Friday, March 29, 2024

Police Charge Faz’s Erick Mwanza for Dangerous Driving

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Police in Ndola have charged Faz Communications Officer Erick Mwanza with causing death by dangerous driving.
Copperbelt Traffic Police Chief George Malama confirmed this to Muvi Television on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon while driving to Ndola, Mwanza hit a pedestrian near Kafulafuta area who later in the day died due to head injuries.

Police identified the deceased as Ashea Chingaipe, 24 , of Kafulafuta who was hit around 17:00 hours along the Ndola-Kabwe Road.

Mwanza was picked up by police just after the accident but was released on police bond on Saturday morning.

He was later seen at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium during the Barclays Cup final between Power Dynamos and Napsa Stars.
Mwanza is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

48 COMMENTS

  1. Loss of life is always a sad development.Those of our nationals who are lucky to drive should be a bit more careful as they navigate our roads.life lost is never regained no matter the punishment given to the offender.That is why we need to exercise driving caution.

  2. Despicable act of bad road handling. Kaya kwamene ana gula licence. A person of his calibre should know better, charged and banned for 10 years. High Compensation in exchange of his FAZ allowances to the bereaved family.

    Ayanda na ku tamba Bola zoana after the incident!

    • I am equally appalled how he was able to watch football after that fatal accident. No feelings and no show of remorse whatsoever.

  3. You should learn to respect pedestrians in Zambia. Stop when people are crossing the streets. I hope this man will go to prison for a long time. You need to set a precedent! Vehicles don’t drive themselves, they are driven by people.

    • In zambia people with money don’t go to jail-jail is for the poor he will only pay money in any case the common K10 000 000.I agree with you Zed this character is suppose to go to jail unfortunate he will never. Already we can see that he did not even test the police cell picked on Saturday and released same day just by the reception when us once arrested on the week end you told they don’t release people on the week end.

  4. Can a learned mind educate me on this? Everytime a person is hit by a car in Zambia even when you have the right of way and you followed all traffic regulations, you end being charged by “causing death by dangerous driving”. From my lay understanding, I feel is law can only apply if the Police establish that the driver was overspeeding,drunk or any other violation of traffic rules. There are times when you are driving at 120 km/h road limit and when someone comes your way you can’t avoid hitting that person or an obstacle. Educate me please….

    • Common, where do you live? That is what happens in the US too. If you find people crossing the streets anywhere, you have to stop and let them pass. It is part of traffic laws. 120 km per hour? Where did you come from, friend, because unless you’re suicide-prone, there is nowhere in Zambia where you can drive at that speed.That is 75 miles per hour, which is not even allowed in the US.

    • i understand your frustration, its always the fault of the driver never the pedestrian. roads are or cars , side walks for humans but looks like its vive versa in Zambia, people crossing any where on the road. Wow and Mushota don’t just comment without facts, don’t you know that the speed limit when going to the former Lusaka international airport is 120 km.

    • I think you are missing my point. All of you apart from 4.4 has some sense. I come from lusaka and when you talk of great north road, how do you stop when you see people crossing? Mind you there is an interstate in Texas where you drive 80miles/hr. 4.1 which state do you come from? can stop in an interstate. What you are talking of are streets? Again in what Circumstance was Mtr. Simwanza driving? Did he see the person and did not stop or he just head a bang? Analyze some of these cases and you see we just use the law used by our colonial masters. My question what is dangerous driving?

  5. Pedestrians these days walk and cross the road without looking Lleft right then left or whichever way.I think pedestrians need education too.Too many drunkards on that road.Therefore the accident could have been an avoidable.In Chingola there’s a mad crippled man who craws around at the Roboats right in middle of road and the Traffic police haven’t done anything about it.This is so dangerous to road users an his own life as well.If he’s ran over will anybody be charged??

  6. Indeed. Is it always that the driver is wrong? I have seen some arrogant and careless cyclists and pedestrians, especially in the Luapula valley. This is coupled with cheap road design. Same lane for cyclists and pedestrians. No side pavings. We are too poor.

  7. I could not agree more the traffic cops dont do their work profesionally .is this not a main road the pedestrian s dont cross these roads well . Take a look at how they cross kafue road some are so drunk and why blame the motorist in such circumstances.let these cops go for proper training before arresting innocent motorists.

  8. Eric is a responsible and self respecting gentleman and a Zambian patriot. I have no idea how the pedestrian was hit but I am willing to bet that Eric was not in a state of innebriation, nor was it for poor standards of driving ecause Eric has been driving for many years. Please, carefully check and investigate what the state of the pedestrian victim was. Good luck Eric,

  9. Eric is a responsible and self respecting gentleman and a Zambian patriot. I have no idea how the pedestrian was hit but I am willing to bet that Eric w

    Al

    Paas not in a state of innebriation, nor was it for poor standards of driving ecause Eric has been driving for many years. Please, carefully check and investigate what the state of the pedestrian victim was. Good luck Eric,

  10. No 1. Kasuli, its not onlly licence buyers who get involved in accidents. Its better you shut your month than commenting on such issues.No one would like to get into such a situation. I am seriously wondering whether you drive or not. If you do, you cant comment like that

  11. If i head the report right on muvi, the deceased was trying to cross the road when he was hit. Eric did not loose control to hit this pedestrian. In my view its the late who made a mistake and not the drive, so how does causing death by dangerous driving come in here?

  12. It is only Africa where pedestrians are not respected. Here in Netherlands, If hit a pedestrian or a cyclist, You can be jailed until you rot. Surpringly, you even rarely see traffic police but pipo obey the rules automatically

  13. A Zambian driver can kill the all country here in China, these people don’t look when they are crossing the road, they just walk they make me sick, sometimes even when u honk they pretend not to hear, and once you heat someone the police will arrest you regardless of sircumstances, if the victime is maimed you will be made to pay him/her a monthly feel for rest of hs/r life and if a victim dies you will be made to pay the family compansation, (just one payment) there was an incident when one guy hit someone, the person did not die so he reversed the car to finish him off to avoid paying him money for life. such laws dont make sense to me, i think the police should determin who was wrong first before charging someone, sometimes u cant avoide hitting someone if they appear in front u…..

    • Corrections; its WHOLE country and not all country;
      its hit and not heat
      its circumstances and not sircumstances
      its victim and not victime
      its fee and not feel
      its determine and not determin (surprisingly why not the courts)
      its avoid and not avoide

    • #17.1 Spot on, but shud we raelly dwell so mutch on sutch trivialitiez. Bet you gothe messege loud n claer in the first place…

  14. Pedestrians always think the car cannot hit them because the driver will go to jail. Please read the law. Traffic offences in Zambia if the driver is licenced are not criminal but civil. They are resolved through fines and mutual agreements. The only reason one is detained for a knight or two is to confort the family of the victim.

  15. Ignorant Person, there is something wrong there with the law. As a driver, I understand that as a law abiding citizen, you can’t control what other people do on the roads. Let’s undertsand the circumstances first. Was the guy drunk,were traffic rules broken by either party, did Eric rush the guy to hospital etc before we determine who was wrong.

  16. The reason its called accident is because its exactly that,’an accident’ can happen to anyone driving or pedestrian, even when the driver has followed all the rules required of him. Those of you who have driven along that road you will agree with me that the people in that area are careless, you even see them sit in the road carelessly as if life was a renewable thing. lets be serious, its a two way approach that is required the driver has responsibility and the pedestrian equally has responsibility to ensure safety of his own life. Why blame the carelessness of one person on the other?

  17. Ba Lusaka times we need to see the picture of mr mwanza some of us don’t know him. ‘Better say a man has been charged for hitting another man’:-?:-?:-?:”>:”>**==

  18. Only a person who drives knows the behaviour of nuisance pedestrians. In highways, pedestrians misjudge the speed of the on coming vehicle and take it the driver has seen them.

  19. in remote areas the only source of entertainment is standing and sitting in the road, bars are always along the busy roads meaning drunk pedestrians need to cross the roads when going to their homes, i.e 15 miles and Mpongwe. Some of these Pedestrians should also be charged when their at fault, what happened to Zebra crossings, what happened to look left look right and left again before crossing? Drivers follow rules when driving but for pedestrians its do as you wish.

  20. No. 17 Mushala

    Corrections; its WHOLE country and not all country;
    its hit and not heat
    its circumstances and not sircumstances
    its victim and not victime
    its fee and not feel
    its determine and not determin (surprisingly why not the courts)
    its avoid and not avoide

  21. Zambian police are very lazy or lack education when it comes to investigating road accidents, they only know two causes for Accidents over speeding and driving under the influence. Police should stop depending on pedestrians as a source for investigating Accidents because Pedestrians will always claim a vehicle is over-speeding without considering the road speed limit. when they find a driver smelling alcohol and some bottles in the car to them its case closed without even bothering to administer a breathalyser.

  22. Very sad, for ERICK who did not mean to kill. There is a serious need to upgrade the LUSAKA KITWE Road. should be a Dual Carriage way. The lanes are just too small to be shared by Pedestrians and Motorists. FELLOW DRIVERS IN ZAMBIA TAKE CARE WHEN DRIVING ON THESE ROADS. MHSRIP.

  23. @concernedcitizen, I agree with you 100%. While a driver may break some rules, we have been looking at the unbecoming behaviour of villagers when it comes to their conduct. Indeed in many rural places a road is a place for passtime and leisure. That is where Mulenga meets Jelita. Village Mulengas (yo balis) would pose majestically with sagging trousers and Jelitas would show off their bright Nakonde dresses with pointed breasts while drunk ones would stagger about carelessly in the road.

  24. in a progressive world Govts should be taken to court or held liable when a pedstrian is killed if precautions were not in place. eg if road signs are not visible enough or non existant, if adequate and safe pedestrian crossings or bridge over busy roads are non existant. In a place like RSA a pedestrian is actually charged for crossing the freeway. Infact precautions have been taken as to fence off the middle of the road so that a pedestrain cant cross from one end of the road to the other. I have also seen a township next to a freeway completely in a wall fence just to impede people from trying to cross the road

  25. Very sad but out here it does not matter who commits the offence. Taking someones life is a very serious offence especially causing death by dangerous driving. Pedestrians of all types like children, disabled persons,old people including cyclists and motorcyclists are all grouped together as vulnerable road users and its the duty of a driver to reduce speed as soon as he/she spots them because you don’t really know what they will do next. So we just don’t know what this driver was doing before cutting short that poor man’s life but its obviously clear he was not paying attention to other road users. He probably would be more careful if it was a breakdown truck in the road.

  26. That was an accident. Period. Actually the pedestrians on that road and many other roads in Zambia should actively play their role in accident prevention. People are so careless, sometimes you even find chaps sitting on the road. They are only scared of the rains, not cars!!

  27. But why is it called an “accident” when there’s error? Accidental, by definition means you did something you weren’t supposed to do. Zambia Police lacks insight into causes of road mishaps (pronounced mis-hap, not miSHap, okay?) and how to arrive at a conclusive end of guilty and innocent for those involved.

  28. The big question is “How possible can a person after hitting and killing a person goes to watch soccer”? I cant comprehend it… a person’s life is just like a chicken? Whether Eric was wrong or not for me its the state of conscience that is impaired.

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