COMMUTER omnibus crews plying Harare-Norton and Harare-Chitungwiza routes yesterday claimed they had compiled a list of 30 corrupt traffic police officers which they wanted to hand over to Harare Central Police Station for prosecution in their fight against rampant corruption. REPORT BY MOSES MATENGA STAFF REPORTER
The kombi crews said the traffic cops demanded bribes ranging between $5 and $15 from each kombi before it was allowed to pass, adding that most corrupt activities occurred at roadblocks mounted at the Exhibition Park (Harare Showgrounds), Snake Park, Karina Garage (Norton) and along Chitungwiza-Seke Road.
Sometime last year, kombi crews from Norton temporarily withdrew their vehicles in protest against what they termed “loss of business due to police’s high demand for bribes”.
“We are forced to pay money ranging from $5-$15 whenever we get to a roadblock and some of us now have arrears that we have to pay. We have endured, but now we have to seek assistance from their bosses so that we can have a solution,” said one of the operators plying the Norton route.
“Sometimes there are more than five roadblocks from Harare to Norton and that is not good for our business. We have decided to take down their names and we are working together with other operators from Chitungwiza so that together we can seek assistance and will be handing the names over to their bosses.”
This comes in the wake of the arrest of nine traffic officers during the Christmas and New Year holidays for demanding and accepting bribes from motorists.
Five kombi conductors were also arrested recently along the Chinhoyi-Chegutu Road on New Year’s Day on allegations of trying to bribe traffic police officers.
President Robert Mugabe last month implored Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri to stop corruption on the country’s roads, adding graft had fuelled the ever-increasing road carnage.
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“Police! Police! Police! We want you to be straightforward people. If you want to be paid to do your job, then you are practising corruption and you cannot boast of having a well-disciplined police. You always stop motorists on the road and say; ‘Your car has faulty brakes, you can’t proceed. If you want to go pay us $200’,” Mugabe said while addressing Zanu PF delegates at the party’s annual conference in Gweru.
Chihuri immediately responded by saying: “Let me remind officers and members of the force that we have zero tolerance to corruption. All police officers should bear in mind that the general public deserve a full measure of police service from them.”
A recent report published by the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa rated Zimbabwean police officers as among the most corrupt in the region.
Meanwhile, the festive season road accident death toll rose to 183 following the death of three more people in separate accidents yesterday.
National police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri attributed most of the accidents to a sudden increase in traffic volumes, poor state of the roads and human error. Last year a total of 147 people died during the same period.
