By Sharon Tawuya
Harare, September 4, 2026 —The commuter omnibus that killed 28 people in Chivhu, Mashonaland East province, mid-last month when it was involved in a head-on accident, was not meant to carry people as it did not have seats, since it was a private vehicle, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona said this on Thursday while responding to questions in the Senate.
“That is why people then wonder how 33 people may have died,” he said, adding members of the public should not board unlicensed and overloaded vehicles, as passengers also bear responsibility for the rising road carnage.
He said most fatal accidents are now happening on good roads where drivers speed, while overloading is making the crashes deadlier.
“Where people are supposed to be four or five, they should question why they tend to be overloaded to become eleven or more. It is not about the drivers alone, but even the passengers endanger their lives by embarking on vehicles that may be risky. The other sad thing is that unlicensed vehicles ply the road” he said, adding the Chivhu to Mvuma stretch of the Harare-Masvingo Highway has become a hotspot.
“That is where a lot of accidents have been recorded, especially fatal ones,” he said.
The comments come a few weeks after 28 people died near Chivhu, Mashonaland East province, when an overloaded commutter omnibus not licensed to carry passengers, veered into oncoming traffic.
The month of August also saw other fatal crashes includinhg on August 9, when 11 people died near Norton after a haulage truck and commuter omnibus collided, on August 24, when 7 people were killed on the Harare-Bulawayo Road after the tyre of a bus burst, with the Traffic Safety Council noting that most of the accidents happened during the day.
“The sad thing is, most of those accidents are taking place on good roads. We used to say maybe it is because of bad roads, but people tend to speed where there are good stretches of roads,” Mhona said.
“Sometimes you wonder how such an accident took place. The place will be very clear, a wide road, good road, and you wonder what spirit was at play. Sometimes people may fall asleep and end up encroaching oncoming traffic. Some of those accidents, to my surprise, take place during the day, although some occur at night. Through the Traffic Safety Council, we urge people to travel during the day because at night it is not safe. However, most people prefer to travel at night to avoid the police,” he said.
On engineering solutions, Mhona said the Department of Roads was studying black spots to install rumble strips.
“But on highways, we cannot place humps because it will not be good for travellers,” he said.
Mhona said the Road Accident Fund Bill, which is meant to compensate victims of road accidents, was yet to be brought before Parliament for consideration.
He said the Bill was at an advanced stage and the government was expecting to improve administration and funding of the Fund through the fuel levy once it is enacted.
New Ziana
