Chegutu Police Officers caught taking a US$10 bribe
Four Chegutu Council police officers were caught while receiving a US$10 bribe from a motorist whom they had accused of driving through Chegutu without number plates.
The motorist told the cops that he was coming from the Botswana border and would register the car on arrival in Harare.
The four council police officers were arrested soon after receiving the bribe and they implicated each other and confessed to working as a team to meet their daily target.
Reports suggest that municipal policemen use spikes to instill fear in motorists and bus drivers so that they demand bribes.
The four are expected to appear in court on Monday facing corruption charges.
Their arrest comes at a time the town clerk Mr. Alex Mandigo was suspended on allegations of incompetence, among others, and a committee to investigate his conduct is set to be appointed soon.
These reports can be viewed as petty corruption considering that some individuals in the country have reportedly robbed the state of millions of dollars.
Government reports such as those by the Auditor General suggest that corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe and is a key attribute to the collapse of the once vibrant economy.
Since coming to power in 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged to deal with corruption which he said was affecting national growth.
He reinvigorated the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) which has to date arrested a number of people on allegations that they were engaging in underhand dealings that choke efforts to revive the economy.
Also as a way of acknowledging the depth and breadth of corruption, president Mnangagwa also established the Special Anti Corruption Unit (SACU) to work hand in hand with other anti-corruption units.
While a number of prominent politicians including former Tourism Minister Prisca Mupfumira have so far been arrested, analysts argue that the Mnangagwa-led administration is not committed to fighting the rot adding that the arrests seen so far are meant to fool observers.
Their main concern is that there have been arrests but convictions are less when “there is overwhelming evidence” to suggest that the accused engaged in corrupt activities.
–The Herald
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