News / National
Poorly paid cops forced to make cash donations
06 Apr 2015 at 09:04hrs | Views
Junior Police officers in Masvingo are up in arms against their superiors whom they alleged are forcing them to contribute money for various internal projects being run by the Police.
The aggrieved cops allege that they are forced to part with amounts ranging from $5 to $40.
This, they say is despite the existence of a radio communication from Police General Headquarters in 2012 that banned this practice but they were surprised that it is still going on, Masvingo Mirror reported.
"From PROPOL Masvingo, To all DISPOL and O.I.Cs. Immediate RDO MSM 1298/12 Dated 25/10/12. SUBJECT CONTRIBUTION BY MEMBERS TOWARDS POLICE EVENTS STOP.
"PGHQ has directed that the practice of making members contribute towards Police events such as Commissioner General's Cheer Fund should stop with immediate effect STOP Addressees to acknowledge receipts of this signal STOP STOP STOP 21733 IS".
The paper said the many junior officers have become corrupt in order to compensate for the money lost through these different schemes run by senior officers.
They added that the said projects were not run in a transparent manner and the junior officers benefit nothing out of them.
Masvingo Provincial spokesperson Charity Mazula referred all the questions to Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba. Charamba however, said she needed to carry out investigations first before she makes a comment.
"We are going to make some investigations and I am going to give comments when I have full information," said Charamba.
Another junior officer said they were forced to contribute $5 each towards a chicken project which collapsed in its infancy. The cops were allegedly later forced to contribute $10 each towards the purchase of a kombi and $30 and $50 depending on their ranks towards a cattle rearing project.
"The province has over 4 000 Police officers and we are being forced to contribute $30 towards a cattle rearing project but when the chicken project collapsed no explanation was given. We feel our seniors are running projects for their personal gain.
"If you visit our farm in Victoria Ranch there are 25 cattle only. And the value of these can at most be $12 500 and yet if you look at the funds raised towards this project, they can be anything up to $120 000. This is daylight robbery by our seniors.
"There was a radio communication in 2012 that stopped the practice but as soon as the Office Commanding was transferred the practice was revived by the incumbent, Senior Asssistant Commissioner Martha Mofolo. This is contributing to rampant corruption by most junior officers as they are trying to supplement their meager salaries," said the officer.
The aggrieved cops allege that they are forced to part with amounts ranging from $5 to $40.
This, they say is despite the existence of a radio communication from Police General Headquarters in 2012 that banned this practice but they were surprised that it is still going on, Masvingo Mirror reported.
"From PROPOL Masvingo, To all DISPOL and O.I.Cs. Immediate RDO MSM 1298/12 Dated 25/10/12. SUBJECT CONTRIBUTION BY MEMBERS TOWARDS POLICE EVENTS STOP.
"PGHQ has directed that the practice of making members contribute towards Police events such as Commissioner General's Cheer Fund should stop with immediate effect STOP Addressees to acknowledge receipts of this signal STOP STOP STOP 21733 IS".
The paper said the many junior officers have become corrupt in order to compensate for the money lost through these different schemes run by senior officers.
They added that the said projects were not run in a transparent manner and the junior officers benefit nothing out of them.
Masvingo Provincial spokesperson Charity Mazula referred all the questions to Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba. Charamba however, said she needed to carry out investigations first before she makes a comment.
"We are going to make some investigations and I am going to give comments when I have full information," said Charamba.
Another junior officer said they were forced to contribute $5 each towards a chicken project which collapsed in its infancy. The cops were allegedly later forced to contribute $10 each towards the purchase of a kombi and $30 and $50 depending on their ranks towards a cattle rearing project.
"The province has over 4 000 Police officers and we are being forced to contribute $30 towards a cattle rearing project but when the chicken project collapsed no explanation was given. We feel our seniors are running projects for their personal gain.
"If you visit our farm in Victoria Ranch there are 25 cattle only. And the value of these can at most be $12 500 and yet if you look at the funds raised towards this project, they can be anything up to $120 000. This is daylight robbery by our seniors.
"There was a radio communication in 2012 that stopped the practice but as soon as the Office Commanding was transferred the practice was revived by the incumbent, Senior Asssistant Commissioner Martha Mofolo. This is contributing to rampant corruption by most junior officers as they are trying to supplement their meager salaries," said the officer.
Source - Masvingo Mirror
