The Zimbabwean government has issued a stern warning to police officers and Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) inspectors who allow vehicles with defects or without requisite papers to pass through roadblocks. The law, the government stated, will take its course on law enforcement agents who would have allowed a vehicle passage at roadblocks, severely so, if the vehicle is involved in an accident.
This warning comes after a meeting between the Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe and the Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona, where they agreed that all buses should be checked before leaving any bus terminus to ensure they have all the required documents to be on the road and that they are not overloaded.
“I have also directed Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to ensure that we are also policing the police. The police must also be policed. We have a responsibility to ensure that people abide by traffic laws, but you realise that there are some syndicates involving police and VID officers linked to corruption,” said Minister Kazembe.
“I have directed police that we now have to go backwards and check the route, did this vehicle pass through a roadblock and what happened? And those people, who let the vehicle pass, must be answerable, individually or severally,” he added.
Minister Kazembe further stated that if a bus is involved in a road accident after passing through a roadblock without the required documents, they would go after the law enforcement officers who were manning roadblocks along the way.
This crackdown on errant police officers and VID inspectors comes as the government is pushing to reduce road traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities. The national target under the National Development Strategy 1 is to reduce these by 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.
Statistics show that the number of road traffic crashes in 2022 was 163, with a slight reduction in 2023 to 132.
Minister Mhona, in a separate statement, appealed to motorists to adhere to road traffic rules and regulations, abide by the stipulated speed limits and service their vehicles at the recommended intervals.
He called upon drivers to practice the basic principles of Defensive Driving and to stay alert and attentive at all times.
“Allow me at this stage to acknowledge the current efforts by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) in undertaking and leading programmes that promote road safety in our country. These programmes include the training of both public and private service vehicle drivers on the Defensive Driving Course,” said Minister Mhona.
“I note with satisfaction that, in the context of devolution, TSCZ has taken road safety to remote communities through the Road Safety Champions programme and the First Responder’s programme.
“In this regard, within the spirit of ‘leaving no one and no place behind’, we have witnessed TSCZ working with chiefs, village heads, church leaders, musicians and even artists to name, but a few, in the dissemination of road safety and post-crash care.
“This is in addition to the fact that the TSCZ has now established a presence in all the 10 provinces, to get their products and services available, and accessible to everyone. I urge you to keep up this momentum and spread the road safety gospel to every corner of this great Nation,” Minister Mhona said.
