The MDC Alliance led by President Nelson Chamisa mourns the victims of the ZUPCO and Fuel Tanker Road Traffic Accident which occurred at the 168km peg along Harare – Bulawayo road around Battlefield.

The accident has so far claimed the lives of 10 people with 8 having died on the spot. May the souls of the dear departed rest in eternal peace and in the meantime we pray for a speedy recovery to the injured.

The MDC Alliance reiterates it’s call for road worthy ZUPCO buses to be on the road so as to ensure passenger safety and reduce traffic accidents involving ZUPCO buses.

ZUPCO buses have increasingly become a hazard on our highways with so many lives having been lost through traffic accidents involving ZUPCO buses ever since the government declared a monopoly in the public transport sector.

It is now a high risk to board a ZUPCO bus from both a road fitness perspective and from a Covid 19 transmission angle.

The single control of the ZUPCO franchise by business mogul Kudakwashe Tagwirei who financially controls most if not all top government officials means that his Chinese acquired ZUPCO buses are not subject to competent VID checks and thus making them unroadworthy and prone to high accident incidents as evidenced.

The MDC Alliance equally takes this opportunity to implore on ZRPolice to invoke the provisions of SI268/2018 regarding the movement of Fuel tankers and other vehicles that transport hazardous materials.

The provisions of the law under section 18 subsection 11 of 9 in SI268/2018 stipulate that ” No vehicle transporting hazardous substances shall travel late in the night and early in the morning between 1800hrs and 0600hrs”.

Had the ZRPolice been strictly monitoring and enforcing this provision, this accident could have been avoided.The MDC Alliance once again calls on the government to set up the Road Traffic Accident Victims Compansetion Fund whose principles were put and agreed to by Parliament in 2018.

This fund is meant to take care of the injured in road traffic accidents as well as the welfare of families left behind by the deceased.

The deceased in this particular accident must have a state assisted funeral while the injured must be treated on government expense.

As we get into the Christmas holidays, the MDC Alliance calls upon all road users to exercise caution while on the road in order to eliminate road traffic accidents and save limb and lives.

Regards

Hon Settlement Chikwinya

Recalled Mbizo Member of Parliament.

MDC Alliance National Secretary for Transport