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On Saturday all roads lead to the various centres throughout the country where Zimbabweans will gather to celebrate 35 years of independence. The main celebrations will be at the National Sports Stadium in Harare where President Robert Mugabe will address thousands of people expected to throng the venue.Similar celebrations will be held in the different provinces, districts and at ward level throughout the country. Most people in urban areas start travelling to their respective rural homes to celebrate this important day while others will join tomorrow and Saturday. We do not want the celebrations of this important milestone in our lives to be spoiled by road traffic accidents which can be avoided.
We want at this juncture to urge the rest of the people to start travelling today and tomorrow so that only workers can travel after work tomorrow or Saturday. There is a need to avoid overloading of buses and congestion on our roads hence this call for people to travel early. A total of 10 people died during the Easter holidays this year compared to 19 who died during the same period last year.
This was a remarkable decrease of 90 percent and we want to attribute this to the many roadblocks mounted on our major highways and the motorists who observed traffic rules and regulations. What this year’s Easter statistics proved is that we can, as a nation, enjoy an accident-free holiday and all that is needed is for each and everyone to play his or her role in ensuring safety on our roads.
It has been proved that more than 80 percent of accidents on our roads are as a result of human error which means they can be avoided. The police should once again be deployed on all major highways to ensure there is sanity on our roads.
Those that decide to be reckless, drink and drive, speed or overload, should be removed from our roads. Those using public transport such as buses should assist the police by ensuring that drivers of public service vehicles strictly observe the rules and regulations of the road. Defiant drivers should be reported immediately at the nearest police station or roadblock.
It is better to be late than never so passengers should not allow a situation where their lives are put at risk. On Saturday as we celebrate our Uhuru, it is time to introspect as we look back at the 35 years of independence which, as expected, had challenges and successes.
The challenges we encountered should have armed us to do better in future while in cases where we enjoyed successes we should be aiming at improving. It is a fact that our economy is facing challenges but we should not despair because indications are that the economy is poised for growth.
The economic turn around cannot be achieved over night because it is a process with its own teething problems. The process calls for men and women of high integrity whose conduct is beyond reproach. Those who are dishonest and corrupt have no place in this envisaged dispensation that calls for each and every Zimbabwean to contribute to the economic turnaround. Zimbabweans should be prepared to tighten their belts as we crossover.
We want to once again urge Zimbabweans to take advantage of their experiences during the last 35 years of independence to make Zimbabwe a better country.
Online Reporter