Housing crisis bites police force

HUNDREDS of policemen and women are reportedly crammed in dilapidated single-room quarters at camps across Zimbabwe, with families forced to share one room, as an accommodation crisis hits the force.

At some police stations, officers have converted canteens, bars and storage rooms to makeshift homes, as they avoid rentals at all costs, which they claim they cannot afford given their meagre salaries.

NewsDay established that some members were violating police regulations, staying with families in staff quarters meant for single members after failing to secure appropriate accommodation at police camps.

According to a leaked internal police memorandum, a recent meeting of the police board of trustees bemoaned misuse of mess facilities by members at camps nationwide.

The mess facilities, originally intended to temporarily accommodate recruits, transferred officers and those deployed for short-term duties, have now been converted to permanent residence by officers avoiding to pay rentals outside the camps.

NewsDay gathered that some officers were sharing mess dysfunctional canteens and bars which they partition with curtains or cardboard to create makeshift “apartments”.

Some families are sharing the makeshift apartments, an arrangement that the officers describe as undignified.

A survey carried out by NewsDay at one of the police stations showed that some of the ablution facilities the families share at the mess facilities were in a dilapidated state, with leaking pipes and cracked floors that have seen their better days.

In some blocks, toilets and showers were barely functional, without running water, forcing several families to resort to the bucket system, which is unhygienic.

NewsDay also established that police bosses have imposed a US$100 monthly fee on officers staying in the messes, a move widely viewed by members as an attempt to frustrate those residing there in bid to decongest the facilities.

According to the leaked memorandum addressed to all provinces, the force further directed that all officers accommodated in police messes must be charged for three meals per day for the whole month, even if they do not eat the food.

“During a quarterly meeting of the ZRP board of trustees held on the 30th of October 2025, the board noted with concern the continued misuse of the majority of mess facilities countrywide,” part of the memo read.

“Some mess rooms and cookery units have been turned into permanent residences, hence no longer serving their intended purpose.

“In view of the current scenario, the ZRP board of trustees resolved that all members who will be accommodated at messes on a perpetual basis will have to pay a monthly mess subscription of US$100 with effect from the 1st of December 2025.”

The memo further read: “Furthermore, and in terms of the standing orders volume 1 part 10 para 15 10-11, dining in members of police messes should be charged monthly for all meals during the month at the rate of three meals per day, whether or not such meals were taken by such members, unless they duly give notice of their absence in advance to the caterer.”

National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the misuse of mess facilities by officers.

“Police messes do not have permanent residents,” Nyathi said. “It’s temporary for transferred members or those doing special duties, while modalities for them to get permanent residence are being sorted out. They are not for members to stay with families. This is well articulated in police regulations.”

Nyathi said use of mess facilities was never free according to police regulations.

“There has always been a payment of some sort for the upkeep and maintenance of these facilities,” he said.

“But some members are now staying there with families and relatives in those single rooms. The regulations apply to every member, not only junior cops. Even senior members have to pay.”

A police officer staying in a mess facility, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the new charges as punitive.

“I earn only US$260 a month,” he said. “The US$100 monthly mess fee, plus the daily food subscription will consume nearly all my salary. That leaves me with nothing for other expenses for the upkeep of my family. It feels like we are being evicted indirectly.”

*NewsDay*