INSPECTOR General of Police Kakoma Kanganja says the Zambia Police Service stands resolute to effectively plan for the 2021 general election to achieve a positive impact in its operations.

And UNDP senior election advisor Lionel Laurel has hailed the Zambia Police Service for its readiness and willingness to draw lessons from policing the 2016 general election.

Speaking during the launch of the 2016 General Election Policing Report at Lilayi Police College, Monday, Kanganja announced that the police service had tabulated its security requirement plan to government to efficiently police next year’s general election.

“It is my fervent hope that as a service, we stand resolutely to effectively plan for the year 2021 general election so as to achieve a positive impact in our operations. Allow me to state that in line with our security plan for the 2021 general election, which has already been developed, we have tabulated to government some of our requirements that would enable us to effectively and efficiently police the 2021 general election and these include, among others, the procurement of adequate motor vehicles,” Kanganja said.

He disclosed that police had failed to achieve a 100 per cent mark in terms of attendance in the 2016 general election.

“In the year under review, the Zambia Police Service trained a total of 8,565 officers instead of the intended target of 15,455 officers. This translated into 63.7 per cent of officers trained countrywide, resulting into a deficit of 47.3 per cent. The training did not achieve a 100 per cent mark in terms of attendance. However, we were able to deploy officers to police the nomination processes of candidate and voter verification programmes,” Kanganja said.

He noted that the service encountered challenges, such as inadequate transport and human resources during the 2016 general election.

“The institution encountered some challenges during its operations, especially during the polling day. These include inadequate transport, inadequate human resource, finances and equipment. However, to mitigate the effects of these major hindrances, collaborative measures were developed and implemented in partnership with our sister security wings and stakeholders,” said Kanganja.

And Laurel said that the launch of the report demonstrated the police service’s willingness to draw lessons from the 2016 general election.

“We are very pleased to launch this report because this demonstrates ZPS readiness and willingness to draw lessons from the 2016 general election from the achievements and challenges and to see how these can inform the election security plan and other related preparations for the 2021 general election. This report talks about the accountability and transparency of an institution,” said Laurel.