{Following yesterday’s accident of a school bus that overturned and injured 10 pupils of Kigali Parents School (KPS) Rwanda National Police (RNP) has called on schools, parents and transport companies to revise their agreements and come up with the most appropriate way of ensuring absolute safety of students and pupils on schools buses.}
Around 7:00am a minibus, RAC 845 H driven by Leo Fidel Munyagambe overturned as the driver negotiated a sharp corner on a steep slope. This later resulted into investigations by the police.
Later in the day another incident of a drunkard driver of a school bus was reported by pupils of Les Hirondelles. Police arrived at the scene found the driver, Michel Ntakirutimana drunk and asleep as the pupils were standing by the roadside.
“The two incidents are the basis for requesting for a complete overhaul of the agreements signed between parents and transporters. In our investigations we discovered that parents sign contracts with transport companies without the involvement of schools. This time, we want schools to be involved and assume the oversight responsibility in the contracts signed between the parties,” said the Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Celestin Twahirwa as he referred to the two incidents that happened yesterday.
Police also ascertained that some vehicles used as school buses do not comply with standards set by Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA), while overloading was also noticed.
“Munyagambe was carrying 29 pupils in a vehicle licensed to take only 25 pupil, was trying to beat time and make as many rounds as possible. In the event as he negotiated a sharp corner on steep slope, he lost control and the vehicle over turned,” said ACP Twahirwa.
By press time, of the ten injured students, nine were discharged and one who suffered a trauma was still hospitalized but without injuries and responding to treatment.
“Parents and schools should ensure there is a guardian on the bus, to and from the school. A guardian can be a parent a teacher or any other adult person of integrity. This person should have the responsibility of ensuring safety of children on the bus. Parents and schools should not leave children in the custody of a driver alone,” the police spokesperson said.
He went on to remind transporters to abide by all standards set by RURA and that both RNP and RURA are going to intensify their road safety checks to ensure all buses comply with set laws and standards.
With regards to the incident that involved Les Hirondelles, ACP Twahirwa said breathalyzer gave a ‘hot’ report on Ntakirutimana which implies that he was ‘extremely too drunk’
“When our officers arrived at the scenes, in Kiyovu, Ntakirutimana was already asleep in the vehicle extremely too drunk to drive. He is currently in police custody and the vehicle was towed to police parking yard awaiting the owner,” said ACP Twahirwa.
Leave a Reply