Parliament wants traffic police powers curbed

KIGALI - Traffic Police Unit members should refrain from confiscating drivers’ documents and government should inform the latter not to surrender their road documents, the Parliament was informed yesterday. Lawmaker, Francois Byabarumwanzi who heads the Committee on Petitions, told members of the Lower Chamber of Parliament that after meeting and holding discussions with the Minister for Internal Security, under whose office the Police force falls, concluded that confiscating driver’s documents was unnecessary. “Traffic police officers should not confiscate a driver’s documents and the drivers should also be informed that they should not surrender their papers because they have already been issued traffic offence tickets,” he said Byabarumwanzi also informed the lawmakers that members of the public who are in need of new driving permits or temporary ones should be given enough time to find the money required to pay for them. He also informed them that all people with new national identity cards are eligible for driving license exams and appealed to those responsible to ease the process. This report comes after a recent one presented by the parliamentary Foreign Affairs committee that criticised the work ethics of traffic police. The report criticised the penalties that are imposed on traffic offenders saying that the officers were not interested in correcting errors but were more determined to make money for the government. The Committee also pointed out some of the penalties that the police hands down to traffic offenders as too high and are contrary to what the law stipulates. Ends

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Parliament wants traffic police powers curbed