The Zambian Cabinet has voted for approval in principle to amend the 1966 Zambia Police Act, Chapter 107 of the Laws of Zambia, Chief Government Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, has confirmed.
According to Mweetwa, the move was in order to include several provisions that would strengthen the administration and enforcement mechanisms.
In a statement he issued in Lusaka on Tuesday, Mweetwa emphasized that amending the existing Act would also bring in line with other related pieces of legislation in the country.
He noted that the legal framework had been amended to bring on board the desired changes that would make the Police more efficient and effective, and
amendment of the Act would enable the Service to efficiently and effectively align itself and its functions to the government’s vision of running the affairs of the country based on the rule of law.
“This is despite numerous reforms relating to the operations and administration of the Zambia Police Service have taken place over the years, including changes in the environment in which the Police operate,” Mweetwa said.
“Cabinet also approved in principle, the amendment of the Immigration and Deportation Act No. 18 of 2010,” Mweetwa disclosed in the statement, stating that this was in order to provide for the inclusion of Border Guards as part of personnel in the Immigration Department as well as alignment of the law with new developments in migration governance.
The Minister added that some of the challenges experienced included mixed migration flows, human trafficking, smuggling of persons, long porous borders and asymmetrical migration, adding that the challenges, therefore, required interventions that the current law does not provide for.
“It is in the interest of Cabinet to ensure that border governance has adequate human resource, social amenities, including improved infrastructure in order to effectively manage the long and porous international borderline,” he said.