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Mini-assessment report: Corruption by traffic police officers and vehicle drivers in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa)
November 10, 2010

http://actsouthernafrica.posterous.com/

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1. Introduction

A researcher from the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa) traveled by road in a public transport from Namibia (Windhoek) to Zimbabwe (Harare) via Botswana through the Mamuno border post. The journey to and fro Zimbabwe was an eye-opener on the nature and extent of corruption bedeviling traffic police officers in the three countries.

In a nutshell, the following findings were made:

• Zimbabwean traffic police officials are more corrupt than their counterparts in Botswana and Namibia.
• The governments of Namibia and Zimbabwe could be losing significant amounts of revenue due to corruption in which police officers are involved.
• Transport business operators are losing income due to bribes paid to traffic police officers.
• There were no indications of corruption by traffic police officials in Botswana.

2. Methodology

The researcher strategically positioned himself at the front seat close to the driver in order to clearly listen, hear and record conversations between drivers and police officers. Drivers were also briefed about the researcher's intention and were supportive through out the trip. In most cases, drivers recorded conversations on behalf of the researcher when he did not want police officers to be suspicious.

3. Limitations

The researcher passed through Botswana during the night and resultantly there were a limited number of road blocks. In Namibia, between Windhoek and Mamuno border post, there was only one road block and this limited greater access to contact with the police.

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