adminMasvingo Bureau
Government has introduced impromptu auditing of provisional drivers’ licence examination results, while 80 percent of road test exercises will be done within Vehicle Inspection Department premises as a measures to curb corruption.
This follows the sacking of seven VID officers countrywide over allegations of corruption since the beginning of the year.
Secretary for Transport and Infrastructural Development Mr Munesushe Munodawafa last week said Government wanted to clean up the VID and rid it of corrupt elements as part of efforts to reduce carnage on the country’s roads.
Some public transport operators were reportedly bribing VID officers for their defective vehicles to be certified fit, but the same vehicles ended up being involved in fatal accidents.
Mr Munodawafa said his ministry would not hesitate to dismiss corrupt officers from VID, adding that more stringent measures were on the way to clean up the department.
“While corruption within VID is difficult to prove because of the ways which we hear people use to pay bribes to get either a provisional or a driver’s licence, we have also introduced a series of measures to ensure that we sniff out corrupt elements from the department so that we reduce carnage on our roads,” he said.
“We are serious about eliminating corruption from VID and this year we have already fired seven officers for corruption throughout the country and plans are now at an advanced stage for 80 percent of the road test exercise for those seeking driver’s licences to be done within the VID promises in full view of the public.
“We are already constructing steep gradients for hill starts within our depots and we do not see anyone paying a bribe for the remaining 20 percent of the test that will be done outside the VID depot.’’
Mr Munodawafa said thorough auditing and spot checks of provisional licence examination results has been introduced to ensure that the whole process to acquire a driver’s licence was water tight.
Online Reporter