JOHANNESBURG A regional corruption watchdog this week bemoaned the lack of action against corruption by Zimbabwean traffic police officers, amid new findings that graft is still at its peak in the country.The Windhoek-headquartered ACT-Southern Africa, which last year published a report exposing corruption involving traffic police officers in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, said this week that it was high time Zimbabwean people did something on the growing corruption by law-enforcement agents.
The findings, forwarded to Zimbabwean Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, Melusi Matshiya, indicated that Zimbabwean traffic police officers were more corrupt, when compared with their counterparts in the other two countries.
Not only has the Zimbabwean government seemingly ignored the report, but nothing seems to have been done to curb the scourge of graft, which has, in fact, increased since then.
The organisation said, in a statement sent to The Zimbabwean, that its researchers had continued to unravel shameful acts of corruption in Zimbabwe, the latest being early this year.
Further, on Sunday, 9 January 2011, our researcher based in Zimbabwe who travelled by bus from Harare to Plumtree witnessed traffic police officers receiving bribes at most of the police road-blocks, read the report.
The police target foreign registered buses, such as those from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and in all cases witnessed, no receipts were issued. In another case, a driver of a bus coming from Botswana was stopped and alighted from the bus carrying some drinks which he handed over to the police and left. This was done in full view of passengers. To be frank, the Zimbabwean authorities are neglecting these calls at their own detriment. Action needs to be taken.
The organisation called on Zimbabweans to document these acts of corruption and forward them to the authorities. Alternatively, the recorded footage can be sent to actsouthernafrica@gmail.com, for expanded distribution.
Post published in: News