Dear Editor,
I travelled along the Linden Highway twice last week and I noticed the levels of corruption among traffic officers on two occasions. With road carnage on the increase, I want to challenge the Police Commissioner and the media to play an effective role in combating corruption in the police force. The question is, what is it that some traffic officers are doing apart from soliciting bribes from drivers? Last Saturday, I was aboard a Lethem bound bus that was stopped around 10am. The bus driver was asked to disembark. He gave the officer a handshake – in order, it appeared, to pass on some folded bills. The officer directed him to another officer, and the folded three one thousand dollar bills exchanged hands. No one said anything but a couple of passengers noticed this. On Tuesday night, on a return trip, at the same place, the barriers were there and our driver was summoned out, as before. The same transaction took place. I wished I had my camera ready for a few shots to show the Police Commissioner.
With the increase in fatal roads accidents recently, the blame is always laid on the drivers. We rightly do so. Next we appeal to the police traffic department to be more visible. But here we have certain traffic officers collecting an illegal fine from drivers, whose crimes remain unknown. At least my two drivers committed no single traffic offence; however, they were driving a mini-bus, and were an easy prey for bribes to reduce harassment or further ‘detainment.’ Where a traffic offence is committed, paying an officer perpetuates the act of wrongdoing, since the driver gets away with the crime.
There is no record of his/her misdemeanour since the corrupt officer is the arresting officer, the prosecutor and judge. This is not new, and the Police Commissioner must know about it. If he claims not to know, I advise him to board a bus plying the Linden highway and surely he will witness this practice which has become surprisingly normal.
We might appeal to the argument that the drivers need to report this to the higher authorities, but this is futile since the police protect one another. It is the passengers who suffer for it is their lives that are put at risk, both in cases where a traffic offence has been committed and where none has been committed, but has the potential of being committed. The traffic officers involved have fat lined pockets.
Yours faithfully,
Clyde B Chakupeta
