Army, Police Accepting Bribes From Lockdown Violators

Zimbabwe National Army, Zimbabwe Republic Police and Municipal police officers who were deployed nationwide to enforce the coronavirus-induced lockdown are reportedly accepting bribes from those who would have violated the regulations.

This was indicated in a recent report by the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA), a non-political organisation registered in Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2004 to campaign against corruption. Read the report in part:

A research conducted by ACTSA has confirmed that ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) officers, soldiers, and municipal police are soliciting for bribes in exchange for giving a blind eye to violations of the COVID-19 regulations as well as helping all those arrested to enjoy freedom.

The research further observed that the lockdown presented a conducive environment for public corruption adding that corruption levels among police had surpassed levels it had reached during Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri’s era.

The report shows that there is a great possibility that the virus is being spread since law enforcers are allowing the citizenry to roam around for as long as they have money to pay bribes.

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