President Emmerson Mnangagwa has instructed all government departments to prioritise road safety following a fatal accident on the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Highway that resulted in the death of 22 people. In a message of condolences to the victims’ families, the president urged government officials to work tirelessly and use all legal means available to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Read the message:
CONDOLENCE MESSAGE BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, DR E.D. MNANGAGWA, FOLLOWING A FATAL TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ALONG THE BULAWAYO-BEIITBRIDGE HIGHWAY, 16TH NOVEMBER, 2023.
The death of 22 Zimbabweans in a head-on collision along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Highway on Tuesday night left me horrified and heartbroken. What adds to the horror is that this accident comes barely days after two separate similar ones in which nine innocent lives also perished. Zimbabwe does not deserve this at all, let alone such a bloody beginning to this year’s festive season. Everything has to be done to arrest this needless loss of life at a time when we all should be celebrating closure to yet another peaceful year. I thus appeal to all motorists to exercise maximum caution on our roads, both for their sake and for the safety of fellow road users who do not deserve a violent end such as we have just witnessed. I direct all arms of Government seized with the responsibility of ensuring safety on our roads to work around the clock, and to use all means and powers lawfully available to them to reduce if not put an end to such carnage. No effort should be spared towards ensuring compliance with our traffic rules, in order to serf any more such accidents which invariably leave scores dead and injured.
Government will weigh in by according victims of this horrendous crash State-assisted burial.
As I express my deepest, heartfelt condolences to families and relatives who have lost their loved ones in this deadly crash, my heart goes out to all those injured and still hospitalized, Praying that theirs will be a speedy recovery. Let us, as a Nation, use this latest bloody accident to develop a new road culture which is founded on responsible, safety-conscious and law-abiding behaviour. We owe one another no less.