Every week, Zimbabweans are waking up to saddening news that public transporters, mostly commuter omnibuses, have been involved in tragic crashes with scores perishing.
So prevalent is this shattering news that it now appears the norm, yet it’s not. It’s a crisis fast reaching catastrophic levels, yearning for an immediate solution.
The stark reality of public transporters’ vehicles is that many of them remain on the roads despite their unroadworthy conditions. Many drivers are unqualified, but remain on the roads, largely courtesy of corrupt police officers who shamelessly prioritise bribes, at the expense of human life.
In many people’s view, such police officers are largely to blame for the alarming statistics of road accidents. To be blunt, they have blood dripping on their hands.
A thorough scrutiny on the nature of accidents involving public transporters really makes sad reading. Last week, 18 people perished when the wheel of the kombi they were travelling in came off, resulting in the vehicle veering off the road along the Harare-Concession Road.
According to police, studs on the rear wheel had broken. It is the view of many that had a thorough fitness test been conducted on this vehicle, lives could have been saved.
Two months earlier, another kombi had killed seven passengers at the intersection of Samora Machel Avenue and Bishop Gaul Avenue in Harare after ramming into a haulage truck in what witnesses said was the result of negligent driving by the kombi driver.
The question is, to what extent do the police pounce on such negligent drivers? They pass through red traffic lights at will, the right of way at intersections is always theirs, pick up and drop off points to them do not exist, U-turns are made anywhere – one can go on and on.
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A day after the Samora Machel Avenue accident, seven farmers perished in Honde Valley as they transported their produce to the market. They were reportedly sitting on top of their produce and were thrown out when the vehicle overturned.
The sight of farmers and traders sitting on produce has become common in Zimbabwe.
Not only is it unhygienic, it is illegal to travel this way, but how the transporters navigate the roadblock–infested roads, remains unexplained. They simply bribe to get through – period.
Only on Sunday night, another kombi in Kwekwe collided with a goods train, killing three people. It is a known road rule that motorists stop “At All Rail Crossings”, but with kombi drivers, the law counts for nothing.
The recently completed police clampdown code-named Operation Mapepa Akakwana that aimed to ensure all vehicles and drivers have requisite documentation, appears not to have managed to rein in unscrupulous motorists.
Under the operation, 992 commuter omnibus operators were nabbed and 1 721 cars were impounded. However, some people believe that a lot more deserved arrest, but got away after bribing police officers.
The question now is: As innocent travellers continue to perish on our roads, who shall police the police?
