Police vow to continue operations

By JUNIOR UKAHA
THE Police Association is not interested in who is commissioner as it is only concerned about the welfare of its members and its operational order, president Lowa Tambua says.
The association respected Fred Yakasa and Tom Kulunga for their appointments by their respective regimes but the business of policing must continue.
In recent statement, Kulunga and Yakasa both claimed to be the legitimate commissioner of police.
Tambua said Kulunga was occupying the commissioner’s office and had given “some orders” for police operations.
“We (police association) are trying to come up with some form of dialogue between the two gentlemen but they have maintained their positions,” he said.
“I have already talked to both men regarding police operations and they agreed that they will progress uninterrupted.
“They respected our stance and agreed not to do anything foolish,” Tambua said.
He said the association was waiting for the National Court to rule on Yakasa’s case on Jan 12 before they could work with a legitimate commissioner.
Tambua warned politicians not to “use” the security forces.
“Police is the last line of defence. If you play around with police, you are playing with national security,” he said.
He said the police force belonged to the people and not an individual MP, government or political party.
He said police personnel were happy to engage in election operations.
“I urge all officers to leave politics to politicians. Our duty is to protect lives and property.”