In connection with the Harare-Nyamapanda highway accident that happened in January of this year, Zebra Kiss bus driver Mika Makwara was given a 2-year prison sentence.
Also suspended was Makwara’s driver’s licence.
The Rimbi Travel and Tours bus driver, Misheck Penyai, will appear in court on Tuesday to be sentenced.
The Accident
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.
Zebra Kiss Bus Driver Jailed 2 Years Over Death Of Rimbi Tours Conductor In Crash
