In order to solicit bribes, motorists are being โarrestedโ for driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Hereโs how it works โฆ.
– Inez Terrace, Harare CBD, runs from Nelson Mandela Avenue, ending at Kenneth Kaunda Avenue and ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. The road is a one-way only, running south towards the railway.
– The intersections where a motorist would turn north into Inez Terrace (against the traffic) are not clearly signposted.
– Either by waiting patiently, or being opportunistic, members operating from Central will jump on any motorist who has made the mistake of entering the road from the wrong direction.
– The motorist is advised that he/she is under arrest, the vehicle is to be impounded as evidence and the motorist is escorted to Central.
– The โarresting officerโ takes the motorist to the ZRP Traffic desk, supposedly to have the docket drawn up.
– During this process, the ZRP members will suggest to the โarrestedโ motorist that he could โtalk nicelyโ to the arresting officer and member โprocessing the docketโ.
This is a very clear strategy to solicit bribes by intimidating uninformed motorists, coordinated by ZRP members operating on the CBD streets and desk personnel at Central.
๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ:
– The offence is covered by the Roads and Road Traffic Regs., 1974, section 10(a). The Schedule of Deposit Fines reads โDrive wrong way in one way roadโ.
– This is a Level 3 offence, the fine is ZW$ 100.00 (SI 209/2019 gazetted on 23 Sep, 2019).
– Only offences above Level 3 require a court appearance.
Motorists are advised to familiarise yourselves with the road traffic laws, and your rights. Do not be bullied โ invest the time to record the details of the ZRP members, phone for advice and always report any corrupt activities to ๐๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ (๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ) ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ (๐ง๐ฒ๐น: ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ-๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ญ)
Source: Sean Quinlan, Dear ZRP
