No, this is not the new uniform of Zambia’s police officers

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 17, 2019 at 18:26
Updated on January 17, 2019 at 18:26
2 min read
By Mary KULUNDU, Tendai DUBE

Multiple posts claiming to show the new uniform of Zambia’s police have been shared widely on social media, with many ridiculing the stripy uniforms worn by three men in the attached picture. Zambia’s police spokeswoman rejected the rumours, confirming they had not launched a new uniform and adding that the picture showed the latest uniforms for customs officers.

One of the photos was posted on this Facebook page with over 250,000 followers attracting 6,633 shares and reactions and 748 comments.

Screenshot of Facebook post purporting to show the new uniform of Zambia’s police

Another post on a Facebook page with over 700,000 followers also shared the same image and captioned it: "The new Zambian Police uniform that was unveiled. ONE word to describe them."

Screenshot of Facebook post purporting to show the new uniform of Zambia’s police

On Thursday morning, Zambia was one of the top trends on Twitter in Kenya with countless posts commenting on the alleged new Zambian police uniform.

Zambia trending in Kenya

Countless memes ridiculed the Zambian police service in the misleading posts.

Police spokeswoman Esther Katongo told AFP she was aware of the picture and that it did not portray Zambian police.

“The new uniform which is circulating [on social media] is for the Zambia Revenue Authority not for the police. We have not introduced any new uniform,” she said.

According to a post on the official Facebook page of the Zambia Revenue Authority, the uniform was for customs officers and was introduced on January 16, 2019.

"The Zambia Revenue Authority has launched the new customs uniform for the enforcement units and the anti-smuggling units. The blue and gold striped uniform will enable officers to perform their duties comfortably regardless of the environment they find themselves in. With the new uniform, officers will now have an option of which uniform to use depending on the assignment and environment. The new staff uniforms meet the functional needs of anti-smuggling work," the Facebook post reads.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail