Singida – Twelve people, including five Singida regional police officers and seven remand detainees, were killed early on September 21 after a diesel tanker collided head-on with a police vehicle at Sekenke Hill in Iramba District, Singida Region.
Two people — the tanker driver and a police officer — were injured. The police vehicle was taking detainees from Shelui Police Station to the Iramba District Court in Kiomboi, while the tanker was travelling from Dar es Salaam towards Rwanda, according to reports.
Iramba District Commissioner Suleiman Mwenda said preliminary inquiries indicated that the tanker had suffered brake failure while descending the hill. Singida Regional Commissioner Halima Dendego said the government plans to add lanes at Sekenke, an area she described as having a history of crashes.
The location had already featured in another serious collision this year. On June 2, seven people died, and 17 were injured after a lorry descending the Senkenke escarpment struck the rear of a Coaster minibus travelling from Singida to Igunga.
Police said then that brake failure was a preliminary possibility and that investigations were continuing.
The Singida deaths are the latest in a series of major crashes reported in 2026. On August 2, eight people were killed and 66 injured when two passenger buses collided at Ibihwa village in Bahi District, Dodoma Region. Regional Commissioner Rosemary Senyamule said preliminary findings pointed to an unsafe overtaking attempt.
On September 17, a Mitsubishi Fuso carrying mourners overturned at Kona ya Veta in Nsenya village, Mbozi District, killing three people and injuring 44. Songwe police said the initial investigation pointed to a failed centre bolt, while the regional commander also warned against using goods vehicles to carry passengers. Earlier, six people died, and four were injured in a bus-minibus collision at Kimanzichana in the Rufiji Special Zone on May 30.
On May 8, a Shabiby passenger bus travelling from Dodoma to Mbeya collided head-on with a beverage truck in Iringa, killing five people and injuring 28. Police attributed the crash to the truck driver’s failure to control the vehicle on a steep slope in the Tanangozi area.
The reported cases show why the issue remains urgent even as the latest official comparison shows improvement. Home Affairs Minister Patrobas Katambi told Parliament in May that 1,066 people died and 1,869 were injured in reported road crashes between July 2025 and April 2026.
The death toll was 16.4 per cent lower than in the comparable previous period, but it still represents more than 100 reported deaths a month.
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The recent collisions have fuelled debate over the mix of risks on the roads: mechanical fitness, dangerous overtaking, the inappropriate use of freight vehicles to carry passengers, and the design and management of high-risk stretches.
Some road safety stakeholders also believe that the cases underline why preliminary police explanations should lead to thorough, published investigations rather than become conclusions by default.
On the other hand, authorities say enforcement has contributed to the reported decline. Mr Katambi told lawmakers police intensified patrols on major roads and penalised about three million drivers through warnings, fines, prosecutions and licence suspensions during the July 2025-April 2026 period.
Also, on September 21, road-safety commanders from Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe and Songwe conducted a joint operation in Makambako to inspect vehicle roadworthiness, Vehicle Tracking System compliance, overloading, licences, unpaid fines and drivers’ alcohol levels.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Bukombe said violators could face legal action, including licence suspension, and that the operation included public road-safety education.
READ MORE: Nine Dead in Dodoma Bus Crash as Tanzania’s Road Carnage Continues
But road-safety actors argue that enforcement must be matched by safer systems. The government’s 2024-2027 Road Safety Plan, launched with the Ministry of Works and Transport and the National Road Safety Council, sets out a Safe System approach: treating hazardous locations, managing speed, tackling drunk and unlicensed driving, improving vehicle safety and strengthening road design and inspection.
There is evidence that engineering can make a material difference. The World Bank says fatalities on the Dar es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project Phase 1 corridor fell from 33 to seven between 2015 and 2021, alongside safety improvements.
Road safety actors believe that Sekenke and other recurrent crash sites show the need to move beyond post-crash enforcement toward barriers, safer road geometry, speed control, vehicle inspection, and transparent crash investigations.
