Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
THE INQUIRY into the Kariba ferry disaster, which claimed 97 lives on August 11, has started.
The investigation is set to focus on how the vessel was loaded, operated and cleared to sail before it capsized on Lake Kariba.
The inquiry will examine the vessel’s worthiness, passenger and cargo capacity, crew competence, safety compliance and the actions of the authorities responsible for regulating inland water transport.
Supreme Court judge, Justice Joseph Mafusire, is leading a three-member board of inquiry.
It includes the Officer Commanding Police for Mashonaland East Province, Dr Wiklef Makamache, and Advocate Patronella Musarurwa, while Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Engineer Joy Makumbe is serving as secretary to the inquiry.
Transport Minister, Felix Mhona, recently appointed the board through a Government Gazette published in terms of the Inland Waters Shipping Act.
The Board of Inquiry is expected to run for not more than three months, with a possibility of extension by a further one month and hearings will be conducted in Kariba.
Yesterday, Minister Mhona held a meeting with the three-member board at his offices in Harare.
“To date, of the more than 160 persons who were on board, 67 survivors have been recorded and more than 95 persons have been recorded as deceased,” he said.
“Given the gravity of the casualty, I found it appropriate and obligatory to establish the Board of Inquiry.
“In view of the foregoing, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Dr E.D. Mnangagwa has approved that I appoint a three-member Board of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Rural Infrastructural Development Agency (RIDA) shipping vessel casualties.”
He added: “It is our respectful view that the preliminary findings so far are not adequate to bring closure to the ramifications of the casualty. “Further, for the safety and security of inland waters shipping and navigation, where casualties of this nature occur, it is in line with international shipping and navigation standards and recommended practices prescribed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the causality.”
He said the findings of the inquiry will shape future inland waters shipping and navigation policy, legislative and operational frameworks in the best interest of public safety and security in inland waters.
The findings will also bring closure to the relatives of the deceased.
The inquiry will also look at the adequacy of the procedures which were followed, and those which ought to have been followed prior to the operation, during the operation and after the accident.
Justice Joseph Mafusire said:
“It is my singular honour, pleasure and gratitude to accept the appointment to chair the board of inquiry into the ferry casualties in Kariba.
“And I have the mandate by the fellow commissioners of the board to accept the appointment.
“It is a national duty, it is a duty that we embrace whole heartedly and we would like to express our gratitude to those that have shown confidence in selecting us to run this inquiry.”
