Your Pain Is Not a Hitchhike": ZRP Tells Public To Report Officers Who Demand Transport

BY DR MASIMBA MAVAZA

When tragedy knocks, it does not wait for fuel. When blood is on the ground, it does not ask if the patrol car has petrol.

And yet, for too long, the cries of Zimbabweans have been met with the same tired excuse at the gate of our police stations: “We don’t have transport.”

That excuse has now been torn up.

Speaking with the candor of a man who has heard enough, National Police Spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi has issued a firm directive to the nation: do not carry the police to your pain. Report them.

Appearing on Zimpapers’ Capitalk 100.4FM current affairs programme No Holds Barred this Monday, Commissioner Nyathi addressed a wound that has festered in communities for years — officers who ask complainants to provide lifts, fuel, or fares before they can attend a crime or accident scene.

"THERE IS NO STATION WITHOUT A VEHICLE"

His message was as clear as a siren.
“Any police officer who gives excuses that they don’t have transport and is requesting a complainant to provide transport, call our public relations desk. Report such cases and action will be taken,” he said.

Commissioner Nyathi reminded the nation that the Zimbabwe Republic Police is not stranded. Every single police station across the country, from the dusty roads of Binga to the heart of Harare, has a vehicle. To reinforce reach, the service has also deployed hundreds of new motorcycles into neighborhoods.

“There is no police station in Zimbabwe without a vehicle, including in Harare,” he stated. “We have also recently acquired 500 motorcycles. They are now on our streets for patrols, for attending scenes, and for enforcing the law.”

The message is simple: your emergency is our duty. It is not your errand.

THE LINE TO CALL WHEN JUSTICE IS DELAYED

For those who have been turned away, for those who have dug into their own pockets to ferry officers to a scene of grief, Commissioner Nyathi has opened a direct line.

The ZRP National Complaints Desk is open around the clock.
Landline: (0242) 703631
WhatsApp: 0712 800 197

“Call us,” he urged. “Do not suffer in silence. Do not pay for a service your taxes have already bought.”

AND ON THE ROADS: NO MORE SLAPS ON THE WRIST

In the same breath, Commissioner Nyathi delivered another warning, this time to motorists who treat road rules as suggestions.

On the direct orders of Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba, the ZRP will no longer settle for mere fines when drivers are caught traveling against one-way traffic.

“Such drivers will face arrest and prosecution,” Nyathi said. The days of negotiating your way out with a quick payment are over. The law, he implied, must flow in one direction only — forward.

A CALL TO DIGNITY

At its core, this directive is about dignity.
A mother who has lost a child to an accident should not have to become a taxi driver for justice.
A shop owner who has been robbed should not have to fuel the vehicle that comes to take a statement.

The police badge is a promise. And a promise does not ask the wounded to carry the healer.

So Zimbabwe, keep the number close. Keep your voice ready.
Because when you are in trouble, the law must come to you.
You must never have to go and fetch it.