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TIZ should be ready to testify against the police, says Mateyo

TIZ should be ready to testify against the police, says Mateyo
By Maluba Jere
Sunday July 06, 2008 [04:01]

INSPECTOR General of Police Ephraim Mateyo has said it is speculative for Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) to state that the police service is the most corrupt public institution. Commenting on the Bribe Payers Index (BPI) report for 2007 by TIZ, Mateyo said TIZ should be ready to testify in court on the offences labelled against the police.

“I am yet to look at the same report but what is important is that the people have agreed that they paid bribes. But the offence was committed by two people so both the one who paid the bribe and the one who received should be arrested,” said Mateyo.

On Friday TIZ stated that the Zambia Police Service was by far the major public institution that solicited for bribes most frequently and to which most people paid bribes.

During the launch, TIZ board member Dr Kavwanga Yambayamba said that was not surprising, saying it was public knowledge that police officers were among the most lowly paid public officials and yet subjected to very high-risk situations.

“Instances of public officials soliciting for bribes continue to be a source of grave concern, with over half (50 per cent) of the respondents being asked for unofficial payments in both urban and rural areas,” he said.

“The overall incidence of bribery was 11 per cent. However, the prevalence was higher in urban areas than in rural areas.”
Dr Yambayamba implored the government to undertake a comprehensive anti-corruption approach that did not create scapegoats.

He said the current government’s performance in fighting corruption was poorly rated although some improvements in handling complaints were noted by some respondents.
“We strongly request the government and other institutions to walk the talk.

The views of most respondents (56 per cent) were that the current government was not committed to fighting corruption compared to 43.7 per cent who felt that the government was committed,” Dr Yambayamba said. “This was attributed to the fact that the punitive measures against corruption were not adequately applied.”

Dr Yambayamba added that although there were some improvements in the 2007 BPI as compared to the 2005 one, TIZ recommended that the establishment of audit committees in all public offices should be expedited.

Labels: CORRUPTION, EPHRAIM MATEYO, POLICE, TIZ

posted by MrK @ 6:17 PM