ABSTRACT
Policing concerns a central issue of democracy, namely the rule of law. It is the rule of law that determines the degree to which political and human rights are enjoyed equally. Unlike the established democracies, Mozambique is trying to establish the rule of law after it has introduced democracy. The paper examines how successful it has been in the area of democratic policing. Not surprisingly, given the legacy of the civil war and one party state, plus the limited resources, the exercise is faltering. At present the conduct of the police is not consistently subject to the rule of law, nor are they adequately accountable, accessible, impartial, representative or transparent. It will be very difficult to achieve backwards democratisation in this area unless resources are channelled into strengthening police capacity and unless there is the political will to impose change.
