LUSAKA province recorded the highest number of accidents from New Year’s Eve to Thursday this week, Zambia Police spokesperson Charity Chanda has disclosed.
In total, 158 Road Traffic Accidents were recorded throughout the country from 06: 00 hours on December 31, 2013 to 06:00 January 2, 2014 with Lusaka province accounting for 61 accidents.
Central province recorded 22 while the Copperbelt and Southern recorded 21 each. North-Western had eight, Muchinga and Eastern recorded seven each, Western five and the lowest being Northern and Luapula with three each.
Ms Chanda said in a statement that of the 158 accidents 17 people lost their lives, 27 were seriously injured while 25 suffered slight injuries 90 damages only.
The 17 that lost their lives were from Lusaka, Southern and Central provinces with three deaths each respectively.
Copperbelt and Eastern recorded two deaths each while Western, Luapula, North-Western and Muchinga recorded one death each. Northern Province did not record any death.
The total number of accidents recorded during the New Year holidays was also a sharp increase from 58 cases during the same period in 2012.
“The rise in the number of accidents is attributed to an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads in our country,” Ms Chanda said.
Meanwhile, The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested more than 90 people countrywide between the period December 20, 2013 and January 2, 2014 for trafficking in various quantities of illicit drugs.
Among those arrested is a Tanzanian student, Danala Ibrahim Juma, 23, a resident in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania for trafficking in 103 sachets of heroin weighing 108.1grammes.
DEC public relations officer Theresa Katongo said Juma was apprehended from Chirundu boarder post aboard a Zimbabwean registered bus en-route to Tanzania.
And Ms Katongo has disclosed that DEC has on the Copperbelt, arrested Christian Ogochukwa, 32, a Nigerian national of Kwacha East in Kitwe for trafficking in one egg and two clear glasses of cocaine weighing 28.09 grammes.
In another development, the Commission in Central Province has arrested two peasant farmers of the same village for trafficking in cannabis.
Ms Katongo identified the suspects as Jonas Kasongo, 58, of Kakwelesa village in Chipembi area for trafficking in 46.2 Kg of loose cannabis and Francis Ngoma, ,43,for trafficking in 27.5 kg of Cannabis.
The suspects would appear in court soon.
chute
Its all because of SATA
Breakdown of Law and Order combined with badly designed roads and poorly qualified drivers are ripping havoc. We have more people on the roads thanks to cheap japanese imports. We need to change attitudes on the road, for instance some people boast of teaching themselves how to drive or you hear comments such as wearing a sit-belt is a practice of europe not here? Good driving skills and attitude will not only save your life but the lives of others. It’s quite surprising that government are busy soul searching for answers when institutions mandated to ensure sanity on the roads have clearly shown high levels of incompetence.
send the nigerian back to nigeria asap, no need to waste money trying him
Too many women in PF POLICE FORCE. They just sit with their index fingers probing their nostrils.
GROUP 4 SECURITY is even better than these Kaponyas!
Mwinsho u r an I.D.I.O.T for sure!