400 Angolan traffic police lose their jobs for extortion of motorists

Angolan police have announced the reassignment of 400 traffic police suspected of enriching themselves by extorting money from motorists in the capital Luanda.

The Commissioner General of Police, Ambrosio de Lemos told the press on Wednesday that the suspects have been assigned other tasks such as maintaining public order, border protection or monitoring of criminal investigations and threatened that they will face disciplinary proceedings.

“Some police officers have resorted to abusive practices. They have been replaced to better serve the population,” he added.

The police chief warned motorists to “avoid paying the police bribes to avoid fines”.

Some 9,000 police officers work in the Angolan capital. The country is ranked 163rd out of 168 in the 2016 Transparency International Corruption Index.