Lifestyle audits for cops in Zimbabwe
By Nqobile Tshili
Police have introduced lifestyle audits in the force as one of the strategies to curb corruption among police officers. Lifestyle audit involves verification of a person’s personal expenditure patterns to determine if it is consistent with an individual’s sources of income that include salary.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the Zimbabwe Republic Police has zero tolerance for corruption. She said any officer found to have engaged in corruption is dismissed from the force.
Snr Asst Comm Charamba said as part of measures to fight the scourge, the force was already conducting lifestyle audits for its members.
“Within the organisation we have strategies that are in place to fight corruption. We don’t allow our police officers even if they are going to police check points to carry their cellphones, they also declare the money that they have before they go on duty,” said Snr Asst Comm Charamba last Friday on the side-lines of a schools debate on crime at Eveline High School.”
She said the Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has zero tolerance for corruption has the many measures put in place to fight the cancer.
“Anyone who is engages in corruption risk being fired from the force,” said Charamba. She said the media has carried reports of police officers arrested for corruption and dismissed from the force.
Recently, Commissioner-General Chihuri said the ZRP is not home to dishonest and unprofessional officers, who tarnish the force’s image by engaging in corrupt and criminal activities.
His sentiments come after it emerged that expelled policemen were mounting illegal roadblocks using spikes to collect cash from unsuspecting people.
He said the force did not require the calibre of officers and lawyers that were not honest.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let me emphasise this point for the umpteenth time in the presence of all of you. The ZRP is not home to dishonest and unprofessional persons.
“And it will neither brook nor incubate any acts of corruption, improper performance of duty nor timidity that tarnishes the good name of our organisation,” Comm-Gen Chihuri said in a speech to officers at the Legal Services Directorate Strategic Workshop in Harare.
He said attributes such as discipline, hard-work, research and investigative skills, logical thinking and sound judgment were essential for the development of well-polished lawyers and police commanders.
In July, President Mugabe warned police to desist from engaging in corruption especially at roadblocks.
“I am told, while performing your duty, lots of temptation will visit you, especially police officers manning roadblocks. Such temptation, I am reliably informed, is blind to gender or age and is not regional or tribalistic. Be warned!” said President Mugabe. The Herald
