Cédric Kalonji

I have been asked by many of you to write about good things or about those Congolese who manage to get along in a country without any formal structures. I am therefore starting this series on ‘Smart Congolese‘ and the first ones today will be the traffic police, more commonly called ‘roulages’.

The job
Their role is to regulate traffic and to take care that the rules of the road are complied with. They are found along the few roads that are still paved in Kinshasa and in other parts of the Congo. Every day, they perform their job, standing up to the hot tropical sun, but they do not like the rain too much. When it starts to rain, they run for shelter and in the meantime, drivers have to manage without them.

Just a few figures
One traffic officer speaking on condition of anonymity gave me some very interesting figures. When he is lucky enough to receive his pay, the amount is about US$30 per month. He has 6 children, two at university, three in school and the last one is still a toddler.

He pays US$80 in rent. Not counting the cost of text books and various other additional costs, he pays 180 dollars per year and per child in university, and approximately 120 dollars per year and per child in school. Should I mention also that being the head of the household, this man must also feed, dress and pay for health care for himself and his family?

Based on these statistical data, you don’t need to be a financial expert to see that this civil servant spends a lot more than what he receives.

« I get by », he answered when I asked him how he managed.

So how do they manage?
They stop as many offending drivers as possible during the day, and they make them cough up a few francs. If there has been no real offense, he has to find one, to make one up, if necessary. The fines vary, depending on the driver, and even on the color of the driver’s skin. And thanks to oral tradition, payment is made without a receipt.

Depending on how lucrative their spot is, traffic officers can make an average of 20 dollars per day. They must give some of the money to the « commanders », those who stay locked up in their offices all day long. « I give the commander some of the money I make so that he makes sure to always assign me the best spots » my traffic friend gave me to understand.

The best customers
Top of their list of best customers are cab drivers. These are not very well-educated and they don’t know their rights too well, often they are not legitimate and therefore they are ready to pay without making too much of a fuss. But you have to be very careful, because they are very unpredictable. One moment of distraction and they will slip through your fingers.

Then come the expatriates (preferably whites) who do not know the rules of the country very well and they are shaking with fear in front of police officers, thinking that they are as nasty as the ones back home. But one has to be careful, because they might know someone higher up and they could make a fuss.

Because of this situation, should we badmouth the traffic police for corruption, or should we consider that similar to other underpaid Congolese civil servants, they are fighting for survival in their own ways, in order to earn their daily bread?