By Catherine Masocha
Allegations of misconduct have rocked Gweru municipal police, with 14 officers suspended pending an investigation.
Sources within the local authority say the alleged misconduct include soliciting bribes from vendors and motorists who violate parking regulations as well as mshika-shika operators.
Gweru City Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee confirmed the suspension.
“The City of Gweru has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct involving a group of municipal police officers.
“As part of this investigation, 14 officers have been arrested pending the outcome of the inquiry.”
A vendor who was interviewed by this reporter on anonymity confirmed the bribe payment and admitted that it is bleeding their operations.
“Corruption is rife within the Gweru Municipal police officers. Each vendor pays them USD1 so we can operate at illegal spaces but surprisingly when they conduct their raids with the municipal police vehicle, our goods still get confiscated.
The vendor also bemoaned how they are also failing to maximize their sales in the evening as municipal police officers who knock off at 5pm will still be on duty demanding bribes.
“The officers will still be on duty around 7 -8pm and making us pay them money without issuing any ticket. We know we are trading at undesignated spaces but,we want relevant authorities to dive deeper into this and solve it.”
The founding director of an antigraft organisation Zimbabwe Women Against Corruption Trust (ZWACT), Sandra Matendere said GCC’s suspension of municipal police officers on allegations of corruption is a step in the right direction.
“As ZWACT we welcome the move by the city of Gweru to suspend 14 officers who are allegedly under investigation for misconduct.”
Matendere also implored local authorities to develop and communicate clear anti-corruption policies.
“We encourage local authorities to provide training and education on ethics and anti-corruption and establish clear reporting mechanisms on corruption and strengthen whistle blowers protection.”
However, Midlands Vendors Association chairperson Angeline Tariro Zibanai said the local authority pays a deaf ear when vendors make reports on corruption within its employees.
“I am surprised some municipal police officers were suspended because I saw the real corrupt ones conducting their duties as usual today. They leave the real culprits and suspend innocent ones. The ones we report never get suspended.”
She also highlighted that poor remuneration by GCC to its employees could be fueling corruption.
“GCC should remunerate its employees fairly and competitively to reduce corruption.”
This is not the first time that GCC employees have been accused of corruption. In 2020, The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) investigated irregular land sales involving Gweru City councillors and management.
Later in the same year, an internal audit revealed that several point-of-sale machines which were in use were not offloading funds into any of the known local authority’s bank accounts.