The decision comes barely 24 hours after the commissioning of the police officers amid fanfare in the capital, Lusaka. Zambians had questioned the recruitment of foreign-born reservists, which they found puzzling given that a decision had been taken earlier this year to ban police officers from marrying foreigners for "security reasons".

In a statement, police spokeswoman Esther Mwata-Katongo said that police chief Kakoma Kanganja rescinded the appointment of the Chinese nationals because of the public outcry. She added that "members of the public should be aware that the appointments were not done outside the Law but within the provisions of the Zambia Police Reserve Act".