ZIMBABWE Passenger Association secretary-general Paul Makiwa yesterday appealed to Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo to rein in the police, alleging corruption in the force had reached very high levels.
BY SILAS NKALA
Makiwa said the escalating tendency by police to ask for bribes was paralysing the State, kombi operators and society at large. He said if the problem continued unchecked, this would fuel riots and cause civil unrest.
“It is up to the Home Affairs minister to control the rot,” Makiwa said.
“If you look at the issues of unlicensed drivers on our roads, all the blame rests on the police officers, who allegedly collect money from such drivers and let them pass at roadblocks only to cause accidents. Even the issue of overloading, kombi crews can clearly say that the extra passengers are meant for paying the police for passage at roadblocks.
“The Minister of Home Affairs should cooperate with other ministries such as Transport to control the police and kombi operators.”
Makiwa said at accident scenes, serious rot was taking place, as the surviving victims have complained to the association that they failed to recover their valuables. He said the first people to be blamed for that are the police, as they are the ones who always handle accidents cases.
“It is surprising that a police officer starts traffic duties without anything, but in a few months’ time he or she is very much ahead of colleagues yet they get equal salaries,” he said.
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“Though other police departments have corruption, the traffic section ranks above all.”
Makiwa’s remarks come in the wake of police fighting running battles with commuter omnibus operators in Gweru. On Thursday, riot police had to fire shots into the air to disperse commuter omnibus operators and their crews, who were protesting against corruption in the police.
Scores of protesters were later arrested.
The commuter omnibus operators said they were suspending service, protesting against extortion and harassment by traffic police. They also alleged motorists were being forced to purchase ZRP raffle tickets by the officer-in-charge at Mtapa Police Station. The tickets are for $3 and are for the Commissioner General’s horse race 2015 raffle draw.
The operators accused the police of crippling their businesses by demanding bribes ranging from $3 to $20 per trip and were also being issued with tickets which totalled about $40 a day.
In Bulawayo about nine police officers are appearing in court for extortion and bribery. Five were arrested at a roadblock, while allegedly collecting bribes and four were arrested after extorting $200 from a kombi driver.
