FOLLOWING several information that emerged after the accident involving music artiste, General Ozzy and claimed the life of a Monze based cop, the Zambia Police Service has come in to set the record straight.
According to police spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi, the deceased officer Michael Nyirenda aged 55, had right of way.
Yesterday, news broke out of Ozzy, officially known as David Banda being involved in accident without full details to what led to the incident.
In a statement issued on Friday, police confirmed the fatal accident occurred around 16:40 hours, in the Machinga area, about 12 kilometres south of Monze Town.
Chilabi identified the vehicle, Ozzy was in as a Toyota Lexus, registration number BLD 3803ZM, and the one driven by the Nyirenda as a Toyota Axio, registration number BAD 7178.
He said preliminary investigations indicate that the accident occurred when the driver of the Toyota Lexus improperly attempted to overtake a truck, resulting in a head-on collision with the oncoming Toyota Axio, which had the right of way.
Nyirenda, a police officer of Site and Service Compound in Monze District sustained fatal head injuries and died on the spot.
According to Chilabi, the Toyota Lexus was driven by Benjamin Phiri, 42, of Lilayi in Lusaka, who sustained serious injuries and was admitted to Monze Mission Hospital while Ozzy, 45, was the passenger.
The artiste also sustained serious injuries and is receiving medical attention at Monze Mission Hospital.
Chilabi further disclosed that a passenger in the Toyota Axio, Mwiya Munalula, 45, who is also a police officer based in Manungu Residential Area in Monze District, sustained minor injuries and was treated before being discharged.
Prior to the police statement, General Ozzy had earlier spoken to Kalemba moments after the crash, describing how he narrowly escaped death.
“This is how I would have lost my life today,” a visibly shaken Ozzy said. “I was in my own lane, bro.”
Furthermore, an eyewitness at the scene, Makina Bethian, also gave a similar account, saying the two vehicles were traveling in opposite directions.
“General Ozzy was coming from Lusaka heading to Livingstone, while the inspector was coming from Livingstone going towards Monze,” Bethian said.
“The accident happened when the inspector moved into the lane of General Ozzy, and that’s when they had a head-on collision.”
By Haggai Hamunyemba
Kalemba February 15, 2026