Opinion / Columnist
Police are corrupt and incompetent
02 Feb 2017 at 11:10hrs | Views
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) is irked by the cheap attempts from the leadership of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to window dress the brazen, systematic and open corruption of the police by painting a picture that it is motorists who are to blame for the grand theft happening daily on our roads.
Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri attempted to sanitise the image of the police organization before parliament, arguing that it is motorists who are to blame for the corrupt activities that cops engage in on road blocks because they offer bribes to the cops.
It is however common cause that the police's insistence on payment of spot fines, even though the law provides for payment within 7 days after the issuing of a ticket for a traffic offence, is the real force driving corruption on the roads.
The police are obdurate to motorists who prefer to pay the fines later and thus push hard for payment of the spot fines which are sometimes as high as US$60.00 for an array of petty offences. Motorists are delayed at road blocks sometimes for as much as 2 hours if no inducement is offered. All these illegal actions by the cops are the real reasons for corruption.
Furthermore it is a public secret that the police have targets at road blocks; this explains why the police get into commuter omnibus ranks and write tickets for offences such as overloading before the commuters even have loaded any passengers. This is done as a way to reach the target that the superiors would have set.
For Chihuri to then attempt to mislead the nation that this is not the case is to insult everyone's intelligence and betray the noncommittal attitude the police have towards reforming from their illegal actions. The police organization is in fact running a state within a state as it collects money and does not remit to the consolidated revenue fund as required by law.
It is a blunt lie by Chihuri that they deposit their money with the RBZ; the truth is the police keep 100% of the money they collect and most of it ends up being looted by the top brass in the police force, for which Chihuri is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of these proceeds.
This explains why many of the top cops, like Chihuri himself, move around in posh off road vehicles and go on fully paid holidays most of the times out of the country. It further explains why many cops live lavish lifestyles which are not consistent with their earnings.
The PDP therefore calls for reforming of the police force to make it a service and not some opaque political militia whose primary focus is the harassment and brutalizing of innocent civilians while simultaneously looting public funds.
The current state of the police is a result of Zanu PF's misrule and chaos which all work to compromise the police and keep it as a tool for repression and power retention. This is unacceptable and criminal as it goes against the objectives of policing as set out in the constitution, being that of maintaining law and order and protecting the citizens.
As it stands, the police are neither maintaining order nor is it protecting citizens. It is in fact causing chaos and disorder while being the biggest perpetrator of violence against citizens. This has to stop and no amount of cheap lies would hoodwink the people on the state of affairs in the police organization.
Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri attempted to sanitise the image of the police organization before parliament, arguing that it is motorists who are to blame for the corrupt activities that cops engage in on road blocks because they offer bribes to the cops.
It is however common cause that the police's insistence on payment of spot fines, even though the law provides for payment within 7 days after the issuing of a ticket for a traffic offence, is the real force driving corruption on the roads.
The police are obdurate to motorists who prefer to pay the fines later and thus push hard for payment of the spot fines which are sometimes as high as US$60.00 for an array of petty offences. Motorists are delayed at road blocks sometimes for as much as 2 hours if no inducement is offered. All these illegal actions by the cops are the real reasons for corruption.
Furthermore it is a public secret that the police have targets at road blocks; this explains why the police get into commuter omnibus ranks and write tickets for offences such as overloading before the commuters even have loaded any passengers. This is done as a way to reach the target that the superiors would have set.
For Chihuri to then attempt to mislead the nation that this is not the case is to insult everyone's intelligence and betray the noncommittal attitude the police have towards reforming from their illegal actions. The police organization is in fact running a state within a state as it collects money and does not remit to the consolidated revenue fund as required by law.
It is a blunt lie by Chihuri that they deposit their money with the RBZ; the truth is the police keep 100% of the money they collect and most of it ends up being looted by the top brass in the police force, for which Chihuri is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of these proceeds.
This explains why many of the top cops, like Chihuri himself, move around in posh off road vehicles and go on fully paid holidays most of the times out of the country. It further explains why many cops live lavish lifestyles which are not consistent with their earnings.
The PDP therefore calls for reforming of the police force to make it a service and not some opaque political militia whose primary focus is the harassment and brutalizing of innocent civilians while simultaneously looting public funds.
The current state of the police is a result of Zanu PF's misrule and chaos which all work to compromise the police and keep it as a tool for repression and power retention. This is unacceptable and criminal as it goes against the objectives of policing as set out in the constitution, being that of maintaining law and order and protecting the citizens.
As it stands, the police are neither maintaining order nor is it protecting citizens. It is in fact causing chaos and disorder while being the biggest perpetrator of violence against citizens. This has to stop and no amount of cheap lies would hoodwink the people on the state of affairs in the police organization.
Source - Jacob Mafume, PDP Spokesperson
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