Tanzanian interior minister orders removal of pot-bellied police officers from the country’s roads

Tanzania's minister for Interior Boniface Taguluvala Simbachawene has directed that traffic officers with pot-bellies be removed from the roads, saying they are not fit for the job.

The minister reportedly directed Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro to redeploy law enforcers with protruding bellies to other departments where they could serve effectively.

Simbachawene explained that the traffic regulation bit of police’s work requires officers who are fit to undertake their duties swiftly.

“There are officers working in our traffic department who need to be moved as they no longer qualify. Officers in Gairo are pot-bellied, how can you have a pot-belly and you are a traffic officer? I direct the IGP to re-assign these officers to other duties,” he said.

The minister gave the directive in an address on Saturday, May 23, during a Road Safety Symposium in Dodoma where he went further to sound a warning to bribe-taking traffic officers to desist from the practice.

Well, Tanzania is not the first and only country that takes the weight of their police officers seriously.

Two years ago, Pakistan made headlines after its police commander ordered about 170,000 officers to cut down their weight or risk losing their jobs.

According to him, overweight police officers were ineffective since they could not chase after lawbreakers and apprehend them quickly.

Tanzanian interior minister orders removal of pot-bellied police officers from the country’s roads

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