Madagascar: CORRUPTION ON THE ROAD – The gendarmes stop two transporters

Deficiency of papers, corruption and influence peddling. These are the offences attributed to the two transporters currently in detention at the Maevatanàna gendarmerie.

Being immune to corruption, gendarmes of the Road Police Brigade (BPR) in Maevatanàna apprehended two drivers on Thursday in Marokoloy.

These transporters had left National Road 4 and were heading north. They were stopped at the security checkpoint for inspection. Anomalies were noticed in the papers of their minibuses. They then tried to bribe the gendarmes, without success. They then tried to exert pressure on them by claiming that the vehicles belonged to a high-ranking person. “We checked it, but what they said was false. And even if the owner was an important person, only drivers and bush taxis in order can transport according to the law. Other than that, it is unacceptable,” communicated the Interregional Circumscription of the National Gendarmerie (CIRGN) of Mahajanga.

“The commander of the Betsiboka gendarmerie group personally conducted a counter-check,” according to the same source.

In detention

Tied by their own lie, the motorists begged the gendarmes to accept two hundred thousand ariary, then four hundred thousand ariary. This still didn’t work. The BPR team explained to them what corruption is, which they were trying. Hoping to settle the problem on the spot, they eventually handed over two hundred thousand ariary in total.

The gendarmes resisted to the end. They decided to withdraw their incomplete papers and take them to the office for investigation. They placed them in detention. “The BPR in Maevatanàna in particular does not hesitate to take necessary measures against all forms of offences committed by road users,” notes the CIRGN of Mahajanga. The case and the two suspects will be sent to the public prosecutor’s office at the Maevatanàna court of first instance.

Hajatiana Léonard