At least four Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) officers stationed at the Chitungwiza depot are facing investigations over allegations of soliciting money from people obtaining driver’s licenses and learner’s licences.
Yesterday, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Felix Mhuna and a team from his office made a surprise visit to the warehouse after receiving anonymous letters and letters sent to his office alleging corruption in the warehouse.
During discussions with driving instructors and the public waiting to take their tests at the depot, the names of the four examiners were constantly mentioned, prompting the minister to order investigations.
Minister Muhanna confirmed the developments and said that the officers are likely to be transferred from the warehouse as investigations continue.
“This was a surprise visit here in Chitungwiza VID. The purpose of us coming here with my team from the ministry and VID officials from head office was to lead and operate in accordance with the vision of His Excellency Commander Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa that we do not tolerate corruption in this land. So we are here to prove To the people of Zimbabwe that when we say we have a president who is listening, he says I want you to go and come down on the VID.
“Why Fed? Since there have been several anonymous letters saying we have problematic officers, but I said sometimes you need to be on the ground to hear for yourself.
“So I came here unannounced to engage officials and stakeholders who are of great importance in their handling of testing issues. As you saw, I reached out to citizens, those who were waiting for the test for provisional licenses and also the Certificate of Proficiency, which is the road test, as well as the stakeholders – the trainers.” .
“But you know the problem is that it takes two people to tango, and at the end of the day I saw that when you address people on corruption issues sometimes people don’t open up, but in the end if you engage them in pairs you hear them,” he said.
The minister said he was happy that during his discussions with teachers, he now had the names of examiners who were causing problems at VID Chitungwiza.
“And I told them clearly, when it comes to corruption, we say that the Commander-in-Chief, His Excellency Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, says there is no place for these corrupt officers in the Second Republic.
“So basically what we will do is engage. My team will engage, interrogate and also carry out engagements with the officers who have been named and shamed. And we are saying in the meantime, come this week, we will move these officials from here so that they do not continue to hurt our people.
“So, this is basically what we will do, and I can say that with confidence because I am following His Excellency’s agenda, Vision 2030 in which we want to be prosperous and empowered.
“But we cannot be empowered if we have corrupt tendencies among ourselves. That is why we are here today and you see me going around the country without warning and also to other warehouses to ensure that we nip corruption in the bud.
“So I am happy that you (the media) are such ambassadors. You need to spread information, and there were also messages on social media about officers guarding the Seki-Chitungwiza road.
“So I also came here to bear witness, to inquire and to say what are we doing about it,” Minister Mahona said.
The Minister also took time to chat with some of the people who came to write their provisional tests and others who were being tested for their driving licences.
“But ultimately the idea is to say that the business ethic of the Second Republic is to fight corruption.”
“We have four whose names have come up prominently. We cannot shut down the entire warehouse but I am saying there is a presumption of innocence. I am not saying they are guilty but what we are saying is we need to continue the investigation. But we cannot continue to have the same officers in this warehouse.
“Why? Because of the risk of us leaving these officers, the next time we want to engage, they will brag about saying that we are here, and even those from the main office came and left us here.”
But that’s what we’re out there saying, if your name comes up, we’ll investigate you. We will also work to make this platform available to the people of Zimbabwe. We’ve got a toll-free number, and if you think there are bad trends, please let us know.
“We also say that we will not wait for these unannounced visits but we say let us continue to engage citizens so that we can fight corruption together. I am sure that the four, when we then move them and bring them closer to where we can monitor them, we will conduct our investigations, and if they are found guilty, we will expel them.”
Local businessman and founder of Ring Driving School Mr. Onias Sanangura praised Minister Mhuna for the engagement he had with them yesterday.
“It is unique and we would like to commend him for the efforts he is making in the fight against corruption. We are responsible for training potential drivers, and sometimes we also have strategies to fight or reduce corruption,” he said.
