ZimNow News Desk
Passengers on a Trip Trans bus travelling along the Harare-Mutare Highway were forced to overpower a fellow traveller after he grabbed the steering wheel of the moving vehicle, sending it veering off the road in an incident that could have ended in tragedy.
Munyaradzi Mutede, 33, of Glen View 3, demanded to be dropped off at Mufusire uphill near Headlands, a point that is not a designated bus stop. When the bus crew refused to stop because of road safety regulations and company policy.
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The incident occurred near a stretch of the highway that has previously been associated with robberies targeting slow-moving trucks and other motorists.
Mutede invaded the space of the driver, Maviza Edison Simba, and grabbed the steering wheel. The bus swerved off the road before the driver managed to regain control and bring it to a stop several metres from the highway.
Fellow passengers restrained Mutede before handing him over to police. No one was injured, although the bus sustained damage, including two broken windows on its left side.
Mutede later appeared before Rusape provincial magistrate Tendai Mahwe, where he pleaded guilty to interfering with a driver without reasonable cause, in contravention of Section 60(1)(b) of the Road Traffic Act. He was fined US$300 or, in default, sentenced to four months' imprisonment.
Prosecutor Edmore Mahlanganise told the court that Mutede had boarded a Trip Trans bus at Mbare Musika bound for Rusape. The confrontation occurred at the 122-kilometre peg along the Harare-Mutare Highway after he insisted on disembarking before reaching his ticketed destination.
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