Africa-Press – Mozambique. Truck drivers from across southern Africa are threatening to blockade Mozambican border posts, in protest at corrupt behaviour by the Mozambican traffic police, according to a report in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticiasa”.
The Association of Truck Drivers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) made the threat in a letter to the Sofala Provincial Office for the Fight against Corruption.
The Association claims that the behaviour of the traffic police on the roads from Beira to Zimbabwe and to Tete “is intolerable, and, if it continues, the truck drivers will have no choice but to station their vehicles at the border”.
The letter protested at various police control points along the roads where, in order to continue their journeys, the drivers must pay 50 or 100 meticais (up to 1.5 US dollars at current exchange rates).
At a press conference in Beira, the spokesperson for the Sofala anti-corruption office, Anastacio Matsinhe admitted that such misconduct does occur and must be stopped. He said that several arrests have been made of members of the traffic police and track drivers, accused of involvement in corrupt schemes.
“Regardless of whether the transporters are Mozambicans or foreigners, illicit charges constitute deplorable behaviour, which should be fought against through denunciations to the anti-corruption offices”, he said.
Matsinhe called on the police and other sectors of the public services to draw up strategies for intervening to halt traffic police corruption.
