Police still demand spot-fines
EDITOR — Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner-General Dr Augustine Chihuri admitted to the existence of corruption in the ZRP probably long after every motorist has been at the mercy of traffic police officers in one way or another.
While we applaud the fact that Dr Chihuri outlined efforts to curb the rot, his statement that the public is partly to blame is not entirely accurate.
Even though he said the public was also to blame because they offer bribes to police, the reality is that corruption is now institutionalised in ZRP.
While it takes two to tango, ZRP officers have developed ways of criminalising the public that they unilaterally tango with tied up civilians. Take the roadblock police for instance. Despite Dr Chihuri’s denial widely reported in the daily papers on December 6, 2016 that the police do not demand spot fines or impound vehicles in lieu of spot fines until the fines are paid, a drive along any route today will tell a different story.
A policeman stops a car and asks for the driver’s licence and keeps it, ready for the next sequence of institutionalised corruption actions.
If he finds a minor defect on the car, say one stop light out of three is faulty, he will ask for $10 fine. If it is a major fault, he will ask for $20. If the driver does not have the money and asks for a ticket in order to pay within the stipulated seven days, the policeman will say that the facility is no longer operational.
The policeman will not return the licence, threatening the driver with impounding his vehicle if he does not pay the fine on the spot.
This is played out at most roadblocks and it shows that it has been drilled into many policemen, hence my conclusion that it is institutionalised behaviour.
So from being law enforcers, some police officers have become lawless.
Harassed Citizen, Via e-mail.