Chihuri urged to declare ‘illicit’ roadblock cash
By Alex Bell
01 October 2012
Zimbabwe’s police commissioner Augustine Chihuri is being urged to publicly
declare how much money is being collected by police officers at the many
roadblocks across the country.
The Coalition Against Corruption (CAC) last week handed over a letter and
petition to the police’s general headquarters in Harare, in an effort to
promote transparency and accountability in the police force. The CAC
director Terry
Mutsvangwa said the public had the right to know where the funds collected
at roadblocks were being channelled to.
“As CAC, we are not saying Commissioner Chihuri is abusing the funds, but we
are just demanding to know where the money is going,” he said.
The number of roadblocks across the country has for months enraged
Zimbabweans, who are forced to pay on-the-spot fines for a range of
‘offences’. A source who recently visited Zimbabwe told SW Radio Africa that
the roadblock situation is “out of control.” The source counted 29 separate
roadblocks on a single journey from Harare to Bulawayo last month, adding
that the police “would even take your drinks if you didn’t have any money.”
Public affairs commentator Precious Shumba told SW Radio Africa that the
roadblocks are widely condemned as “a corrupt, illegal, unjustified burden
on the public.”
“People are being asked to part with their money at every single roadblock
for anything the police say they have done wrong. People feel like
criminals. They are inconvenienced all the time at these extortionate
roadblocks,” Shumba said.
He welcomed the CAC petition for raising awareness about the issue, but said
it was unlikely to make a real difference.
“I doubt the police will take it seriously, because the police justification
is that the roadblocks are for policing and they are maintaining law and
order,” Shumba said.