One of Tanzania’s leading transporters, Solomon Sauli Mwalabila who was killed in tragic road accident on Sunday, August 4, 2024, gets buried at his home District of Chunya.
Sauli’s body was flown from Dar-es-salaam to Mbeya Region on Tuesday, August 6 ready for the entreprenure’s burial on Wednesday.
Mwalabila used to operate the popular ‘Sauli Express’ fleet of buses perished in an early morning road accident.
Solomon Mwalabila, who in addition to owning buses, was also a gemstone mineral dealer as well as real estate developer, met his death at the Mlandizi section of Kibaha in the Pwani (Coastal) region.
Sauli Mwalabila was reportedly traveling with his four-year old child from Dar-Es-salaam, heading back to his home town in Mbeya, Southern Tanzania.
According to early reports, which were confirmed by the police later, the transporter, who was driving a red Jeep 4WD vehicle, with registration numbers T466 EGW was hit by an oncoming truck which badly smashed his car, killing him on the spot.
A Mitsubishi Fuso truck with failed brakes reportedly veered onto the wrong side of the track and crashed into Mwalabila’s Jeep. The Pwani Region’s Police Commander, Pius Lutuma confirmed.
Until now, latest developments are to the effect that the young child a member of his family was spared but injured. The area where Mwalabila’s car was hit by a lorry is also an accident hotspot.
Coincidentally, the accident which claimed Mwalabila’s life on Sunday Morning occurred almost on the same spot where one of his buses, a Sauli Express’ Gemilang Coach, built onto Scania drivetrain was involved in yet another crash, in March 2024.
The Sauli Express bus with plate numbers T 668 DTF, collided with another bus, a Zhongtong model bearing numbers T 175 DZU, belonging to the New Force (Golden Deer) Company and both had erupted in flames, in the multiple vehicle accident which also included a fuel tanker.
The two buses were essentially almost written off, but recently pictures of the fated Sauli Bus undergoing major repairs at an unnamed workshop had started circulating in social media platforms, especially those involved in the passenger transportation industry.
Sauli Express buses were always in cut-throat competition against the New Force owned ‘Golden Deer,’ as each of the fleets struggled for dominance along the Dar-es-Salaam to Tunduma via Mbeya route.
‘Sauli,’ before the March 2024 mishaps, was always the first bus to arrive at either destination. In the process, the company has been very popular among travellers on the route.