Zebra Kiss driver, Mika Makwara, has been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment over the Harare-Nyamapanda highway accident which occurred in January this year.
Makwara’s driver’s licence was also cancelled.
Misheck Penyai who was driving the Rimbi Travel and Tours bus will be in court this Tuesday for sentencing.
Some context:
In video clips that went viral in January, two buses, Rimbi Travel and Tours and Zebra Kiss, were racing each other. The Rimbi crew was filming the race, trying to gather evidence of the recklessness of the Zebra Kiss driver, which they were trying to overtake. Despite complaints from passengers about the speed and circumstances, the race continued. The buses were driving very close to each other at a significant speed, attempting to stay in front of each other. When the lead bus overtook a stationary vehicle, the second bus could not react quickly enough to avoid hitting the vehicle, resulting in an accident that killed one person and injured several others. The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona, immediately suspended the licenses of Zebra Kiss and Rimbi Travel & Tours following the accident.
In Zimbabwe, the speed limit for public service and heavy vehicles on wide tar roads is 80km per hour. But buses that travel between cities and towns often go at speeds of around 120km per hour, which is the speed limit for small vehicles. Unfortunately, due to reckless driving, bus accidents are frequent in the country, with at least one fatal accident every other month.
Source: Pindula News
