Mugabe right on roadblocks

Source: Mugabe right on roadblocks – DailyNews Live

Eric Chiriga  29 August 2017

HARARE – Our beloved police continue to hog the limelight.

Sadly, due to wrong reasons, mostly.

This time, it had to take President Robert Mugabe to call the law
enforcers to order.

And it is not the first time the 93-year-old leader has had to intervene
in reigning in errant police behaviour.

Speaking at the burial of late Vice President Simon Muzenda’s widow,
Moudy, and liberation struggle hero George Rutanhire’s burial at the
National Heroes Acre in Harare over the weekend, Mugabe slammed the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) over its countless roadblocks, which have
bred the culture of bribe-taking by some members of the force.

Mugabe also savaged police officers for owning and secretly operating
commuter omnibuses, some of which he said were responsible for the carnage
reported on the country’s roads.

“The police force, be a police force of the people and not waiting for
people on the roads to demand bribes,” Mugabe said to the applause and
cheer of the gathered crowd.

“We do not want to hear that. So stop that evil,” he said.

He even went further to suggest “dignified” ways the hard-pressed force
could pursue to raise funds.

“If you want farms we can give you land to cultivate…if you want to have
clean businesses, why not?” he said, adding that “If you are a policeman,
you can combine, you can run a bus fleet instead of having commuter
omnibuses, some of which are killing people”.

“So if a police officer’s commuter omnibus kills people, what then is the
meaning of your job as a police officer?” asked Mugabe.

“We will give you a chance to come up with your own bus company. You buy
two or three buses, combine.

“It can be run not just by yourselves, you look for drivers and others who
can run these businesses, even your children.

“That’s more dignified. Not demanding bribes from people,” Mugabe said, as
he acknowledged that the police conduct had “troubled many people”.

That was surely a strong statement by the president.

It comes at a time the masses – particularly motorists and commuters –
feel the cops have become a menace on the roads and in society.

While police play a critical role in ensuring security of the innocent
citizens, the ZRP has of late been dogged by many accusations of
misconduct.

From the abuse of spikes, controversial spot fines to violation of human
rights by beating up protestors and wrongfully impounding motorists
vehicles.

People now view the ubiquitous roadblocks as mere fundraising exercises
rather than security check points as they purport.

To prove that, in June, the Daily News exclusively reported that the ZRP
had collected $14 million from its unpopular roadblocks since the
beginning of the year.

Curiously, despite the heavy presence of traffic police on almost all the
roads, particularly major highways, road carnage is on the rise.

Many lives have been lost due to accidents, which could be avoided by
enforcement of road rules by the so many traffic cops on our roads.

Apart from numerous complaints of harassment by the motoring public,
police roadblocks have also been blamed for driving away international
tourists.

We cannot belabour the point on the damage caused by the police’s conduct.

Just last week, five cops were dragged to court after bashing a man and
gouging his eye in the process.

This is one of many cases of alleged abuse by the police.

While the police have done a tremendous job in weeding out criminals from
the society, its conduct leaves a lot to be desired.

Mugabe is spot on.

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