Unqualified driver kills two kids

An unqualified driver killed two children in an alleged hit-and-run accident in Mzuzu on Monday.

The driver, Wyson Mwiba, 24, from Katowo Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwenemisuku in Chitipa District, has since been arrested after police launched a man-hunt.

Police said Mwiba, who does not have a driver’s licence, on Monday evening took his relation’s vehicle. Apparently, the vehicle did not have a certificate of fitness (CoF) and insurance to legally drive on a public road.

According to witnesses, Mwiba is alleged to have hit another vehicle and in the course of attempting to escape, failed to negotiate a corner and ended up killing one-year-old Dorothy Kamanga and nine-year-old Grace Banda who were at the veranda of a house.

The vehicle also smashed the wall of the house.

One witness, Ulunji Chali, alleged that Mwiba was over-speeding on an earth road in the residential area.

Said Chali: “I was making the phone call when I saw a vehicle speed past and the next thing I heard was a sound of a crash. When I checked what had happening, I discovered that two children had been hit by the car. I am the one who called the police.”

Mzuzu Police spokesperson Martin Bwanali confirmed that Mwiba has no driving licence, adding the vehicle he was driving was not roadworthy.

He said Mwiba escaped after killing the two children, but police on patrol traced and arrested him, but he was in a state of shock.

Bwanali said police are also investigating allegations that the suspect was involved in another accident before killing the two kids.

“We have charged him with manslaughter which attracts a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.”

When The Nation visited the scene of the accident, the vehicle had been vandalised.