Tanzania agriculture minister confronts police reports over accident that killed five ministry officials

Dodoma. The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Charles Tizeba has refuted claims that the accident that killed five officials from the ministry was caused by reckless driving.

Four officers and a driver from the Ministry of Agriculture died when the vehicle they were travelling in crashed with a truck at Njirii area, Manyoni in Singida on Sunday, October 21.

The officials were travelling from Dodoma to Shinyanga while the truck was travelling from Kigali, Rwanda to Dar es Salaam.

The Singida Regional Police Commander (RPC) Sweetbert Njewike told The Citizen on Sunday that eye witnesses had informed him that the accident occurred when the driver for the vehicle carrying government officials wanted to overtake several trucks without taking precautions.

“That was how he ended up colliding with the truck,” he said.

But Dr Tizeba said on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, that the information from the police was wrong and misleading.

“Yesterday, I spent a lot of time speaking to residents around the area where the accident occurred. I also held a lengthy discussion with the driver for the truck that was involved in the accident….I ask the police in Singida to review their information. They have delivered a judgement…I refute their claims. They are wrong, misleading and bent on delivering an erroneous judgement,” he said.

Dr Tizeba was delivering his condolence message during an event to bid farewell to the departed civil servants.

He said a few metres from where the accident occurred, there is a huge speed bump, suggesting that the vehicle did not pass the area with the reported speed.

He however said it was true that the departed driver had overtaken two vehicles before the accident occurred.

“Even the truck that collided with the government vehicle was parked but suddenly, it entered the road…It would have collided with a vehicle that was ahead of the one carrying my ministry’s officials but then that was not to be so it ended up colliding with this one,” he said.