By Daniel Zimba:
Inspector General of Police Richard Luhanga has warned that the Malawi Police Service (MPS) will not tolerate corruption among officers, saying the vice threatens professionalism and public confidence in law enforcement.
Luhanga delivered the warning through Director of Human Resource Management and Development and Commissioner of Police Everista Chisale during a graduation ceremony at Limbe Police Training School in Blantyre.
He also urged police officers to remain politically neutral and uphold professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
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“The people of Malawi expect police officers to be role models. Do not misuse your authority for personal gain. Serve honestly and professionally at all times,” Chisale said on behalf of Luhanga.
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Chisale presided over the graduation of 135 police recruits who completed a four-month training programme and are now ready for deployment to various police stations across the country.
She said the recruits were already serving MPS as civilians in different departments and that their graduation marked their transition into professional policing roles.
Among the graduates were 30 women. The five top-performing recruits received cash rewards of K250,000 each and T-shirts.
In an interview, one of the top recruits, Constable Gostino Msanyama, said he was ready to serve the public with integrity and professionalism.
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“We are ready to put into practice everything that we have learnt here and serve Malawians professionally,” Msanyama said.
The event also revealed that four candidates failed to graduate after they were found using fake Malawi School Certificate of Education certificates.
Statistics from MPS show that by May 2025, the country had a shortfall of about 11,900 police officers against the recommended establishment of approximately 31,240 officers.
At the time, Malawi had 19,340 police officers, representing a ratio of one officer to about 1,072 civilians based on an estimated population of 20.7 million people.
The ratio is nearly double the United Nations recommendation of one police officer for every 500 civilians.
