A BOTSWANA delegation that recently visited the country to understudy the Zimbabwean leather tanning and allied industries has complained against the police’s hostile behaviour along major highways.
BY SILAS NKALA
The delegation, sponsored by Botswana’s Ngamiland under the United Nations Development Programme, said they were shocked by the hostile behaviour of the police along the country’s roads.
Basadi Morokotso, a journalist, who was part of the delegation, wrote in the Botswana Sunday Standard that her Zimbabwean trip could have been more enjoyable had it not been for police hostility at the countless number of roadblocks they passed through between Mashonaland and Matabeleland provinces.
“But the hostility portrayed by Zimbabwe police dampened my mood and made me have a sudden change of mind, even though I greatly appreciated the beauty of the country and had very much wanted to return in future,” she said.
She said between Harare and Bulawayo alone, they passed through more than 12 roadblocks and numerous tollgates.
“In all of them, we were flabbergasted by the police’s demands to be paid for the most unreasonable offences,” she said.
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“The police found fault with almost everything we did or said, and they had no qualms charging us repeatedly for the same offence at every roadblock even when we provided proof of payment from the previous roadblocks.”
Morokotso said the police were not even interested in helping them sort out the said problem, but rather on getting paid straight away.
She said the police always demanded payment and never showed proof of payment, alleging they had run out of stationery. She said the numerous roadblocks caused them unnecessary delays that resulted in them running behind their schedule.
Zimbabwe Republic Police officers have always been accused of corruption. Most motorists complain about heavy police presence on most roads, causing them unnecessary delays.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba could not be reached for comment yesterday.
