ZRP Collects $38 Million In Fines In 9 Months, Chombo Claimed $15 Million Per Year
A revenue statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that the Zimbabwe Republic Police collected $38.28 million in fees and fines from January to September 2017. This seems to contradict what former Minister of Home Affairs Ignatius Chombo said. In June, Chombo told Parliament that ZRP actually collects only $12 million to $15 million annually.
The revenue statement was signed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Melusi Matshiya on the 6th of December 2017. According to the statement, ZRP is poised to collect $51 million by the end of the year, a figure which seems to tally with the $59 million revealed by the Parliament Budget Office (PBO) in June.
The money which was collected by the ZRP was incorporated in the National Budget statement for 2018 by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa last week. Chinamasa has promised greater transparency in the management of the funds.
However, according to the ministry’s statement, the $51 million figure is expected to drop to $41 million in 2018. This comes after there was a visible reduction in the number of police roadblocks after President Emmerson Mnangagwa come into power in November after the Zimbabwe Defence Forces launched Operation Restore Legacy. The ZRP is now conducting patrols with members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. The ZRP has also revealed an 11 point plan to improve relations with motorists and to restore the public’s confidence in the service.
In the past, the ZRP was close-lipped and cagey about how much the organisation collected from the roads. In 2014, Police chief spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba lashed out at then Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Commissioner General Gershom Pasi after he claimed that the ZRP was collecting between US$3 million and US$7 million monthly from roadblocks. Charamba was quoted as saying:
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Gershom Pasi and his Zimra are on the retention scheme and were on the forefront before the Zimbabwe Republic Police even started.
Gershem Pasi is given a task by Government which he is failing to perform, hence this blame to cushion his failure.
He (Mr Pasi) is on record of having exceeded collection targets well beyond those given to him by Government and why is he mourning now?
In January, the ZRP also took out a full-page advert in the Herald to deny that it had collected $59 million in spot fines in 2016. The ZRP accused NewsDay reporter Veneranda Langa of twisting facts.
An excerpt of the statement from the ZRP says:
The media should take note that police officers are not just revenue collectors Instead they look at the commission of offences and the remedies which are clearly stipulated in terms of the country laws.
