Mnangagwa speaks re Justice Bere’s comments on Spot Fines

Zimeye

12th February 2015

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa caused a stir Thursday when he came out opposing Justice Bere on the illegality of spot fines charged by police officers on motorists. Mnangagwa, against the judge, defended spot fines saying they are an administrative process that was put in place for the convenience of the justice delivery system.

His words and direct swipe at a sitting judge came at the peak of wide media coverage this week over spot fines.

In an interview with the State Media on the sidelines of a presentation at the Zimbabwe Staff College, Vice President Mnangagwa, who is also the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, said while the judge made his comment outside a court of law, what is important is whether the payment of spot fines is done in accordance with the law or not.

He said the payment of spot fines was “made to ease the administrative processes in the payment of the fines for travelling motorists”.

But last week Justice Bere blasted the police for demanding spot fines from errant motorists explaining that “there is no law which compels a motorist to deposit a fine with the police if he desires to challenge the alleged offence. But it looks like the motorists are being forced to pay these fines on our public roads irrespective of their attitude to the charges.

“It occurs to me that any collection made by the police must be made in terms of Section 356 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter 9:07). That piece of legislation does not support the manner in which the spot fines are being collected and handled by the police,” Justice Bere said.

Police defiance

In response, the police defied Justice Bere’s Monday utterances saying they will continue collecting spot fines.

Senior Lawyer and MDC Secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart, said the outburst from the police was not surprising as spot fines had become a source of revenue for the ZRP.

“I am not surprised by this remark because we all know that the number of road blocks and the rampant fining which takes place at them is a key source of revenue for the ZRP,” said Coltart.

“The Chief Superintendent is correct in saying that remarks at the opening of the High Court are not binding as a judgement would be. However the ZRP should not be so dismissive of the learned Judge’s remarks and a more temperate reply would have been more appropriate.”

Coltart attacked the police for wanting to convict people instead of leaving that role to the courts.

“The ZRP are not there to convict people-they are there to identify crime/infractions of the law and then to bring those to the Courts to decide whether there is guilt or not. That right is entrenched in Section 69(1) of the Constitution which states “Every person accused of an offence has the right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time before an independent and impartial court”,” said Coltart.

Abuse of Authority

However Mnangagwa said the government is worried about the abuse of authority by some police officers who are demanding bribes saying it requires the participation of all stakeholders to curb the vice. In his presentation to the officers attending the Joint Command and Staff Course Number 28 at the Zimbabwe Staff College, Vice President Mnangagwa said corruption and fraudulent activities are derailing efforts in achieving goals set out in the new constitution.

The establishment of independent commissions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Prosecuting Authority were deliberate efforts by the country to allow independence in the prosecution of cases.