Public Appointments Committee (PAC) of Parliament has cleared Inspector General (IG) of Police George Kainja on all 11 grounds raised by Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiative (Cdedi) alleging his incompetence.

In an interview after meeting the IG in Lilongwe yesterday, PAC chairperson Joyce Chitsulo said going by the factors raised in the enquiry, the committee found the IG competent.

Kainja: The meeting was an opportunity for me to explain

“We can’t say the IG is incompetent. We believe he is someone who can discharge his duties well if the challenge of resources in the system can be resolved,” she said.

On the allegation of senior police officers transfers and promotions, Chitsulo said the committe is of the view that Cdedi did not research well since the two tasks were done in accordance with the law.

She said: “Section 88 of the Police Act empowers the IG to transfer police officers and the officers themselves know this section.

“On promotions, it is done by the Police Service Commission which is headed by a Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judge and the Ombudsman is a member.”

However, Chitsulo said the committee will have further engagements with the Independent Police Complaints Committee and the Police Service Commission on the matter.

On his part, Kainja described the engagement as an opportunity for him to explain to Malawians how security matters work, especially where resources are limited.

The police chief said  the  service has 12 500 police officers against a requirement of 32 000 to adquately serve the population.

 He also said the service has less than 200 vehicles instead of the required 1 500.

On the issue of crime, Kainja said there is an increase in crimes of during a lean period like this one when people are trying to find something to eat, but he accepted that crime of impact has taken place since January 2022 to now.

He said: “Crime will be there, but what we are saying is that there is a significant drop in the past five years, which is a good development.

“We have in mind that a gun was stolen from our office in Zomba, a break-in at Lilongwe Police Station and a series of attacks at bishops’ houses in the South, but people should not rush to raise an alarm.”

Kainja said government has responded by recruiting more police officers as 1 600 who are in training are expected to be deployed in Blantyre and Lilongwe where crime rate is at 50 to 60 percent.

But in an interview, Cdedi executive director Slyvester Namiwa said the IG was incompetent and that Malawians were witnesses.

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