Political independence of the Malawi Police Service

(1) Members of the Malawi Police Service shall ensure that they exercise their functions, powers and duties as impartial servants of the general public and the Government of the day. (2) No member of the Malawi Police Service shall be permitted to participate directly in political activities: Provided that— (a) any member of the Malawi Police Service of Malawi shall have the right to resign in order to participate directly in political activities; (b) nothing in this section shall be deemed to prejudice any member of the Malawi Police Service having the absolute right to vote in accordance with this Constitution; and (c) nothing in this subsection shall prejudice the right of any member of the Malawi Police Service to hold office in or be a member of any association, group or professional body, the purposes of which are principally to represent their members interests in relation to the terms and conditions of employment or the general carrying on of any profession or trade or the promotion of any interest, not pertaining directly to the promotion of a political party, campaign or philosophy or otherwise inconsistent with the functions of the Malawi Police Service. (3) No government or political party shall cause any member of the Malawi Police Service acting in that behalf to exercise functions, powers or duties for the purposes of promoting or undermining the interests or affairs of any political party or individual member of that party, nor shall any member of the Malawi Police Service, acting in that behalf, promote or undermine any party or individual member of that party. (4) No government or political party shall cause any member of the Malawi Police Service, acting in that behalf, to deploy resources, whether they be financial, material or human resources, for the purposes of promoting or undermining any political party or member of a political party or interest group, nor shall any member of the Malawi Police Service, acting in that behalf, cause such deployment: Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from the duty of the Police to uphold the rights and afford protection to all political parties, persons and organizations equally, without fear or favour, in accordance with this Constitution and subject to any law. (5) Any member of the Malawi Police Service who contravenes this section shall be subject to such disciplinary measures as the Police Service Commission considers appropriate, taking into account the gravity and circumstances of the contravention, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by an Act of Parliament. (6) Where the Police Service Commission is satisfied that a government or political party or member of a political party has acted in contravention of subsection (3) or subsection (4), the Police Service Commission may initiate proceedings before the High Court for punitive damages and, in the case of a contravention of subsection (4), for the recovery of such resources or sums equivalent to the benefit of the enjoyment of those resources from the government, or political party or member of a political party who has so benefitted, as the case may be. [13 of 2001]