Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe has warned that police officers and Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) inspectors who allow vehicles with defects or lacking proper documentation to pass through roadblocks will be held accountable if those vehicles are later involved in an accident.
Kazembe acknowledged the widespread corruption within the police force, saying there is a need to “police the police” and address this issue. He said (via The Herald):
I was just talking to my colleague (Transport and Infrastructural Development) Minister Felix Mhona and we agreed that all buses should be checked before leaving any bus terminus, to ensure that they have all the required documents to be on the road and that they are not overloaded as this also contributes to accidents.
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.
I have directed the 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.
Kazembe warned that if a bus is involved in an accident after passing through a roadblock without the required documentation, the law enforcement officers manning that roadblock will be held culpable.
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