Stop the Carnage On Zimbabwean Roads

"Vanhu vari kufa sehuku muroad umu (Abantu bayaphela njenge nkuku emgwaqweni) (People are dying like chickens on our roads)", remarked someone. I wondered what it is about the death of chickens which is likened to the death of humans.

I write this week's piece with a heavy heart. I have so many unanswered questions regarding the carnage on our roads.

Who has the answers for the many families robbed of their loved ones? Who is to blame, or is it a case of an uncaring attitude towards life? Why are so many people perishing on our roads?

Right now, we are on each other's throat regarding political violence, because we want to elect MPs into Parliament, but we fail to see this violence perpetrated on us everyday, all over Zimbabwe. Is it a sign of misplaced priorities?

I also write this piece three years after Zimbabwean voters elected officials into Parliament, while some of them are Cabinet ministers, but it boggles the mind that most of what we hear and/or read about these officials is the "me, myself, I" attitude, where all else means nothing except power.

We still have to see meaningful action from these elected officials, which would make travelling on Zimbabwe's roads a major human right enjoyed by all citizens and visitors to this our beautiful country.

If our elected officials would for once leave their comfort zones and travel incognito in these commuter omnibuses, they would realise that they are nothing but death traps.

Maybe, and maybe then, would they understand that a total overhaul of the passenger transport system is required.

Dear reader, at the last minute, I set aside The Arena piece I was working on to ask what I asked back on April 24 2009, just after the commemoration of our national Independence marred by the carnage on our roads, "Bus disasters, When is enough, enough?"

I remember someone then calling me and remarking that it was as if I was fingering certain people, although she concurred.

At the time of penning this piece, I tried to come to terms with how the Madanhi and Nhau families were dealing with losing 12 family members, in a commuter omnibus accident that claimed 19 lives last weekend.

The Madanhi family alone lost eight family members. In Shona we say, "Vanoichera vakaibikei?" (When they fetch water, what will they cook) meaning, how do you deal with a blow of such magnitude, whose repercussions are far and wide?

It was also a blow for Hatcliffe high density suburb where most of the deceased hailed from, and, another blow for the African Apostolic Church led by Archbishop Paul Mwazha.

While burials of the Mazowe-Centenary weekend disaster commenced on Tuesday, another commuter omnibus accident occurred in Nyazura, along Mutare-Harare highway, which claimed 14 lives, and reports were that many were seriously injured.

That is when I decided to write this considering that two of my brothers-in-law perished in a commuter omnibus accident close to that same area a few months ago.

Do we need rocket scientists to tell us that enough is enough, and that it is untenable for a nation to lose hundreds of lives through human error in most cases? When so much revenue from the fiscus goes towards assisting bereaved families, as a nation, are we making progress?

Today it is unroadworthiness, then the next thing you hear is speeding or overloading. But what seems to be topping the bill right now are people driving under the influence of liquor and/or drugs or unlicensed drivers.

As a nation how do we hope to curb this menace on our roads? How would you as a reader console and comfort Mr Thomas Madanhi, who said, "This is the first time in our lives to go through such a torrid time.

I received the news while in Headlands and up to now I cannot believe that happened to me. Mukoma (Jonathan) was taking care of the orphans that we have in the family, as of now, I don't know what I am going to do," he told The Herald on Monday.

I premised my April 2009 piece with reflections of the Nyanga disaster of August 3 1991. It was so different then, because our elected officials acted with speed and empathy. They cared, and it was not for votes, but for people's well-being.

As we receive our children back from boarding schools, and as people travel for the National Heroes holiday all that we can hope for is that this bloodbath on our roads will not continue.

And please, let us not defend the indefensible: blood-sucking Satanists at work during holiday, targeting travellers, goblins, witchcraft and some other weirdoes.

It's time we owned up that we are all to blame for these fatal road accidents. All of us! If we really cared about each other that much, we would have ensured that the rule of law on roads is observed in letter and spirit.

Anthony Robbins says, "Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more."