Tynwald High School bus driver nabbed
. . . faces 7 counts of culpable homicide
POLICE have arrested the driver of the Tynwald High School bus that overturned in Nyanga on October 14, claiming the lives of six pupils and now a teacher, who died yesterday of injuries sustained in the accident.
Driver Chamunorwa Machimbidzofa was reported to have been on the run, or at least ignoring all police calls, after the accident but was eventually arrested yesterday in Harare where he was moving around offering condolences to parents of the deceased children.
He is expected to appear in court today and is likely to be charged with seven counts of culpable homicide and failure to cooperate with police after the fatal crash.
An A- Level geography and sociology teacher, Chamunorwa Rukwena (38), who was on the trip succumbed to injuries yesterday, bringing the accident death toll to seven.
The teacher had been battling for life at Avenues Clinic in Harare following the accident which occurred along the Rusape-Nyanga Road.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that Machimbidzofa was arrested in Harare on Tuesday and was yesterday taken to Mutare for further investigations.
“He had been on the run for three weeks. He did not cooperate with the police after the accident and had been playing hide and seek.
“He is likely to face culpable homicide charges,” he said.
Police said Machimbidzofa was supposed to have produced the relevant documents to police as required under the Road Traffic Act.
It is alleged that police tried to contact him on several occasions, but he would refer them to his lawyer.
He also was not going to work resulting in the school authorities withholding his salary.
Six learners, fi ve girls and a boy, were killed when the school bus veered off the road and overturned at the 75km peg along Rusape Nyanga Road near Pine Tree Hotel at around 7pm.
The bus driver allegedly failed to negotiate a sharp curve resulting in the bus rolling several times on a steep slope. It then landed on its roof.
Thirty- nine other learners and staff members were injured and were taken to Nyanga District Hospital and Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in Mutare.
The deceased – Anesuishe Hove (14), Beyonce Guyo (15), Anita Manyuka (16), Destiny Dziva (14), Kimberly Tarisai Mutusva (15) (all female) and Craig Madanhire (14) – were buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare.
At its core, the term “culpable homicide” refers to an unlawful killing which is not classified as murder due to the intention of killing being absent.
But if the death resulted directly from someone taking action, or recklessly not taking appropriate measures, which the reasonable person could foresee could end in serious injury or death.