A lot has been said about Traffic Police taking bribes and collecting booking fees from commercial drivers on a daily basis, but nothing has been done by the authorities concerned to combat the situation.

It became very clear over the weekend when the Wise Bird was flying around Town to see the movement of people, the traffic and other activities.

The Wise Bird took a stop at the Cline Town Junction. While being there the bird noticed that, the police now have a new style of collecting their booking fees without them being noticed.

The bird saw the drivers-mate coming down and gave NLe 20.00 (Twenty Thousand Old Leones) to one gentleman and a Female police recording the vehicles number.

Unfortunately, the female police officer was not carrying her Identification number (ID), and so the bird noticed that all the vehicles plying the Freetown-Waterloo high-way are paying the sum of NLe 20.00 (Twenty Thousand Old Leones) each day to the traffic police officers as bookings fees.

To further justify the allegations of police taking bribes and collecting booking fees, the bird flew to the Up-Gun Junction and it was the same thing the bird saw.

As the bird does not want to tell lies, the bird flew all the way to PMB Junction, and the brave bird stood for well over thirty (30) there observing the situation and the same was happening in all the police points.

In fact at PMB, a gentleman was under an umbrella he was collecting the entire booking fees from the driver’s mate for onwards transmission to the police.

The bird in his wisdom, spoke to few of the commercial drivers, their revelations and their pains they are going through from the traffic police officers, saying they are nothing to write home about.

The Wise Bird is of the view that, the question of traffic police officers taking bribes and collecting booking fees is not a new phenomenon only that the trend it has taken now under the “BRAND NEW DIRECTION” is very much more alarming to everyone who cares to know.

President Bio came under the pretext that, he will combat corruption within and without, but today the people see corruption coupled with lawlessness more than before.

The question the Wise Bird wants to put on floor is that, are those in authorities saying they would stop corruption don’t aware of the negative things that are taking place within the police particularly in the traffic division?

From all indications the Traffic Division in the police is just a fraction in the police Force.

So if, and only if the authorities cannot control that small unit then they cannot control the entire Force.

The Wise Bird went out to get the views from people about police taking bribes and collecting booking fees from commercial drivers.

In fact the people the bird contacted, wasted no time in saying that it is a syndicate in the Traffic Police Division between Senior and Junior officers, and that they are aware of all the odds in the Traffic Division.

One of the commercial drivers (name withheld) told the bird that, he is paying booking fees starting from Eastern Police round-about up to Waterloo.

In fact each ‘U TURN’ a driver makes is NLe 10.00 (ten thousand Old Leones), he further stated that, the question of booking fees in the Traffic Division has now been legalized by the police themselves, because the authorities are all aware of it.

THE WISE BIRD was shocked and so he flew away.