Another appeal to the police chief

Appearing on Monday before the Parliamentary Portifolio Committees on Peace and Security, Commissioner-General (Dr) Augustine Chihuri indirectly answered our open letter last Sunday.

AS IT was not a direct response to our letter, he did not address all the burning questions we raised last week, issues which touch on almost every motorist in Zimbabwe. Instead, the Commissioner-General chose to dwell on corruption within the police force, in the process arguing that it takes two to tango.

Whilst Comm-Gen Chihuri’s assertion does hold water, what is of concern to the motoring public now is not the level of corruption within the force. If anything, the police should be commended for zero tolerance to bribery-taking officers.

Admittedly, it is now almost impossible for general motorists, probably with the exception of kombi drivers, to offer bribes. Most police officers value their jobs and reputations more than the pittances offered by motorists in the form of bribes.

What has been irking motorists is the frequency of roadblocks and their attendant “trivial” offences, a situation which has reduced being on Zimbabwe’s roads to being a criminal, irrespective of the condition of one’s motor vehicle.

Maybe to enlighten the motoring public, and allay their fears, Comm-Gen Chihuri could have laid out statistical data — in any case figures don’t lie — on the direct correlation between the high presence of traffic police officers on the highway with reduced fatalities on our roads. Or reduced accidents.

In the absence of such a scientific approach, the motoring public will remain skeptical as to the reason(s) behind the big number of traffic police officers on the roads.

What did not help matters, either, was the coincidence of Comm-Gen Chihuri appearing before the Parliamentary committees and the emergence on social media, of that notice, purportedly from Harare’s Central Police Station, informing traffic police officers that the station’s target had been raised from US$4 000 to US$4 400 per day.

The officers were being asked to “work” even harder for the new targets to be reached.

The public’s perception and respect for the police could be at an all-time low.

If the police chief were to honestly engage with his service members, he would be told of how difficult it is these days for a police officer, in police uniform, to get assistance from the public, especially if it is transport. Police officers wait for hours and hours on end, with each passing motorist not so keen to offer a helping hand to a police officer.

It is purely a result of the relationship that the police force has built with the public: many citizens are tired of seeing so many cops on the roads.

Which brings us to our more profound fears, that the police force has been rubbing the public so much in the wrong places, and if this wrongway-rubbing is to continue, wouldn’t that have the net effect of undermining the work of the police?

And in trying to explain the extent of corruption in the force, Comm-Gen Chihuri alluded to the broken social fabric prevailing in society, for giving him unscrupulous and easy-to-bribe police officers. That should be laughable, at the least. What excuse will the Minister of Health come up with if his doctors don’t perform to scratch? The same social fabric? Teachers? Journalists? Farmers?

Society comes nowhere near the ills that are obtaining in the police force, society is not to blame.

In conclusion, our appeal to you Comm-Gen Chihuri, as captured in last week’s epistle, is that we are kindly requesting the police to explain why they need so many roadblocks, why they are quick to demand spot fines.

We long for the day when we will be able to freely travel the length and breadth of the country, without having to give second consideration to the presence of traffic police officers on the country’s highways.

That is all we pray and wish for.