|
Highway
Robbery
In the course
of my travels around Zambia, the largest area of complaint is always
Zacariah Phiri, and his female counterpart, Zarafina Phiri (thank
you Ilse Mwanza for the name). Although, for some reason or other, I
have very few problems – somebody told me it’s because I look like a
local and somebody who is not going to take any nonsense from them,
although I have always maintained that it is attitude that makes the
difference. But whatever it is, it does not help those motorists who
are experiencing problems; not only people who are resident in
Zambia, but also those tourists that we are begging to visit this
country so that they can spend their tourist Dollars here.
A few days
ago, I received a letter from Ilse Mwanza, relating her recent
experiences with Zacariah and Zarafina:
They were
lying in wait some kilometres after Kafue
town. Ten metres short of the '100' speed sign, Kafue's Zachariah
Phiri and his gang of highway robbers lurked, hidden behind a tree,
ready to pounce. And pouncing they did. We allegedly had done 55 kph
in a 50kph zone.
We pointed to
the '100' speed-sign and argued that it simply couldn't be so:
Firstly,
knowing about Zachariah Phiri and his delight in entrapment, we had
most carefully monitored our speed.
Secondly,
between the 50kph and 100kph speed-zones there are always a buffer
zones of 65kph and 80kph speeds. Where were the road signs? Were we
to be punished for fallen traffic signs?
Thirdly, where
was the evidence? The 'uncompromising' Zarafina Phiri (female cops
are always the worst) didn't even bother to answer. She started to
write the 'admission of guilt' charge-sheet without us having
admitted
anything of
the sort. A male colleague answered in her stead: "evidence is the
speed-monitoring instrument in a cave up a hill". Can we see it? Not
possible. How did you know we were doing 55? It had been radioed
down. "It
is YOU people
who kill children on our roads", he added, pointing to some children
playing on the highway verge. Which begs the question why a) they
are playing dangerously close to a motorway in full ZP sight, and
why b) he
doesn't know
that speeds of 30 or even 20kph can kill children too.
Needless to
say, there was no argument that we could have advanced that would
have kept Zarafina Phiri from writing the 'guilty' admission. We
offered to go to court. "Go right ahead" she said; except it would
have meant us being detained indefinitely. We offered to leave a
driving licence (the provisional one that is obtained after standing
in queues for days) but that was refused. "We don't take away
driving licences any longer". Which is interesting because it means
that someone somewhere within ZP can think and has noticed that, by
taking away licences, they forced motorists to be law-breakers.
Nobody is allowed to drive without a licence. By taking it away to
secure a driver's return, ZP had been acting against the law.
What to do? If
we were to enjoy our weekend in Kariba, we had to pay the fixed-rate
fine of K67,500. And so we paid amidst loud protestations and futile
rantings.
What happens
if people refuse to be blackmailed? Refuse to be robbed, entrapped
and/or coerced in any way? What happens if a motoring 'criminal'
simply doesn't have the money to pay? We found a man arguing with
Zachariah Phiri, held captive because he didn't have enough money.
How long he was kept and how the issue was settled I don't know.
Presumably an 'informal' solution was found when the coast was
clear.
But why do
people hold still for such outrages? Why do we allow ourselves to be
hassled and inconvenienced, oppressed and demeaned? The meek and
mild behaviour of the long-suffering public has got to stop. A spot
of civil disobedience is called for, I'd say. To avoid falling prey
to ZP extortionists, next time I'll just drive away. What could they
do? Note down the car number and report me to the police?! Clog up
the courts further with unprovable cases? Shoot me? If all motorists
ganged up together and ignored uniform-clad highway robbers, the
Zachariah and Zefelina Phiris of Zambia
would get a taste of their own medicine and learn what fury,
frustration and powerlessness feels like.
Alternatively,
the newly established Police Complaints Unit might be of use in
cases of gross police misconduct or abuse of office.
As always,
Ilse’s letter raises many issues. The first is the issue of where
speed traps are placed. Although the Road Traffic Act does not
specifically state this, it is normal practice that speed traps are
NOT within 100 metres of the sign reducing the speed limit to enable
motorists to slow down by merely taking their foot off the
accelerator and not having to brake sharply. And as Ilse says, there
is usually a buffer zone which brings you down from the 100 kph on
the highways to the urban speed limit, which varies according to the
width of the road and the area through which you are traveling.
There is also, in every other country in which I have driven, an
allowance of ten percent on the speed limit, to allow for
differences which arise from things like having different sized
tyres being fitted on a vehicle, etc. But not in Zambia; to expect
such fairness from Zacariah and Zarafina would be too much to ask,
especially when there is a possibility of money changing hands
without a receipt being issued.
But what is a
motorist to do when faced with such duplicity?
Firstly, and
at last, there seems to be some sense coming from Government and
this time in the person of Peter Mumba, the Permanent Secretary at
the Ministry of Home Affairs (under whom Zacariah and Zarafina
fall). At the Public Accounts Committee last month, he re-stated a
law which has existed for many years – that motorists are not
required to pay fines at road blocks. To assist motorists who
experience these problems whilst on the road, we are reproducing
cuttings from both the Times of Zambia and the Daily Mail of 16
April. Keep these in your car and when faced with the rudeness we
have come to expect, show this to them. There is no guarantee that
it will help, but I suspect that in most cases the required ZP 126
will be issued and the law will then take its correct course.
The next
avenue is that of the Police Public Complaints Authority, who can be
contacted on 095 889-421 (more about this in the next Lowdown).
However, if this is the route that you take, be prepared for a
lengthy, bureaucratic procedure (forms to complete after which you
will be called to ‘give evidence’) and make sure that you
have Zacariah’s name and number (which they will probably have
refused to give you.) At this stage, I am skeptical of whether this
Authority will have any effect, but time will tell. If any readers
have had any experience of them, please do let us know the
circumstances and the outcome.
Whilst
rambling on about Z & Z and the way in which they, the Law
Enforcers, break their own laws, note must be made of the new speed
limit restriction on Los Angeles Boulevard (for the old timers -
what used to be
Brentwood
Drive
and then became Sadaam Hussein Boulevard). Previously the limit was
65 kph. This has now been reduced to 50 kph. However, the law states
that speed restrictions must be gazetted in the Government Gazette
and published in a newspaper circulating in that area. I have seen
neither and any motorist being charged with exceeding the speed
limit would, I believe, be quite within their rights to take this
matter to court.
|
May 2004