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GOVERNMENT should shake up the Zambia Police Traffic Division because there are too many corrupt officers manning checkpoints and parading in the streets to waylay motorists they can syphon money from, Commuters Rights Association of Zambia (CRAZ) president, Aaron Kamuti has said.
And Mr Kamuti said that the recent Statutory Instrument number 76 of 2016 which restricts the movement of public service vehicles at night was a flop because of the massive appetite by enforcement officers to fill their pockets.
He wondered why restricted motor vehicles were still able to move after specified hours when roads across the country were dotted with security checkpoints.
Mr Kamuti observed that even trucks overloaded with charcoal had become a normal routine on Zambian roads.
He attributed the lawlessness that had rocked Zambian roads to corruption which he said was now in the DNA of traffic officers.
Mr Kamuti has demanded a mass shake-up in the police traffic division to make Zambian roads safe and convenient for motorists.
“We still see trucks moving after 21:00 hrs and even passing through checkpoints. There are checks points as you leave or enter any town and so we wonder how they pass through. Even trucks overloaded with charcoal can be seen every night moving freely through checkpoints. That is clear corruption we are witnessing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kamuti also bemoaned the increase in the number of unnecessary roadblocks in Lusaka, including the Central Business District.
He observed that despite the government’s directive to stop unnecessary mounting of roadblocks, the trend was worsening by the day.
Mr Kamuti also claimed that there were unnecessarily now more police traffic officers than there were those to carry out general duties.
He claimed corruption was so rampant that one could smell it from a distance among the men and women police traffic officers.
Mr Kamuti said a shakeup was inevitable in the police to try to rid the service of rampant corruption.
[Daily Nation]
