Corrupt police officers warned

At a no holds barred meeting between road users and traffic police officers last week, Assistant Commissioner Kenneth Mthombeni, who is in charge of administration in national traffic police, said: I note with regret that there are some traffic police officers who are very unscrupulous and are frustrating motorists and transport operators. I would like to notify the general public and motorists that there are no roadblocks that are manned by two police officers. Motorists should ignore such roadblocks.

I know that some of the traffic police officers are ganging up against innocent motorists. I would like to urge the motorists that they should approach the member in charge of that area if they feel that justice has not been done.

Mthombeni urged the police to stop ticketing motorists and operators for the same offence committed on a single journey.

I understand that some motorists are being forced to pay find for trivial offenses. Our fines for contravening some sections of the Road Traffic Act range from US$5 to US$20. There are very few offences that attract US$20 fines, he added.

Corruption is now everywhere even among the police. It is sad to note that the police are grabbing licences of motorists and forcing them to pay them. No police officer is allowed to keep a motorists drivers licence. Motorists should report such cases to the nearest police station, he said.

The Vice Chairman of The Zimbabwe Stage Carriage Association Manicaland Region, Isau Mupfumi, said the association hailed the move by the police in addressing their problems.

As motorists, we were facing problems with some traffic police officers. We are happy that the quick response we are getting from some of the officers in charge and this should cascade down to officers on the ground. As operators we want to try by all means to be professional, said Mupfumi.