PF Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament Jonas Chanda has joined calls to have the operating licence for Mazhandu family bus.
This follows another tragic road accident involving Mazhandu Bus Services on Tuesday which claimed 10 lives near Kapiri Mposhi.
Figures from the Road Transport and Safety Agency show that Mazhandu has the worst accident record of all bus operators with 10 fatal accidents recorded last year.
Dr Chanda said with figures from RTSA showing that Mazhandu has a worse accident profile, the revocation of its operating licence is the only option.
“I just drove by the tragic accident scene involving Mazhandu bus and a truck near Kabwe. Many people have lost their lives and many badly injured. Each of the victims on this accident was the most important person to someone,” Dr Chanda said.
He added, “Arriving in Ndola a few minutes ago I’m told of a mother who has died with two of her children. May the victims’ dear souls RIP.”
Dr Chanda further called on the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing and the Road Development Agency to expedite the construction of the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway.
“This will guarantee safety by avoidance of overtaking and head-on collisions. This economically important road is heavy laden with heavy trucks, buses and private vehicles. It’s sclerotic and a death trap to over-speeding and over-taking vehicles,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST) is deeply saddened by the crash in which 10 people died on the spot yesterday, 31st January 2017. Among the dead were 6 female adults, 3 male adults and one female child. The Trust is also thinking of those who have been injured and taken to hospital.
According to the Police, the crash happened when a bus belonging to Mazhandu Family service collided head-on with a truck at Lwashimba area between Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi.
Road deaths and injuries cause horrendous suffering every day. Each day nine people face the unbearable news their loved one will never come home because they have been killed in a road crash. Many families each day must come to terms with a serious injury, many life-shattering, some causing permanent disability.
The Trust is urging the government to invest funding to support road crash victims, to ensure there is integrated, comprehensive and resources to alleviant suffering.
The Trust is aware that Mazhandu Family service has been involved in crashes in which dozens of people have been killed. The Trust believes that the operator can no longer continue to operate the licence.
The Trust calls for the owners to face manslaughter chargers following this incident.
The Trust is also deeply concerned about inability of Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to curb the growing rate of traffic accidents. RTSA in the past 5 years has presided over a situation in which accidents deaths have increased by over 100%.
The Trust is calling on RTSA to take action to stop the growing number of serious injuries and deaths on Zambia’s roads.
Daniel Mwamba, Chairman Zambia Road Safety Trust:
“We want ambitious casualty reduction targets to be introduced to act as a driving force for the fight against road death and injury at the national level; increased investment in road infrastructure to develop a safe and sustainable road network; and more resources assigned to road traffic police to ensure effective enforcement.”
Comment:Revolk the operating licence for mazyandhu. Its just too much.
Ok, sclerotic is a bit deep ba Doctor, what do you mean? The road has sclerosis, or it’s just a figurative expression…!?
Totally agree. How many more lives have to be lost before government wakes up. It doesn’t matter how many hands this company oils, they are killing too many people.
If the Zambian public transport users were united, they would just completely shun travelling on Mazhandu buses as the only way to get them out of busines. PF government will never ever do anything to discipline Mazhandu because we have heard that Mazhandu is the main sponsor of PF programs and projects.
Keep dreaming. Do you know how many brown envelope these guys give to pf officials.
I drive into Zambia from RSA quite frequently and I observe the driving of these good looking coaches on Zambian roads, between Livingstone and the Copperbelt. Last year when driving back to Joburg, I was shocked at the speed of a brand new Scania Mazhandu coach. I was doing 120km/ph. towards Chisamba and I saw this coach far away in my rearview mirror. As I was fiddling with my radio, I just heard a loud hooter, and this coach flew past me like a Formula One Sports Car, and I am sure he must have been doing at least 140km/ph.. My son said: “Daddy , wont that guy kill the passengers?” I had no answer, as I watched the bus vanish into the distance ahead of me…..No wonder they are the Kings Of Accidents in Zambian Public Transport. Stop them!!!
Mazhandu family bus is now being used as a scapegoat for this incompetent and corrupt PF Government that has totally failed to make Zambias roads safer!
After borrowing BILLIONS of Eurobond money and stealing it through corrupt contracts the death toll is growing even larger.
This is what Lungu FAILED to “sontapo” in his crooked scheme to steal the election NINE DEAD PEOPLE! Due to his incompetence and LIES!
Correct dokotor.they’re just a bunch of thieves stealing while we are watching…
Can some of you be reasonable for once! Mazhandu Bus company has failed to train their drivers effectively and create a safety culture by having safety policies such as having a reasonable speed limit say 80km/hr on highway, 60 km/hr in built up areas and 40km/hr within the city roads. Further, have they ever organised a defensive driving course for passenger carrier drivers? These measures can also be implemented by RTSA through introduction of a safety monitoring department with On-board computers (OBC) implementation on each and every public long distance bus on our roads, bus owners should pay for this system. These are things which are being implemented by safety conscious companies in Zambia. Why wouldn’t RTSA implement these? If a driver deliberately disables the OBC, his license…
If a driver deliberately disables the OBC, his license is suspended forthwith.
The poor safety record of Mazhandu has nothing to do with the Eurobond, but everything to do with the poor safety culture of this bus operator. I strongly concur with the suggestion to prosecute the owners of this company and the permanent revocation of their operating license.
Further, the families of the victims of the accidents by Mazhandu MUST be compensated timely!
First revoke the presidency of ediga lungu, he has killed many Zambians.
The last time around pillocks like you were accusing Sata of ‘killing many Zambians’. How far can idio.cy go…?
kamwendo lungu has killed many people.he should be revoked uyu chakolwa…
Just what’s happened to our railway network? Government should find serious investors to take over and improve the rail network it’s fast, safe and would open up to rural areas as well. It’s time we considered this type of transport system. Let’s also relocate the capital city Lusaka to another area and near a huge river and plan properly the drainage systems. Lusaka congested as it is will never be the same ever again.
PF has bought buses for its cadres. Removing this operator reduces competition and creates more business for them! Sooner or later you will hear them also killing people.
As for Mazhandu, it’s time you lost your license. You just don’t seem to care any more.
I almost had a head on collision with this bus when I visited Zambia, they Drive too fast
imbwa iwe
Ba MP with due respect I wish to disagree with your proposal. Let us not be emotional to gain political mileage.My view is that you as an MP should fight for a law which will restrict movements of goods using trcucks.Trucks have been the main causes of accidents not buses. If you notice most accidents happen where trucks are present.i have driven on the Lusaka Kitwe road several times trucks are the least to obey traffic rules.The same way you have restricted movement of buses do the same with the trucks. Why have u allowed trucks to be moving heavy goods from one point to another? Another suggestion is that RATSA should enage mechanical engineers as fitness officers so that these buses are regularly checked for their fitness say every six months of service .
Even the quality of the road…
the road from Kbwe to Ndola need to be resurfaced .after all we are paying toll fees. Let heavy goods be moved using the trains not the roads.But I know politicians will leas agree with this proposal because they own truck companies
Most of these driver’s move from the door to the driver’s seat and no respect for anything close this irresponsible family thing. Euro Africa they have been on the same roads for a very long time look at their record. We also had jeffaro buses why is the government taking long to act.
Driver fatigue could be the root cause of this accident! Mazhandu should pay the price for allowing a fatigued driver who had just done a go/come to Livingston and then to be told to do another go/come to Kitwe without adequate rest. This is criminal negligence on the part of the operator! We have lost friends and relatives in this accident! It’s painful!
If this is the case (that the driver went to Livingstone first) , then a revocation of the licence is appropriate.
Start prosecuting directors or owners of the buses for manslaughter. In Europe & elsewhere this is the first measure to insure qualified personnel especially staff handling human beings are employed and from time to time checked and retrained.
They wont till the death toll reaches 100 for this company…Lazy Lungu would rather have silly prayers and utterly useless commisions of Inquiry instead of this.
This were an inquiry of technocrats is issued to improve road safety starting with drivers licenses.
The problem is that everyone now is pointing fingers at the other, more especially the law enforcement agencies and politicians. They want to run away from their responsibility of ensuring roads are made safe. You will notice that most of our roads have faded road marks, pot holes all over, and in some cases roads are eroded on the sides. Also RTSA must find a way of removing broken down heavy trucks from the roads like what is being done in other countries. They are a danger as owners just put branches of trees as triangles to alert other motorists! So this problem must be dealt with holistically instead just looking at one thing like night driving, drunken driving, etc.
ck4life you are spot on .nit ba MP ba DR
If we had good governance this issue of this company wouldnt be debatable…investigations would have been conducted and Directors would in court.
Looking at those photos of the lifeless body of the truck driver one wonders what the response time of the first responders is in Zambia. I read somewhere that a lot of lives are lost at the accident scene due to lack of treatment in Zambia.
IN AS MUCH AS AGREE THAT THE NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS BY MAZHANDU FAMILY BUSES IS WAY TOO MUCH, IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE LOOK AT WHAT IS COMMON IN ALL THESE ACCIDENTS. TO START WITH THIS COMPANY HAD A CLEAN RECORD UNTIL THE TIME THE BOUGHT HIGER BUSES MADE IN CHINE. HIGER FAILED TO SELL THEM ON THE ZAMBIAN MARKET HENCE STARTED GIVING THEM ON PAY SLOW TO BUS OPERATORS. I HAPPEN TO WORK WITH SOME CHINESE WHO ACTUALLY TOLD ME THAT HIGER IS NOT A GOOD BRAND EVEN IN CHINA AS IT HAS A VERY POOR SAFETY RECORD. CHECK THE RECORDS, U WILL DISCOVER THAT MOST OF THESE ACCIDENT HAVE INVOLVED THIS BRAND OF THE BUSES. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE ZAMBIA BUREAU STANDARDS? WE SO MANY INSTITUTIONS DRAWING MONEY FOR NOTHING. BAN THE SELL OF THESE BUSES BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE LOST
I was thinking the same aswell.
The HIGER bus safety quality needs to surely be checked by ZBS. However, the over-speeding of the bus drivers has a big role in these deaths. Our roads are not fit for driving those big buses at more than 100 km/hr.
I drive a brand new 4×4 of high brand, Isuzu and I always drive at no more than 100 km /hr on the Lusaka – Ndola – Kitwe road, beacuse the roads are of bad quality.
A RTA is usually caused by a combination of many factors, hence the quality of the HIGER bus MUST also be investigated by the relevant regulatory body.
Each one of these imbechelis are calling for the revocation of the Mazhandu license as if every Zambian owns a car and can drive themselves to Luapula. Think of the people who rely on public transport before closing down the bus company. Think also of the many citizens who are employed by Mazhandu. Is Mazhandu the only bus company facing accidents and will they be the last? So why not come up with measures that safe guard the whole industry?
SOMETIMES I FEE WE HAVE WRONG PEOPLE IN SOME OF THESE OFFICES. RTSA IS ONE OF THEM. LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW, BUSY RUSHING TO ISSUE STATEMENTS BEFORE THEY EVEN CONCLUDE INVESTIGATIONS. THEY BANNED NIGHT DRIVING, WHAT TIME WAS THE ACCIDENT? THEY ARE ADDRESSING WRONG ISSUES WHICH ARE NOT EVEN HELPING THE SITUATION AT HAND. WE GAVE THEM SUGGESTION WHICH THEY IGNORED
Mtsrip. Shame on you MP. you come out with such cirrhotic talk? a leader? I expect to have a clear report come to your desk and you make a public talk. Its a pit you use guts than conventional wisdom.
Bus owners, RATSA is there any other way of limiting the speed on these buses because even our drivers are very recklessly when it come to speeding.
This buses has killed a lot of family and friends let them not work anymore, some of u guys support them its because IRS other family members who died.think its your mom and your brother or sisters died in there how can u fell? This is not the only company can provide good transportation in Zambia.in SA they are so many bus companies I have never heard high accident like this same company.
What re u all posting here?? the rightful procedure is to have all those *****s from the concerned ministry and the ***** responsible for issuing relevant documentation for bus operations in that former british colony to resign and never to be allowed in boma offices period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The MP is offside. If you revoke the license, the operator is unlikely to suffer. Just like Post was closed, Mmembe came up with Mast, Mazhandu operator will also come up with Mast Family Bus Services going by our regulators who only look at company names but not names of owners. The same drivers killing people recklessly will also find jobs else where & continue killing people. MP should call for justice on erring drivers but not the current situation where all traffic & RTSA officers call bus drivers Boss for ZMW 50.00. Bus operators should be made to buy insurance with compensation limit of at least ZMW 1,000,000.00 per passenger against injury or death not current limit of ZMW 30,000.00, which make victims destitutes.
The MP should advocate for National Airline equipped with bigger planes to carry 300 passengers or so on board not 8 seater planes operated by Proflight. Air transport is safer & faster for long distances like Lusaka / Kitwe which you can’t leave to bus operators alone. Rail transport should equally be revamped to higher standards. Lessen congestion which starts right from Intercity Bus Terminus. It takes each bus almost 30 minutes to leave intercity premises & 1 to 2 hours to get out of Lusaka to cruising areas. This leaves drivers with little time to reach were they are going. Human Traffic Lights (Traffic Police) are biased towards one direction of their choice, delaying traffic as long as they want coupled with Road Blocks, weigh bridges. All trucks & buses are weighed at Kapiri…
All trucks & buses from all corners of the country are weighed at Kapiri Mposhi causing congestion & where weighing is done at snail’s pace.
Zambians suffer from ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ loving them that kill them slowly in a subtle way.
Zambians like death. Author of this article confirms that PF does not care about Zambian life over money.
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Close this bus service, kwapwa. you dd it to CR; after sometime CR is quite and a pleasant bus company. we cant be talking about mazandhu every month like a story. Peolple’s famillies are being destroyed because of your company. the management have failed to abide by the guildliness of RTSA, its on record.
MAZANHDU GOOOOOO……………BE CLOSED ……….
Since zambia has no money. For duel carrage way I think make a gravell road for truckS separet buses an trucks. Ok
Remember in unip we had UBZ , even this time let the government have it’s own Public Transport so that it can employee sober minded Drivers who will be thinking of himself and the passengers
Please revoke the paper and do they even have safety personnel!!!!
“Ban them