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Corruption among traffic police still rife
2006-05-16 07:35:02
By Guardian Investigative Team
Corruption remains deep-rooted among traffic police officers deployed on upcountry roads, with truck drivers and passengers the main targets of police extortionists.
Our investigations over the past two weeks have revealed that money changes hands between traffic officers and cargo truck drivers, after hard bargaining similar to buyers-sellers haggling over the value of a commodity.
’’At some checkpoints, you are forced to part with money regardless whether your vehicle is defective or not,’’ a truck driver, Shaban Yusuf, said.
’’We bargain with the police the amount of money they want. They never accept little bribes,’’ the driver said.
A source (name withheld) said traffic officers at the Iringa, Chalinze, Mlandizi and Kibaha checkpoints are the most notorious. They demand between 2,000/- and 10,000/- ’’toll fee.’’
’’Police officers have no discussions at these points, whether you have a mistake or not, you must pay 2,000 up to 10,000/.
It’s a must,’’ said the source. Investigations discovered that some truck and bus drivers have resorted to moving at night to escape corrupt police officers in order to save their money.
The Guardian learnt that cargo transporters set aside a budget of not less than 30,000/- to bribe the police.
’’My boss gives me 3 0,000/- as travel allowances per trip, but I have to share the same with the police,’’ said one truck driver.
’’Sometimes, I’m forced to break the money into 500/- denominations, but when we give them 500/-, they decline to take,’’ he said.
Hussein Juma, whose truck plies between Dar es Salaam and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said there were far too many roadblocks that charge ’’toll fees.’’
’’Roadblocks are everywhere. You find them after every 15 or 20 kilometres. We are fed up with them,’’ said Juma.
At roadblocks, vehicles are supposed to be inspected for road licenses, registration, insurance and cargo card.
The same exercise is repeated, inconveniencing long-haul truck drivers to neighbouring countries – Zambia, DRC, Malawi, Rwanda and Burundi.
’’Once they (officers at roadblocks) detect any fault we are fined between 15,000/- and 20,000/- for each fault. If there is no fault, you part with at least 10,000/-,’’ Juma said.
Another truck driver, Mohamed Abdallah observed:’’ Once you are stopped, the first thing you are asked is, ’lete chai (tip)’. If you don’t part with money, they confiscate the vehicle’s documents to force money out of you.’’
Investigations also revealed that once they receive some money, police officials simply abandon inspection of vehicles, thus risky the motor vehicles to road accidents.
In spite of the complaints by drivers, Traffic Police Commander Peter Kivuyo recently denied the claims of bribery in the force, saying: ’’I’ve not heard of it. I am hearing it from you (The Guardian ) for the first time.’’
Speaking by telephone, the traffic boss said he would not investigate the scandal. ’’I cannot work on allegations. Anybody can say anything; what I know is that my officers are not corrupt.’’
Reached for comment, senior official with the anti-corruption watchdog confirmed corruption among traffic officers, but declined to divulge details.
’’I know the facts, but I cannot comment. My boss is better positioned to talk about it,’’ said the official.
Early this year, this paper detailed how Dar es Salaam traffic police officers make as much as 300,000/- per day, which is then shared between junior and senior officers in the force. The scandal has never been investigated. The Guardian’s efforts to reach the PCB Director for comment did not bear fruit.
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