Tynwald High School bus driver, Chamunorwa Machimbidzofa, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment by a Nyanga magistrate.
Machimbidzofa was behind the wheel when the Tynwald High School bus was involved in an accident in Nyanga which claimed the lives of six learners and one teacher in 2022.
According to The Manica Post, Machimbidzofa was found guilty of seven counts of culpable homicide after a full trial at Nyanga Magistrates’ Court.
However, one year was suspended on the condition that doesn’t commit an offence involving negligent driving in the next five years.
This means Machimbidzoka will serve an effective four years in prison.
The court also cancelled his driver’s licence and barred him from driving for five years.
The Tynwald High School bus was involved in a fatal accident in Juliusdale, Nyanga on Friday, 14 October 2022 around 7 PM, with reports suggesting that the driver was speeding and failed to negotiate a sharp curve.
Six pupils, five female and one male died from head injuries after the bus overturned and landed on its roof near Pine Tree Hotel at the 75km peg along the Rusape-Nyanga Road.
Thirty-nine other learners and staff members were injured and were taken to Nyanga District Hospital and Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in Mutare.
The pupils who perished in the accident are Anesuishe Hove (14) of Bluffhill in Harare; Beyonce Guyo (15) of Madokero, Harare; Anita Manyuka (16) of Tynwald Harare; Destiny Dziva (14) of Avondale Harare; Kimberly Tarisai Mutusva (15) of Chitepo Heights, Harare and Craig Madanhire (age unknown), a male juvenile.
The deceased teacher was identified as Chamunorwa Rukwanha. He passed away on 02 November 2022 at the Avenues Clinic in Harare where he was being treated for head injuries.
What is culpable homicide?
If the court concludes that the accused did not foresee the possibility of death but that he should have foreseen it (i.e that a reasonable man would have foreseen it) and the reasonable person would have guarded against it, the correct verdict is culpable homicide. – Veritas
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