conducting several operations and criminals entering the country are being dealt with accordingly.

"We still have challenges with narcotic drug offences and abuse. We have already put in place strategies to ensure they decrease," he added.

"There are a number of strategies in place to combat crime, including the provision of education to society, reducing congestion in prisons and cells," he stated.

The three-day conference carried the theme 'Security, Peace and Stability is the key to development' and attracted about 343 Regional Police Commanders (RPCs) and other senior police officers.