TRAFFIC POLICE OFFICERS FINGERED IN MISCHIEF

By Kalobwe Bwalya

THERE is a need to see the overhaul of the traffic police department and also the change of mind-set if sanity will be seen on our roads, Commuters Association of Zambia (CAZ) president Aaron Kamuti has charged.

In an interview Mr. Kamuti stated that for now, there was just total confusion caused by unnecessary impounding of vehicles by traffic officers under suspicious behaviour.

Mr. Kamuti said whatever was being done by the traffic officers was illegal and uncalled for.

He said behaviour of some traffic officers especially from the Central Business District and the outskirts of Lusaka was not good at all.

He said the behaviour was uncalled for and the way they conducted themselves as if they were not being supervised by their superiors where even when they were directed against mounting roadblocks unnecessarily, they had continued doing so with impunity.

“We have observed that most of the time, there are illegal and unnecessary checkpoints and roadblocks even in the Lusaka CBD. These officers carry out snap and random checkpoints and that does not make any sense at all especially on bus drivers. Despite all this, most buses are un-roadworthy and you can even wonder how they acquire fitness and all the documentation.

“How can we have PSV vehicles being impounded and at the end of the day, they are allowed to go and the following day, they will be on the roads again even without rectifying the problem for which they were impounded the previous day. So, what is the purpose of impounding these vehicles? If traffic officers will continue impounding the vehicles and releasing them even when the problem has not been addressed, then it means their activities border on corruption. It means that buses will continue being impounded and be allow3d to go once the officers receive the bribes and the cycle will continue while the problem is not being solved. This is putting the lives of the commuters at risk because these bus drivers know that they just have to bring a few police officers and be allowed to go,” Mr. Kamuti said.

And Mr. Kamuti said police should not continue letting the illegality by allowing un-roadworthy buses on the road.

He further said even the accidents that had continued happening in the country were due to the same behaviour of traffic officers who were in the habit of collecting money from drivers whose vehicles and also poor state of the roads across the country.

He noted that some behaviour of the traffic officers manning the roadblocks and checkpoints was horrible and should not be entertained adding that there was a need for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security to start conducting random checks and see how police officers behaved on duty.

He alleged that some officers were illegally impounding vehicles that were roadworthy just to get something.

“We want to see a total overhaul of this department if we are to see sanity in our roads and if this is left unchecked, the country will continue recording fatalities on the roads,” he said.