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Sierra Leone has emerged as one of the top African countries where police officers demand bribes from citizens seeking assistance, according to a recent survey conducted by Afrobarometer, a Ghana-based non-profit organization.
The survey, titled “Law enforcers or law breakers?”, collected data from respondents in 39 African countries, conducting 53,444 interviews between late 2021 and mid-2023. It found that 36% of respondents said they were asked to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour to get the assistance they needed from the police.
The findings revealed that Sierra Leone, alongside Liberia, Nigeria, and Uganda, topped the list of nations where citizens reported instances of police soliciting bribes. According to the survey, 72% of respondents in Sierra Leone reported being asked for bribes, gifts, or favors when seeking police assistance.
“Being stopped for no good reason may sometimes be a prelude to being asked for money. Similarly, asking for police assistance may prompt a demand for under-the-table payments.” Afrobarometer said in its report.
The survey also found that three in 10 Africans said the police in their country “often” or “always” engage in criminal activities.
In Sierra Leone, 30% of respondents said they believe the police “often” or “always” engage in criminal activities, while 37% said they “sometimes” do so and 23% said they are rarely/never involved in crime.
The findings of the survey highlight the widespread problem of police corruption in Africa. This corruption can have a negative impact on the lives of ordinary citizens, as it can make it difficult for them to access justice and security.
Police brutality and extrajudicial killings have been reported in several African countries in recent times. In 2022, more than 20 people were killed in Sierra Leone during protests against the soaring cost of living according to Amnesty International.
Bribe will only stopped is they increased the salary for Police
Let the Government increase the salary of police in a state because their Job is at Risk to Protect the State and the of the Country more especially Sierra Leone
This venture of those blinds freetowner that doesn’t have the majority support of saying that our efforts to really think twice about it’s. So these Afrobalometer are really mostly sometimes just interested in the city Freetown but the don’t have the interest of the majority of we the Sierra Leone people.
So far the are always telling us fake report just to enrichment of themselves but not in the interest of the majority people in our country.
You guys are only good at spreading the bad news. How many times have you advocated or spread the news about low wages and poor condition of service in the Police Force?
Congo-Kinshasa is the worst by far…