Driver fined, given one year driving ban

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Court

A court in Blantyre has fined a minibus driver and handed him a one year driving ban for causing death through reckless driving.

The driver was ordered to pay K500,000 fine or go to prison for two years.

According to Blantyre police publicist Sub Inspector Augustus Nkhwazi, the driver is Osman Bamusi, 34.

CourtNkhwazi said on January 19, Bamusi was driving a motor vehicle Mazda Bongo minibus Registration number CZ 2075 from Kapeni robots heading to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Bus stage along Mahatma Gandhi road in Blantyre.

At about 08:30 hours as he was approaching Queens bus stage he hit male pedestrian Stanford Phiri, 58, who was walking towards the same direction.

He was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Postmortem revealed that he died due to severe head injuries.

In his submissions in court, state prosecutor Sub-Inspector Shadreck Jonathan Wisiki of Blantyre Police said drivers put lives of passengers at risk and noted that Bamusi also killed four people in another accident in Chikwawa in September, 2017.

Passing the sentence, Chief Resident Magistrate Viva Nyimba ordered Bamusi to pay K500, 000 fine or serve two years imprisonment with hard labour.

Nyimba also banned Bamusi from driving for one year and ordered that his driving licence should be surrendered to Road Traffic Directorate.

He said this should serve as a warning to other drivers who drive carelessly on the roads of Malawi.

In a related incident, Balaka First Grade Magistrate Court has fined Henry Mwale K100,000 after finding him guilty of causing death by reckless driving contrary to section 126 of Road Traffic Act.

The state presented by prosecutor sergeant Lawrence Tchalison made it known to the court that on 22nd January Henry Mwale was driving a truck from the direction of Liwonde going towards Balaka.

As he was approaching Disi area within Balaka, he hit a pedestrian Esau Loundon who was crossing the road from left to right hand side of the road.

In mitigation, Mwale begged for leniency however the state prosecutor battled for a stiff sentence considering that life was lost as a result of his recklessness.

When passing Judgement, First Grade Magistrate Fellix Mandala ordered him to pay a fine of K100, 000 or in default 24 months imprisonment with hard labour to serve as a lesson to other reckless and negligent drivers.

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