Police have ruled out foul play in the road accident in Iringa yesterday morning, in which outspoken Kyela MP Harrison Mwakyembe was seriously injured.
Dr Mwakyembe was later in the afternoon flown to Dar es Salaam and admitted to the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institution (MOI).
Speaking to reporters at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, when he went to receive Dr Mwakyembe, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr Thomas Kashillilah, said MOI experts would assess and determine whether or not the MP should be sent overseas for further treatment.
Earlier, the Iringa Regional Police Commander, Mr Advocate Nyombi, had told The Citizen that preliminary investigations had established that it was purely a road accident, and not any kind of plot against the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi MP.
The accident occurred at around 7.10am, at Ifunda Village near Mafinga, as the driver of Dr Mwakyembe's Toyota Land Cruiser was going down the steep Ihemi Hill.
Police Commander Nyombi said Dr Mwakyembe's car rolled several times after hitting a pothole, as the driver was overtaking a lorry. The driver suffered a minor head injury.
"There is no evidence to prove that it was a plot to kill the MP. We have established that the cause of the accident was hitting the pothole," he said.
He said Dr Mwakyembe's driver, 30-year-old Joseph Msuya, was overtaking the lorry at "a relatively high speed" when the accident occurred.
"Before he (the driver) returned to his side, the car hit a pothole and the impact was so big that the front right-side wheel came off.
The driver lost the control of the car, which veered off the road and hit a tree before it rolled," he said. Sources at the scene of the accident said Dr Mwakyembe had lost consciousness when he was ferried to Iringa Regional Hospital, where he came around.
Doctors at the regional medical facility said the MP had suffered bruises and several cuts in various parts of the body, but was out of danger.
Mr Nyombi said Dr Mwakyembe had left his Kyela constituency on Wednesday at 8pm, for Dar es Salaam, and spent the night in Makambako Town before proceeding with the journey yesterday morning.
He said the MP's driver was treated at Iringa Regional Hospital and discharged.
A villager, Mr Isaya Mngande, who witnessed the accident, said he saw Dr Mwakyembe's car veering off the road at high speed.
Yesterday afternoon, the National Assembly dispatched a light aircraft to Iringa to airlift Dr Mwakyembe to Dar es Salaam. The aircraft arrived at the Julius Nyerere Airport at 4pm, and Dr Mwakyembe was driven straight to MOI.
Speaking at the airport, National Assembly Clerk Kashillilah said: "We cant say anything about his treatment until we get a report from MOI experts.
They will have to decide whether to send him abroad or treat him locally," he said. A number of fellow MPs were at the airport when the plane carrying Dr Mwakyembe arrived.
CCM activist Nape Nauye said the accident, occurring only a few days before Parliament starts the marathon Budget session, was unfortunate as Dr Mwakyembe was expected to make a significant contribution to the debate.
At least half a dozen MPs have been involved in serious accidents since the inauguration of the current Parliament in December 2005, with three of them succumbing to the injuries suffered.
Former Tunduru MP Juma Akukweti, who was also a minister dealing with Bunge affairs, was the first member of the current Parliament to be involved in an accident.
He was in an aircraft, which crashed shortly after taking off from Songwe Airport in Mbeya in December 2006.
Mr Akukweti, who was seriously injured, was later flown to South Africa for treatment. He died in January 2007.
Another casualty was former deputy minister for Community Development, Gender and Children Salome Mbatia. She died in a road accident in October 2007, at Ilembula in Iringa Region. Chadema MP Chacha Wangwe's death last August stunned the nation.
The outspoken MP died in a road accident in the Pandambili area of Dodoma Region. He was travelling to Dar es Salaam from Dodoma.
One Deus Mallya, who was with the MP, was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence, amidst allegations that some influential opposition politicians were behind the death.
Mallya was found guilty by a Dodoma court and sentenced to four years imprisonment recently.
In September 2007, the current minister for Labour, Employment and Youth Development, Prof Juma Kapuya, was also injured in road accident. Prof Kapuya's car overturned at Usindi Village in Tabora Region.
In the same month, the MP for Mchinga in Lindi Region, Mr Mudhihir Mudhihir, was hurt in a serious accident in Lindi and had his hand amputated.
The MP's car overturned as he tried to avoid hitting a cyclist in Mnazi Mmoja Village.
Dr Mwakyembe shot to instant fame countrywide in February, last year, when he presented the report of the parliamentary select committee that investigated the controversial Richmond emergency power generation contract.
The report implicated Mr Edward Lowassa, then the Prime Minister, in the scandal, leading to his resignation along with Dr Ibrahim Msabaha and Mr Nazir Karamagi, who were Cabinet ministers.
President Kikwete was forced to reshuffle his Cabinet, bringing in Mr Mizengo Pinda as the new Prime Minister.
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