The MDC is saddened and outraged by the loss of 14 lives in a horrendous road accident which took place along the Gwanda – Bulawayo road yesterday after a haulage truck hit a pothole and crushed into a commuter omnibus ferrying mourners to a funeral, leading to their deaths and seriously injuring several others.
Our deepest condolences go out to the families who lost their loved ones in this tragic but avoidable accident. It is sad to note that it has to take nothing short of the loss of precious lives for government to begin to take notice of the serious disrepair of our roads. It is our hope that government will acknowledge and accept responsibility for these unnecessary deaths and swiftly make reparations to the families of the deceased.
The cause of this accident like many others before it is the negligence and rampant corruption inside President Robert Mugabe’s government. The government and in particular the Ministry of Transport must be brought to book over the horrific deterioration of our roads. The ministry seems content with letting bodies pile up while seeing it fit to spend millions of dollars on useless overseas travel for the President. Potholes are now a permanent feature in just about every road and have become death traps.
The question we need the Transport ministry and Zinara in particular to answer is where is the money paid through tollgate and road levies by suffering Zimbabweans going, because instead of improvements on our roads all we are seeing are traffic police officers at literally every 5 kilometer stretch whose sole goal is to further milk motorists of their hard earned cash. Zinara needs to come clean about why it continues to collect revenue from our roads without repairing them for years on end.
We hope for more concerted effort will be put towards fixing our road network as a matter of urgency before more precious lives are lost. A government worth its salt understands clearly that the state of its roads is a reflection of the state of its governance. We advise government to take a leaf from other developing countries like South Africa, Namibia and Botswana who prioritise road infrastructure development ahead of personal enrichment.
Kurauone Chihwayi
MDC National Spokesperson