Calls to disband police traffic section misplaced

Sun, 25 Jun 2017 10:28:55 +0000

By Prince Chibawah

The calls to disband the Zambia Police Traffic Department, by Members of Parliament have been described as an overreach just as their claims that Zambia Police is the most corrupt institution among the law enforcement agencies.

 Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Dr. Chileshe Mulenga has called on the MPs and members of the public to work with Government to report incidents of corruption to eradicate the vice.

Last week the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs called for the disbanding of Police traffic department to curb rampant corruption in the Service.

But Permanent Secretary, Dr Chileshe Mulenga, told the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that disbanding the department was not the best approach to fight corruption in the Zambia Police Service.

“The solution is not to disband the traffic department. We expect our parliamentarians to join other stakeholders to deal with the actual problem.”  Dr Mulenga explained that the fact that some police officers were corrupt should not be used as the only justification to make a decision that would negatively affect the entire Service.

“It will be totally incorrect to suggest that all police officers under the traffic department are corrupt.”

“There could be some corrupt officers but that does not imply the entire department or Service is corrupt. And if you disband the department then it will be unfair to those innocent police officers.”

He explained that fighting corruption in the Police was a big battle and that MPs were not expected to give up so easily.

He said the fight against corruption was a matter that the Ministry had taken seriously.

“As a Ministry we don’t take lightly cases of corruption. We have had cases where some police officers had been discharged from the Service due to unprofessional conduct like corruption.”

Dr Mulenga further explained that the Police Traffic Department and the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RATSA) had two different mandates.

“The mandate of RATSA is to regulate while the Police is to enforce the law. So, the two institutions should stick to their respective mandate. Of course we expect them to work together,” said Dr Mulenga.