By Manasse Nyirenda

Rumphi, September 21, Mana: Regional Commissioner of Police for the north, Richard Luhanga has pledged to deploy more officers to newly opened K42 million Livingstonia Police unit in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Kachulu in Rumphi.

Luhanga made the remarks Friday during official opening of the police unit which has been built by Rumphi District Council with funding from Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD)

He said that police presence in the area will also assist in fighting against entry of illegal immigrants and pledged to deploy 10 more officers in addition to three who are already at the unit to strengthen security.

Luhanga then urged the people in the area to report anyone harboring illegal immigrants to police and also warned against vandalizing public property whenever there are misunderstandings between police and the community.

"We expect that whenever there are differences, they should be settled within the lines of the law. Those who destroy government property will be hunted down and brought to book. They are here to serve you and we expect peaceful coexistence between officers and community.

Similarly, I expect my officers to be exemplary and professional when discharging their duties. I am going to discipline all errant officers," said Luhanga.

District Commissioner for Rumphi, Emmanuel Bulukutu said that security is important in the area because Livingstonia is one of the areas which is earmarked for hotel development under President Chakwera's Agriculture, Tourism and Mining (ATM) Strategy towards attaining Malawi 2063.

He also pledged to community members that the council will build houses to provide conducive accommodation to the officers.

TA Kachulu said he was grateful for the intervention saying it would help in reducing cases of gender-based violence, and child abuse among others in the area.

GESD is a performance-based grant which is funded by the World Bank.