Now police challenge PCCB

The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has been criticized for tackling minor corruption incidents that involve low ranking civil servants, while ignoring big scandals.

The observation was made yesterday by several police officers in Dar es Salaam during a one-day seminar aimed at strengthening the relationship between PCCB and the Police Force.

Contributors said PCCB had always been publicizing names of suspects nabbed for petty corruption that involved amounts as small as 20,000/-, as grand corruption continued to bring negative impact on the country`s economy.

They cited controversial government contracts, tenders and purchases of public properties as some of the key areas that PCCB should thoroughly investigate.

`PCCB does not touch such scandals but rather minor corruption issues. The public out there needs to know steps taken by you (PCCB) on big scandals that are of national interest,` a police officer said.

He said the Police Force had for years been unjustly condemned for fueling corruption.

`There are a number of individuals implicated in grand corruption but these have never been taken to court. This is a clear indication that PCCB lacks teeth to bite. They should nab top government officials implicated in big corruption scandals so as to give us hope that they are there for everybody`, he added.

Responding, Kinondoni PCCB Acting Regional Bureau Chief Saady Kambora said they normally tackled both petty and grand corruption scandals, adding that big scandals took a long time to be investigated.

`There are times when PCCB spends a year or two just to investigate a single case. However, petty cases take a few months to be thoroughly investigated,` said Kombora.

Kambora said the Kinondoni Regional PCCB Bureau had been handling 36 scandals between January and October this year which involved members of the Police Force, adding that 29 cases arose out of corruption allegations.

He said: `Police officers have been widely condemned for demanding money from suspects so that they can withdraw their cases, while police inspectors are blamed for taking money from suspects so as to destroy evidence.`

For his part, the Kinondoni Region Police Commander Jamal Rwambow said his region had reduced the frequency of bribery incidents at police stations, traffic section and even when handling court cases.

`The achievement is due to sensitization of the Police Force and the existing good relationship between the police and the surrounding community,` said Rwambow.

`We now provide human rights and customer care education to members of the Police Force in Kinondoni Region. We want to create awareness on citizen rights by enlightening police officers on their public responsibility.`

Rwambow told participants that corruption would soon become a history in Kinondoni Region, adding: `We are going to collaborate with PCCB to eradicate bribery.`