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Nyore Madzianike Manicaland Bureau
Mutare City Council has launched an enquiry into circumstances surrounding the accident that claimed the lives of three municipal officers and injured four other people along the Mutare-Chimanimani Highway. The accident occurred last month during a high-speed chase with a commuter omnibus that had violated traffic rules in the central business district (CBD).

Mutare Town Clerk Mr Joshua Maligwa said they had also approached the provincial administrator’s office to make a separate independent enquiry into the unfortunate incident.

“We are actually having sleepless nights after losing three promising and very hardworking municipal officers in an accident, which we are still to understand how it really happened,” he said.

“With the powers vested in me as the town clerk of the city, I have already instituted an internal investigation, which is going to turn everything upside down essentially so that we establish what really transpired along the Chimanimani Road, 22 miles away from the city’s CBD.”

Mr Maligwa said three principal officers were seized with the mat- ter.
“I have also appealed to the provincial administrator to institute investigations since he was aware that there were three forces or institutions which were involved in the operation,” he said.

“We are also appealing to the PA to also institute an external board to try to establish what actually happened.”
Provincial administrator Mr Edgars Seenza confirmed receiving communication from city council on the proposed probe.
He said his office was working on the terms of reference of the enquiry.

“I can confirm that council communicated in that regard,” said Mr Seenza. “There are formalities that are required to be done before the investigations are done. Our office has instructed the district administrator’s office to work on the documentation.”
Mr Seenza said after drafting the terms of reference, his office will later engage the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to undertake the enquiry.