Senior Gwanda education officer killed in road accident

A senior education office working for the Ministry of Education in Matabeleland South Province Mr Stuart Nkwate has been killed in a horrific road accident in Gwanda.

Mr Nkwate died on the spot around 10am on Wednesday morning while travelling on official business at Bengo Village about 70km from Gwanda on the notorious Gwanda Manama Road.

According to eye witnesses at the scene of the accident, the driver of the World Vision vehicle lost control of the vehicle after hitting a deep pothole in the middle of the road resulting in the vehicle rolling several times killing Nkwate on the spot.

According to reports, Nkwate was travelling in the company of another Gwanda veteran educationist Mr Job Ncube and World Vision officials on a business trip to Gwanda South when the accident occurred.

Mr Ncube is in the meantime reported to be in a critical but stable condition at Manama Hospital in Gwanda. The driver of the vehicle believed to have been a female officer working for World Vision also sustained injuries and was also rushed to Manama Hospital where her condition could not immediately be confirmed.

Mr Nkwate has worked for the Ministry of Education in Matabeleland South rising through various ranks for a period stretching over 20 years. He has been widely credited with the massive growth in the development of the education sector in the province. Nkwate is expected to be buried at his rural home in Bengo section 27 not far from the accident site on a date still to be advised by the family.

The Gwanda - Manama Road has over the years been condemned by villagers and transporters who have unofficially declared the road to be the worst in Gwanda District if not the whole country. The extremely bumpy road is so pathetic that vehicles are now preferring to use off road scotch cart sideways as the official road.

Drivers using the road have always spread a belief that for one to "efficiently" travel on the road, they have to cruise at a high speed so as not to feel the big bumps on the road. According to eye witnesses, the driver of the World Vision vehicle was also in a some what high speed when the vehicle hit a deep pothole, veered off the road before rolling about three times before landing on the left side where Mr Nkwate was seated.

Several Parliamentarians who have campaigned for the Gwanda South seat have used the condition of the road as they campaign reference but none of them have come up with a solution to the problem while vehicles are being involved in accidents now and again on the road.