Jason Machaya claims crash car was tampered with

THE Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs, Jason Machaya has said investigations into an accident which nearly claimed his life are not yet complete amid allegations from the vehicle's manufacturer the car was tampered with.

Machaya was injured after he was involved in a car accident along the Harare-Gweru Road on July 17 after one of the front wheels of his Land Rover Discovery 4 came off before the car rolled several times.

The provincial minister was hospitalised for almost a month in Harare following the accident.

Speaking from Chegutu yesterday where he was collecting accident statements to process the vehicle insurance eight months after the near-fatal accident, Machaya said investigations were still not complete.

"Investigations are not complete as we speak. I was told by the manufacturer that their vehicle will never experience such a mechanical fault on its own. They said that kind of accident or fault only occurs when the vehicle has been tampered with. On the other hand CMED people haven't done much. They are saying no one tampered with the vehicle. But the bottom line is that I could not have tampered with the vehicle because I value my life," he said.

Machaya was travelling alone from Harare to Kwekwe when the accident occurred.