Zambia drops plan to recruit Chinese nationals into police force

Zambia has scrapped plan to recruit eight Chinese nationals into it's police force amid row. The eight reservists were integrated into the police service on Monday, sparking an outcry.

This row is linked with a recent ruling which prohibits police officers from marrying foreigners. Zambian dual nationals have also been prohibited from joining the police. 

"So you stop you own citizens from joining the police because they have dual citizenship and yet you allow Chinese who have no links whatsoever to this soil to be part of the same police service?

It's food for thought," Dickson Jere, a lawyer and former presidential spokesman, is quoted as saying by the BBC. "We had Indians who were police reserves and people were OK with it.

Why should the Chinese be discriminated on race?"Police spokeswoman Esther Mwata-Katongo is quoted as saying by the Lusaka Times.