via ‘Cops, Immigration & Registrar’s departments to keep fees, fines’ 15 July 2014 by Veneranda Langa
HOME Affairs secretary Melusi Matshiya yesterday told Parliament that the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Department of Immigration and the Registrar-General’s Office would continue to retain fees that they collected until Treasury has released their budgetary allocations.
Matshiya told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs chaired by Bubi Zanu PF MP Clifford Sibanda that Treasury was failing to disburse adequate funds for their operations from the 2014 National Budget to the extent that to date, half-way through the year, they only received 8% of their 2014 budgetary allocations.
The ministry was allocated $308 million in 2014, but out of an amount of $6 031 500 expected to be allocated during the first quarter only $1 637 653 was disbursed, leaving the whole ministry and different departments to fundraise for other requirements like vehicles, uniforms, teas and training.
According to Matshiya, these departments were high security sectors and they needed to be adequately funded.
“Treasury needs to think outside the box or float Treasury Bills and raise money for the budget because the aspect of cash budgeting is very difficult because you are promised you will get money, but you do not get it — and if Parliament appropriates funds, let me get them,” said Matshiya.
“We are halfway through the year and we only got 8% of our allocated budget and that is pathetic and compromises security as the departments of RG, ZRP, Immigration, National Archives and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) are high security-related departments,” he said.
Matshiya told the committee that the money retained by these departments was properly accounted for and their audit reports were clean. Although he could not immediately disclose how much the ZRP retained he said he was going to table the figures before the committee.
“Even an amount of $3 million for the ZRP is nothing. One can even look at $10 million per month because we need to buy uniforms, vehicles, foodstuffs and other materials for 700 police stations in the country. Their situation is so dire that constables end up writing statements at the back of used papers.
“We need about 7 000 vehicles for the police, but they only have 1 800 of which only 1 000 are operational,” he said.
On ZACC he said they needed to be sufficiently funded in order to effectively carry out investigations and give it teeth that bite.
COMMENTS
“………….because the aspect of cash budgeting is very difficult because you are promised you will get money, but you do not get it .,,,…………….”
Think of 1000s of civil servants who work for the right to earn a living and for month they don’t receive their salary. You stop blood throwing the toys out of the pram small mind.
The flood gates have been opened for fines that don’t exist. I have already had a policeman give me a fine for going through a Red traffic light on a route I never went on. How do you argue with people with the power they have. They just threaten to lock you up or impound your car. Zimbabwe is slowly heading into chaos.
Zimbabwe is already chaotic,only time will tell where this is heading to.Otherwise this current government is financially crippled.I Wish all car owners would simply boycot and park their cars.Already businesses are closing due to hard handedness of ZIMRA and other licencing Authorities.Mining is becoming more challengind with state of the art machinery now required to dig deeper,as alluvial stones are running out,and do you think our comrades in corruption will provide the 51% financing required,i dont think so.
Hameno, but for sure this era will come to pass.
When do africans ever abide by any rules or laws., that is why all african countries end in chaos after the so called liberation movements take over.The only liberating they do is the money from the tax revenues for themselves.
Are ALL these people subliterate?
Looks like it
In other words the Immigration and the cops will be making their own laws to get money from the ordinary people ??? Feel sorry for the visitor to the country they will be robbed left right and centre by them
You are absolutely correct Petal. The fact that they have not received their budgetary allocations means they have the right to use citizens as a source of revenue. This obviously results in false arrests, bogus charges, bribes, etc.
In 1990 the cops had no cars or paper to write reports on. No real changes today.
And then what will happen tp the other civil servants who do not collect revenue like teachers.
This spells death to our tourism industry as well as every business that relies on any form of transport. Toll fees up 100% and now the Police collecting their wages on the roads…..WELL DONE ZANU! You are outdoing yourselves as usual.
Just like Mozambique in the years immediately after independance. Give a policeman a bicycle and a uniform and let him earn his own salary. It was an unmitigated disaster. They are now on the up and Zimbabwe has recressed so badly that they are now adopting these failed rubbish tactics. All it does is incense the average Zimbabwean more than they already are. If ZANU PF did not control the police and military thus the people, through the barrel of the gun, as they always have, they would have been overthrown and hung a long time ago.