STOP THE HIGHWAY ROBBERS

STOP THE UNIFORMED HIGHWAY ROBBERS The number of roadblocks and policeman on the roads is just not acceptable for a country that is not at war [at least we hope the police are not at war with us the citizens ] and some of the actions of the traffic policemen are reminiscent of the actions of the legendary highway robbers that terrorized residents of Victorian England . Today motorists and passengers in Zimbabwe are not terrorized by masked robbers armed with swords or rifles but uniformed and at times uninformed police officers who are more common than traffic lights .Some places such as 12 the avenue and Hillside in Bulawayo now have permanent roadblocks manned by at least four government departments including the local municipality . Whilst it is acceptable that the police have to carry out their constitutional mandate of maintaining law and order on the roads the Zimbabwean scenario is now just unacceptable and tantamount to modern day highway robbery carried out in the guise of enforcing traffic regulations whilst actually siphoning increasingly poor motorists with endless spot fines .The actions of the police have attracted the attention of senior public officials such as Justice Francis Bere and Vice President Emmerson Mnangwagwa who have spoken out against this expression of obscenity by a component of state apparatus which is supposed to be the depository of public confidence and security .In his address to the 2015 Masvingo Legal Year Justice Bere described the practise of spot fines and confiscation of vehicles [popularly called confistication by police officers] as illegal citing section 356 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act .Quite clearly the police now see cash strapped and stressed motorists as a source of revenue to finance either the activities of the police or to line the pockets of a cabal of corrupt police officers whilst milking the fiscus of much needed revenue .The practise of spot fines whist administratively noble is not sufficiently legal as it has occasioned the official abuse of Zimbabweans who are subjected to endless roadblocks and fines .It is actually an open secret that some motorists have resorted to bribing their way through roadblocks and in essence roadblocks have become the seedbed of corruption . Financial Probity and Stewardship The public has a right to know how much of these spot fines are collected every month and whether or not they are deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund as espoused in section 302 of the Zimbabwean Constitution which states that : There s is a Consolidated Revenue Fund into which must be paid all fees ,taxes and borrowings and all other revenue of the Government whatever their source ,unless an Act of Parliament provides otherwise . The scourge of corruption has made the practise of spot fines at variance with the norms of good Financial Management which should is provided for in section 298 [d] of the Zimbabwean constitution . It is in this context that i propose that the Police should embark upon a programme of educating motorists about various laws governing them including but not limited to the Vehicle Registration and Licensing Act ,the Road Traffic Act and relevant statutory instruments . The current ambush antics of the police who are quick to quote sections of the law to clueless motorists is not acceptable in a modern democracy .In this age of the internet it should be possible for the Police to have interactive Face book and Twitter accounts to share such information or even use applications such as Whats App to inform the motoring public about their obligations .I also propose that the Auditor General carries out an audit of Zimbabwe Republic Police specifically focussing on Spot Fines as a revenue collecting tool vis a vis good corporate governance . In the long term the police should consider investing in cameras and other surveillance equipment as in the case in other countries .This will increase efficiency and reduce corruption on the roads . The development of a virtual electronic system that can track deviant motorist should be in the 10 year strategy plan of the police to ensure technologically compliant policing . In short however there are just too many roadblocks in Zimbabwe and too many traffic policemen and this has become outright harassment of ordinary citizens