On our front page today we carry a report which alleges that Zimbabwean traffic police are the most corrupt in the whole SADC region.The report makes sad reading. Struggling Zimbabweans are being fleeced of their hard-earned income by these corrupt policemen. This is not the first time we have reported large-scale corruption in this sector. And yet there appears to be a reluctance to do anything about it on the part of the authorities.
This makes us wonder whether some senior people are the ultimate beneficiaries of this money-making enterprise. It is our experience that wherever there are little fish, who are allowed to keep swimming, if you look hard enough you will find some sharks lurking in the shadows.
The inertia among senior police officers and their apparent reluctance to take any action on corruption, together with the silence of the Ministry of Home Affairs, is not only an abrogation of duty. It shows irresponsible and negligent management of the police service.
We would expect Parliament to raise this issue through its Committee on Home Affairs. Commissioner Augustine Chihuri should be summoned to answer these allegations.
They should not allow this unelected official to get away with the arrogance, partisanship and contempt for parliamentarians that he displayed during his recent appearance before the committee. He should be hauled back before them again and again and compelled to answer to those who pay his salary.
If Chihuri cannot even clean up the police force, how on earth can we expect him to investigate corruption in other sectors of society?
And where is the Anti-Corruption Commission in all this? There has not even been a whimper from them. We know they have no teeth but do they not even have a voice?
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga