adminHowever, following consistent calls for action to nip graft in the bud, it is quite encouraging that the Zimbabwe Republic Police, one organisation whose members’ corrupt tendencies have been quite apparent to most members of the public, is now working on rectifying the situation through pro-actively developing institutional mechanisms to detect and eliminate corruption.
Chronicle yesterday carried an article in which Commissioner Solomon Mubatapasango said that police had formed anti-corruption structures in an effort to curb corruption within the force.
“As ZRP, we are aware that some of our members are engaging in corrupt tendencies, hence as management, we have since come up with various operational resolutions which we continuously review every year. In fact, we have ordered all our commanders to put in place anti-corruption structures to monitor our staff,” said Comm Mubatapasango.
We applaud the ZRP for not being in denial but admitting that they were facing such a challenge since only an acknowledged problem can be addressed.
It is our hope that the inspectorate unit would help reduce cases of corruption in conjunction with the structures set up to detect and deal with corruption. The force has made its position clear by declaring that it had zero tolerance to corruption and we believe the involvement of the public through public awareness campaigns will also go a long way in demonstrating the seriousness of the force. Also, it is important to realise that it takes two to tango and that the public at times has a role to play in the corrupt activities since it is the individuals who offer inducement to police officers to look the other way instead of enforcing regulations.
The police only become a mirror of how our society has become since they are corrupted by members of the public.
Our call is for other organisations faced with challenges of corruption to establish structures within their organisations to detect and deal with cases of corruption.
The public still remains our major inspectorate that can check on service providers’ adherence to sound practice since in some organisations whole structures from the top right to the bottom have become a syndicate of corruption where proceeds are distributed according to rank.
These anti-graft units would do well to work closely with organisations dedicated to fighting corruption and they also should work closely with the public. An increase or decrease in public complaints of corruption could be used to measure the effectiveness or lack of thereof of such anti-corruption units within institutions. It is our hope, however, that we shall not need yet another arm to monitor the anti-corruption units.
Online Reporter