By RABECCA CHIPANTA –
HOME Affairs Minister Davies Mwila has instructed the Zambia Police Service command on the Copperbelt to ensure traffic officers do not harass motorists.
Mr Mwila has directed Copperbelt Police commissioner Charity Katanga to put a stop to the mistreatment of motorists by traffic police officers.
The directive comes in the wake of an outcry by some motorists on the Copperbelt who allege they were being harassed by traffic police officers in towns such as Ndola.
The minister, who was in the province last week to check on the state of prisons and also to inspect the area where 2, 350 housing units for uniformed officers would be constructed, said police officers had no right to confiscate drivers’ licences as had been the case of late.
Mr Mwila said there was need for traffic officers to follow the Inspector General’s directive on the matter.
“If the directive was given by the IG, it means the command has to make a follow-up to ensure that our people are not harassed unnecessarily.
“If a person has committed an offence, that person has to be taken to the police. I know they are supposed to pay and you have a system on how a person is going to pay the police. A driving licence is someone’s property which is used for identification,” he said.
Mr Mwila, however, warned citizens not to take the law into their own hands, but to report any wrongdoing to the police.
