Mhona appeals to traditional leaders to curb road carnage, cites stray livestock and human error as major causes

MAZOWE — Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona has appealed to chiefs and village heads to mobilise communities against vandalising road fences and to monitor livestock along highways, saying both factors are contributing significantly to rising road accidents.


Speaking in Mazowe on Friday while launching the Heroes and Defence Forces Holidays Road Safety Campaign, Mhona was accompanied by Chief Negomo and Headman Nyachuru. The campaign, coordinated by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), targets high‑risk holiday periods when traffic volumes surge.

“Vandalised fences and stray animals are killing people,” Mhona said, warning that infrastructure vandalism was undermining Government efforts to make highways safer. He urged traditional leaders to use their influence to discourage communities from cutting fences and to ensure livestock is monitored along major roads. “These acts have contributed much to the rising accident statistics. A fence that is cut open becomes an entry point for animals onto a high‑speed road, and the results are fatal,” he said.

Mhona said preliminary accident data pointed to two recurring causes of crashes: stray livestock and human error. He urged motorists to exercise caution, obey speed limits, avoid dangerous overtaking and desist from drinking and driving during the holiday period. Farmers were also encouraged to keep cattle, goats and donkeys away from road reserves, especially at night.

TSCZ leader Kura Sibanda told the gathering that communities must adhere to prescribed road safety measures. He said the council would intensify public education, enforcement blitzes and visibility campaigns on major highways leading to Heroes and Defence Forces commemorations. “Road carnage is preventable. We need every community, every driver and every pedestrian to play their part,” Sibanda said.

Chief Negomo and Headman Nyachuru pledged to work with police, VID and TSCZ to conduct awareness meetings in wards and identify hotspots where livestock frequently stray onto roads.

The Heroes and Defence Forces Holidays Road Safety Campaign will run until the end of the holiday period and includes roadblocks, speed checks and road safety education at bus termini, reinforcing broader discussions around road safety enforcement and community‑based accident prevention.