Mangochi communities say will expose corrupt police officers
Communities from group village head (GVH) Mpinganjira in Traditional Authority Chimwala in Mangochi say they will expose corrupt police officers who demand money from them in exchange for police bail.
The communities made the declaration at the weekend at Mpinganjira headquarters during a human rights sensitisation meeting Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) organised.
The focus of the campaign was sensitising communities to laws about remand.
“We will name and shame fraudulent police officers who may want to cash in on us in the name of granting bail because we have realised that police bail is free,” said Mary Chikuni, a community member.
Her counterpart, Esnart Nampanda, said for a long time communities have struggling to raise money for their relatives’ bail, not knowing that police bail is everyone’s right.
“This is unfortunate because the malpractice was being perpetuated by law enforcers,” she said.
In his remarks, GVH Mpinganjira described the sensitisation meeting as an eye opener because many were falling victim to it because of ignorance.
CHRR senior advocacy Coordinator Michael Kaiyatsa said lack of knowledge on police bail and remand compels people to believe everything demanded by police, including payment for bail.
