Does the Police command have ears?

Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:16:56 +0000

Dear Editor,

Sometimes I wonder whether the Police command has ears to listen to the complaints of corruption within the Traffic Department.

Last Sunday Lusaka traffic Police were at it again mounting road blocks in the middle to busy roads thereby congesting uncalled for congestion and as expected a number of drivers were either pulled over or made to drive with officers to all types of places.

I am even made to wonder why it appears that only the traffic officers are in abundance to be mounting roadblocks and harassing drivers when the same Police have no fuel to respond to emergencies and crime scenes.

It is very disgraceful that people who report crimes are often asked to look for fuel for police vehicles while traffic police have all the fuel in their cars and motor cycles to harass motorists where it is not even necessary.

In many cases these impromptu roadblocks are for the purpose of checking for road tax, fitness and insurance. Why should an entire division mount a roadblock in the middle of the city for this purpose if it is not only meant to inconvenience motorists or indeed the serve the ATM purpose for which these activities are known.

I would like to appeal to the Minister of Home Affairs to urgently look into Police administration and ensure that the traffic section is dismantled to stop the bad image that the Government is getting.

Leonard Kombe