Not only police at fault

By JIMMY KALEBE
POLICE are incompetent when a case is thrown out by the court but not when the prisoners break out of jail, Lae Met Supt Chief Insp Chris Kunyanban says.
He made the statement following an allegation by Correctional Services Minister Chris Nangoi that police incompetency led to the jail break at Buimo on Friday, resulting in 11 prisoners shot dead.
Nangoi urged the police to speed up processes in court cases so that accused persons are not kept too long in remand.
Chief Insp Kunyanban said what transpired at Buimo jail was something not to be blamed on police only but the entire justice system to look into and correct what was needed.
“The only time when police are incompetent is when a case is discharged from the courts because police did not file in reports early or have not represented the case well in court,” he said.
He said police were doing all they could to work closely with CS and the courts to make sure cases were fast-tracked but with Covid-19 around, it had impacted the progresses of the system.
Chief Insp Kunyanban said in-house police issues relating to delaying and discharging of cases at court level was really a concern but that was being cleaned up and prosecutors were at work and doing their best.
In replying to Nangoi’s claims, Chief Insp Kunyanban said the prisoners escaped while in the custody of CS, not police.
“Yes, we have issues of incomplete court files and witnesses not coming to court but these are being addressed and police are assessing these,” he said.
He said these were issues that the police minister needed to talk about but Nangoi should be more concerned about renovation to prison facilities and making sure prisoners’ issues were addressed fully.
“We have been in so many instances working closely with CS here in Buimo and the courts to make sure cases are fast-tracked,” he added.
Meanwhile, Northern Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Peter Guinness said this was an on-going problem that needed political leaders’ intervention.