Member of Parliament for Dedza North West, Auzious Chidovu has said some police officers are demanding bribes from his constituents when they go to record a police report.
Chidovu made the allegation Monday during a full council meeting at Dedza Town Hall after a presentation on the Affordable Inputs Program (AIP).
He said: “One of the requirements for one to benefit from this program is that one should have a National Identity card but unfortunately most people have lost theirs, prompting them to start the process to replace it.”
“Some unscrupulous Police officers have since been demanding 10 thousand kwacha from my constituents for them to get a Police report which is required at the National Registration Beurau office,” he alleged.
Chidovu said it is unfortunate that poor people are being charged more than the amount of a bag of fertilizer which they want to purchase at a subsidized price.
Responding to this allegation, Officer in Charge for Dedza police station, Senior Assistant Commissioner George Chikhungu said no one has reported such incidents to their office.
“When one comes to get a police report, we write it and there is a charge of 3 thousand kwacha for which a general receipt (GR) is provided to the individuals who want the report,” Chikhungu said.
“If it happens that one does not get a receipt or is charged higher than this amount then it means there is fraud and I would like to urge you to report such incidents to my office and we will deal with such officers,” he added.
In his remarks Dedza District Commissioner, Emmanuel Bulukutu appealed to Chiefs to sensitize their subjects for them to report cases of corruption.
Bulukutu said: “As Malawians, we should be patriotic for us to develop and therefore people need to report cases of corruption and i will personally make sure that the Anti Corruption Beurau (ACB) handles them.”
