-driver hitory check essential
MIDWEEK REPORTER
MASVINGO-The police details who were manning the roadblocks along the Harare-Beitbridge Highway on the day of the fatal road traffic accident that claimed 25 lives face arrest.
This was confirmed by National Police Spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi in an interview with The Midweek Watch this afternoon (20/02/25).
Nyathi said it was difficult to imagine that the bus passed through so many road blocks manned by police officers until it got to Lutumba tollgate which is only 25km from Beitbridge.
The bus covered more than 555km without being stopped by police who were manning road blocs at places like Skyline, Furtherstone, Mvuma, Masvingo 10km peg, Nyanda, Chivi tollgate, Ngundu, Bubi just to mention a few.
It is those police officers who are facing the music for allowing the bus without a route license, driver without retest certificate and insurance to pass through until it was involved in the horrific head on collision.
“We are actually in a meeting right now discussing the fatal road traffic accident and the officers who were on duty along the highway on the fateful day will face disciplinary action for allowing a public bus without valid papers and a bus driver who had not gone for the mandatory periodical retest to pass through the blocks,” said Naythi.
The Urban Connect bus that was involved in the accident did not have a valid Passenger Insurance Policy according to Government investigations into the horror crash.
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona in a statement said the Government has now suspended the operating licence of Urban Connect Holdings (Pvt) Ltd with immediate effect.
Minister Mhona added that investigations revealed that Urban Connect was in violation of several road traffic and safety regulations, including operating without a valid Passenger Insurance Policy and Route Permit.
“The bus registration number AGL2474 belonging to this company did not have a valid Passenger Insurance Policy as prescribed under Section 38(b) (1) of the Road Traffic Act [Chapter 13:11].
“In addition, the vehicle did not have a valid Route Permit as prescribed in Section 12 of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15],” said Minister Mhona.
Further investigations revealed that the driver of the bus had not undergone the mandatory retesting requirement in line with Section 5 of Statutory Instrument 168 of 2006.
The Ministry invoked Section 17(b) (i) of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15], suspending Urban Connect’s operations on all routes for six months, pending further investigations.
The Urban Connect bus was involved in a head on collision with a haulage truck at the Lutumba tollgate about 25km from Beitbridge where it was heading to while the lorry was going the opposite direction at around 8am on Thursday last week.
The driver of the bus who was identified as Gody is said to have been involved in similar mishaps while working for two other companies that ply the Lusaka-Harare route before he joined Urban Connect.
Meanwhile, some commuters dismissed the measures taken by Government as piecemeal.
“While we share the government’s concern on safety on the roads we are not happy with the announcement of suspending licences for bus operators whenever there is an accident because after the six month the operator is back without the government sharing the report, the consequences or measures taken to prevent future similar accidents.
“Honestly speaking the licence or the insurance policy is not the problem as we all agree together with the Traffic Safety Council that over 90% of road traffic accidents are caused by human error implying therefore that more needs to be done.
“It is clear that focus should be on the drivers and the bus operators should not just employ drivers who are green despite age, drivers should not only undergo testing, their life history must be known, with all due respect to touts, I think munhu akamboita tout ummm suspect chero ari qualified sei.
“The operators should do a thorough lifestyle history audit of every driver that they employ in conjunction with the Traffic Safety Council and relevant arms of government. Even private life should be investigated to see how the person interacts with others and even the opposite sex,” said Edmore Marimira from Chivhu.
“If you analyse closely videos of speeding buses doing rounds on social media it’s clear the problem is mental or psychological, no driver with five common sense would chase another bus on narrow potholed road like what we are witnessing these.
“Driver anoita kusumukira pasteering while the bus is flying, hakuna zvakadero.
“So, the simple conclusion is, the drivers need to be checked, mentally before being allowed to be behind the wheel of a public vehicle,” said another cross-border trader, Sharon Zisunge from Mucheke B in Masvingo.
