by Gideon Madzikatidze/Simbarashe Sithole
MAZOWE – The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Honourable Felix Mhona, has appealed to chiefs and village heads to mobilise communities against vandalising road fences and to monitor livestock along highways, saying the two factors have significantly contributed to the surge in road accidents.
Speaking while launching the Heroes and Defence Forces Holidays Road Safety Campaign in Mazowe this Friday, Mhona was accompanied by Chief Negomo and Headman Nyachuru.
The campaign, coordinated by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), is targeting high-risk periods when traffic volumes spike due to holiday travel.
“Vandalised fences and stray animals are killing people,”
Minister Mhona said infrastructure vandalism was undermining government efforts to make highways safer.
“I am appealing to our chiefs, headmen and village heads to engage communities against vandalizing fences along the country’s highways and to monitor their livestock along major highways,” Mhona said.
“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,” Mhona said.
He added that road safety was a collective responsibility that required traditional leaders to use their influence at community level.
Mhona said preliminary accident data shows two recurring causes of crashes.
“Stray livestock/animals and human error have significantly contributed to the surge in road carnage,” he said.
The Minister urged motorists to exercise caution, obey speed limits, avoid overtaking errors, and desist from drinking and driving during the holiday period. He also called on farmers to keep cattle, goats and donkeys away from road reserves, especially at night.
Also addressing the gathering, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe leader Mr. Kura Sibanda urged citizens and communities to 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 to 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.