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Mr Mbanga said in an interview yesterday that it was sad that police sections that handled cases of criminal in nature were reportedly understaffed while the traffic section where officers were reportedly involved in illegalities was better staffed.

He said it was common knowledge that while traffic police officers had the luxury of using their own transport to go and mount illegal road blocks, those from other sections always gave an excuse that they either did not have transport or fuel.

As a result, citizens were made to part away with their own money to get a service from the police, he said. “Our country would have been doing well if police officers were as dedicated as they are in mounting roadblocks, including illegal ones, where they are enriching themselves. It does not make sense that when you report a crime, you are either told there is not enough manpower or the station does not have a vehicle or fuel.

“As a result, you end up paying to get a service yet there are traffic officers on our roads mounting illegal roadblocks and are using their personal vehicles to do so. If other police sections were as efficient as the traffic section, Zambia would have been crime-free,” Mr Mbanga said.

He said the recent incident where police officers had mounted an illegal roadblock on Mungwi Road and collecting money from erring motorists was disappointing.

He called for the police command to narrow its investigations to the station command as it could have been aware of what was happening.

“Who assigned these four police officers without receipts? If it's the officer-in-charge then, he is as guilty as they are and should be suspended as he is an accomplice in the matter.

“If they assigned themselves then we are dealing with unsupervised cops that can assign duties to themselves without guidance and that should be a cause of worry for government and citizens.

“Thievery and corruption doesn't start and end with the four. It is widespread in the police service and the four are merely unlucky to have been caught.

“Instead of quickly dismissing them, the police command can use them to trail other offenders as they have names of other officers who may have committed similar offences,” Mr Mbanga said.