This, according to Chihuri, would help curb corruption, since kombi-operating officers would be interested parties in highway matters.
Private public transporters, recently giving oral evidence to parliament, claimed that about 50 per cent of kombis belonged to officers who were using underhand tactics to get them out of business.
Though the move taken by Chihuri was commended by some sections of society, many said the order had shortcomings, accusing the police chief of double standards.
“Chihuri thinks he can fool everybody with this dummy of an order. As the police supreme authority, he was supposed to nip corruption in the bud. Why did it take him so long to stop the rot on the roads? In fact, the top cops are the big culprits in this respect and juniors are just the tip of an iceberg,” said an informal trader, Dickson Smoko of Harare.
Another jobless citizen, Obert Sinyoro, of Kuwadzana said: “We are reliably informed that every police officer is corrupt in his own way. Some would demand bribes to destroy dockets while others would be bribed to effect wrongful arrests against innocent citizens.”
Police officers manning roadblocks have for a long time been accused of soliciting bribes from motorists and passengers.
Smoko said police officers did not only invest proceeds realised out of corruption in the transport industry, but in other sources of income such as mining and properties.
Lincon Kamunjoma, another informal trader said: “If Chihuri meant what he ordered, he should have grabbed the ill-gotten wealth and made it forfeit to the state. Allowing culprits a grace period to wind up their operations is tantamount to rewarding thieves.”
Targeted kombi-operating officers said they would not lose sleep over the Chihuri order since it was not watertight. Defiant police details vowed that they would beat Chihuri’s order.
“We will simply transfer ownership to relatives with different surnames and relocate the commuter omnibuses elsewhere,” said a Marondera-based officer who runs a fleet of six Toyota Hiaces.
The kombis ply the Harare-Marondera route and on average make $750 a day. His fleet operates hassle-free from the traffic police, unlike those owned by civilians.
While some police had either adopted a wait-and-see attitude or pushed their operations underground, others were disposing of the kombis at giveaway prices.
Another Marondera-based officer said he could not afford to take chances, as Chihuri would target a few defiant junior cops.
The Chihuri directive followed a recent report by the Greater Harare Association of Commuter Omnibus Operators to The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development. The association revealed that police officers fuelled corruption on the roads by inconveniencing kombis operated by civilians, since the police owned half the buses in Harare and other cities.
The ban was issued in accordance with Police Standing Orders and the Police Act. Any defiant police officer faces unspecified consequences.
According to the findings of the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa in 2011, Zimbabwe traffic police were the most corrupt in the SADC region.
Post published in: News