Truck drivers’ strike in motion

1. Ma daraiva opusa awa. Ntchito kunyamula Matola did Juba dizilo. Kukolola where they have not planted. Let the Government of Malawi build a network of railway lines so the the madriver akatangalewa can go to hell.

2. Anthu akukaronga ndi chitipa bomali limakudelerani kwambiri. Nchifukwa chake anakupherani munthu ndikukumenyerani abale anu. Anakudgeyarni masuku ndalama zamigodi yakayelekera. Anapangira zitukuko kwa alomwe. mnsewu wakaronga chitipa wafeki. Panopo mwembiri ndi mokumbika. Samakuwerengani ngati anthu. Amakutengani ngati anthu aku Tanzania kapena zambia. Panopo anthu aku tanzania awasiya. asiya kumanga mombera yunivesite. akubanso gemstone kuchokera kumzimba. azigwira ku Tanzania.Coal kumchenga mine akupangira zzitukuko ku alomwe. Misonkho yomwe amatolera ku Songwe akupangira zitukuko kwa alomwe. Paziwonesero zikubwerazi muzayike miyala ndi mitengo mumisewu. mukatero nchimodzimodzi kutseka boda. Mukatero palibe yemwe aapangidwe chipongwe ndi apolisi or mdf.

3. Anthu akuKaronga ndi Chitipa bomali limakudelerani kwambiri. Nchifukwa chake anakupherani munthu mdikukumenyerani abale anu. Anakudyerani masuku ndalama zamigodi yakalekera. Anapangira zitukuko wa alomwe. Mnsu wo wakoronga anamanga mwa feki. Panopo mwambiri ndi mokumbika. Samakuwerengani ngati amalawi. Amakutengani ngati akuTanzania kapena Zambia. Panopo anthu aku Mzimba awataya. Asiya kumanga Mombera Yunivesite. Akubanso ma gemstone kuchokera kumpoto. Coal ku Mchenga mine akukapangangira zitukuko kwa alomwe. Makolo anu polimbana ndi azungu pomenyera ufulu wadziko lino anakumba mumisewu ndikugweseramo miyala ndi mitengo ndipo mzungu anagonja. Pofuna kugonjesa anthu oyipawa nthawi yaziwonetsero pangani zomwe makolo anu, Muzaponye miyala yikuluyikulu kapena mitengo mumnsewu kuchokera ku songwe border mpaka muchiweta, kuchokera ku karonga mpaka ku chitipa. Inu basi bwererani munyumba zanu. mukatero muzawagonjetsa asilikali. Ndipo magalimoto azalephere kulowa paborder ya songwe kapena kutuluka. Ndinjira yimeneyi msilikali sadzapha wina aliyense

4. Nonsense will remain nonsense even if spoken by a professor. A senior manager in govt get K300,000.00 a month and here a driver is looking for equally the same salary check my thinking. If your dont have job satisfaction leave thàts why we have more malawian doctors abroad than here. Are transportation costs here are high because of you thieved go to hell

5. In the South the most notable and Established Transport Companies are,
   SIKU,ZAGAF, NINKAWA, RASHY CHANGA and MULLI Just to mention a few, these are big and powerful companies and they control most of the transport networks in Malawi apart from the Rail. These Companies have diversified into different other areas of production from their transport businesses. Unfortunately most of the workers in the transport Industry are exploited in many ways not only Drivers also Mechanics, Administrative workers and workers work under very bad conditions. Working long hours without claiming overtime, Low Salaries, no leave, no substistance allowance for those working outside their working stations and no allowances for those who cross the borders to cater for their lively hood in other countries and thats why most drivers resort to be selling Diesel for their survival in foreign land. The unfortunate thing is that some Directors of these companies are Politicians, or have support from powerful politicians and have no respect for any Government official who may want to inspect their working conditions, or they easily pay off those who insists. The other Unfortunate thing is our Minimum wage of MWK35000.00 per month and if transport companies are paying MWK50,000.00 It means they are above our Standard in Malawi.
   The Minister of Labour, President of Malawi Trade Union, Civil rights Organisations, Legal Aid must visit all the Big Transport companies in Malawi, interview Workers and appreciate what our brothers and sisters are going through in these companies, their visits must not be ceremonial but must have powerful authority to change things to the betterment of those Malawians, and with ability to persecute and close any company that is exploiting/degrading Malawians, Persecute those that are employing foreigners to oppress Malawians. The excuse that Truck companies have Loans they are servicing from the Banks is somehow true but not as they are putting it, Check on the life styles of the Directors and owners of these companies you will know that they are lying, they delibertly create a condition for drivers to steal but that does not affect their profits. In the absence of a proper functioning Rail System in the Country Road Transporters are filling that gap thats why most of them are so rich now. The only problem that is in the country is the invasion of our Roads by foreign Transporters from Tanzania, RSA, ZIMBABWE AND MOZAMBIQUE. Government must protect our Transporters, foreign truckers must be restricted and be charged heavy toll fees. It is very much in order for Malawian truck Drivers to strike and their concerns must be carefully looked into by the Minister. Minister of Labour Madam Martha Lunji, know that workers are really suffering, and take real authority as a minister to expose this evil, our people are suffering and money is exchanging hands to officials who can correct this evil. Break this chain of exploitation or if, they cant comply let them close, we know you have the capacity and capability to do it no body is above the law. Check what the former fallen Minister did to Directors at TNM, she ordered the arrest of a wife of a Director who was working without Documents and that Director was making it tough for Malawians to keep their Jobs, also she ordered the closure of many foreign owned Hospitality cos for underpaying and using low quality stuff, she told them that Malawians are not cheap. We expect you as a Mother to help these people, dont compromise.

6. Anyone paying the Truck driver K50,000.00 must be arrested that’s worker abuse.That is why I see lots of Truck Drivers looking so thin and weary.

   1. But 300000k. Thats wishhful thinking.

7. Siyani ntchito ngati malipilo sali okwanira.tiwone ngati mungauze ntchito , EEE EEE diseal aba ndani pot truck driver salary sayiwelengera koma diseal

8. I like this awareness. Thanks to the spirit of demonstrations led by Mtambo. Malawian will never be taken for granted. What can MK 50,000 do. This is an insult.

   1. Haha truck imapanga ndalama zingati pa chaka? So driver wa std 3 azilandila 300000 kkkkkkk

9. PITALA WAPITA KWA PUTIN ( RUSSIA)AKAFUNSE KAYE ZOTI APANGE BWANJI PA NKHANIYI MWAMVA ? INU BADIKIRANI POMWEPO !! TAMVANA ? Eeeeetu Eeeee ! Mukumva KUWAWA heavy pitala telemu yino AMBWENU MBWENU SIBWENI NDI ANZANU OBVALA MASAKAWO

10. Tangowamangilani ma stadium awiriwo basi pakwana a malawi savuta —–

11. Asiyireni aziyendetsa okha coz that’s an insult to humanity. MWK 50,000.00 pa mwezi?

12. A few years ago truck drivers used to be rich people not because of salary but because of the small allowances they are given and the little they make on the road(they are not allowed but everyone knows they make money on the road, just like the drivers in the past dd) . Today’s truck drivers put beer first and nothing else comes even on second position. I don’t know what has happened to beer, it is reigning over today’s adults.

    1. kkkkkkkkkk

    2. don’t forget mahule. Anzawo ankamanga nyumba

13. Trucker 101, you have summarized it all. I don’t have a truck koma 300,000 is on the higher side. Komanso its true, ma truck driver aku malawi ndi ku Mozambique kuba. Illegal carrying of passengers, etc, zobwe- tete- nyamapanda route, malawi trucks kuimaima kupopa mafuta..

    1. Ulibe nzelu,akulandila ndalama yochepa nde asapope mafuta?ukuyitenga kuphweka ntchitoi,

       1. Simply yambani kulima tomato muone zausilu eti kuyendesa truck mukuonangati ndi zinthu kkkkk

    2. Ntchito ikakhala kuti malipiro ndi wochepa, ndibwino kuyang’ana ina ngati munthu uli ndi capacity. Ntchito zoyendetsa galimoto zambiri, anthu amazilipira okha, ndipo miagre salary doesn’t matter to them. Suppose, your employers say “We CANNOT afford to pay you K300, 000 or K500,000 you asking for?” Any planned remedy for that? Because, Malawians cannot allow your labour unrest to affect their livelihoods economically.
       The current job doesn’t pay you well, resign and move on to other employers who can pay you better even if it means outside Malawi unless if it’s government, but otherwise, ma company are not making handsome profits. The economy is too bad now, and I don’t think average employers can afford that demand.

14. Much as I feel sympathetic with the drivers, the K50,000 salary does not reflect salaries paid out by all transporters.

    Above all, I feel the strike itself is mis-directed at the wrong people ( the owners). Truck business is one of the lowest profitable business if you take into account some of the cost and the business landscape in Malawi. The margins are very low.

    There is monopoly of business in the trucking sector. Not many who have trucks profit from it.
    Having owned trucks for a long time, I can say the trucking business is mostly run on bank loans. It takes many years to pay off a truck at the current interest rates.

    The drivers are comparing themselves to other countries which have better economies. In the currrent economic environment in Malawi, it is difficult to pay a driver 300,000 on top the daily allowances they get. A decent busy truck (35 tonne) does not even make a lot of profit per month. Some trucks don’t even make that much a month. The amount of salary the drivers are demanding can sink a lot of companies to the ground and the drivers won’t have jobs in the end.

    More importantly, the drivers in Malawi are the most difficult people to work with. Kuba / katangale a mafuta ndi zina zotero. The drivers also contribute a lot to them not getting decent salaries. Kuba ndi katangale!

    1. It is this poor perception that drives a lot more transporters to poor salaries. These poor transporters are the ones thinking that drivers are thieves yet drivers work extra harder to make everything possible for either side.Those thinking drivers are thieves are the ones accelerating the poor relationship between the transporters and the drivers. What do the drivers steal when you give the driver a 100 litres on a distance of 300 kilometres expecting the truck to perform on a 3.0 average…..No ways. In the end you label driver a thief when in actual fact it’s the owner of the truck who’s doing thievery.

       Unless we have a mutual relationship between the transporters and the drivers,playing field won’t be conducive at all.

       1. Here in SA a lowest payed driver gets R7600 just do it x 50 you will get the malwian kwacha. k500000 is just nothing

          1. Bodza akulu

          2. Same with teachers, doctors, labourers etc get more money in RSA than in Malawi. Simply because South Africa is better economically. So your comment is simply daft.

       2. Kagule truck yako then go do the business uzaone

    2. thanks agreed . am a previous transporter as well

    3. Well said comrade

    4. Koma ndiye mwatokota wawa

    5. I DISAGREE WITH YOU THOUGH I ‘M NOT SURPRISED WITH YOUR COMMENTS. YOU OWN A TRUCK(S) SO WILL CATEGORIE YOU AS AN EMPLOYER IN THIS CASE.

       i will be limited in my arguements though!!

       To start with, Trucking is the most profitable Business in Malawi as compared to other countries where statutory charges are very high compared to Malawi. Currently, over 60% of Malawi owned and Registered trucks ply their trade on Malawi >> Beira route. A simple analysis will reveal that costs for a round trip are covered by a sngle leg ie LIlongwe/ Blantyre to Beira only abeit being less paying and the return trip ‘Beira to Lilongwe/ Blantyre ends up being 100% Gross profit. it’s for this reason that Trasporters can afford to run either of the single trip and forego the other and still remain with some margin. The problem is with truck owners themselves, you can afford to pay for a trip (bribe) up up MWK500,000.00 and yet fail not only to pay you staff but put mechanism/outlook of your truck in order. You always forget the hand that feeds you and only cares for the finger!!!

       Regarding your ‘Query’ on monopoly of Transport Business in Malawi, again allow me to disagree, the problem is misallocation of technocrats in this country. Ever wonderred why most Imports into Malawi are carried by foregin Transporters? The issue of being Landlocked has nothing to with this, the issue lies on how we negotiate for our resources (Imports into this country), FISP for example, it’s the minister of Finance who negotiates for the procurement of Fertiliser into Malawi without the involvement of technocrats from Min of Agriculture (principal beneficiary here), Min of Trade and Min of Transporter (2nd Tier Benificiaries and yet critical advisors).
       You can summarise on your own from these few remarks.

       Bottom line is that there is saturation of Trucks in the industry hence the economics of scale ‘are’ running the show. Poor Govt policies (if any at all ) are doing nothing to help matters (take MRA’s demands on new Export clearance procedures for example) are only there to stiffe Trade. a sinlge truck is only doing 1 trip whole month and then a Driver get’s paid MWK30,000/Month (Lilongwe Transporters- 50 grand angonenera ulemu). Drivers don’t intend to steal your Cargo/ Fuel, they’re forced to!!!

    6. Koma MWK50,000.00 no please this is not even at the level of peanuts! This is what is encouraging Kuba!! Equivalent to ZAR1000, or P800. That’s a maid’s salary.

    7. Ngati sapanga phindu bwanji akupangabe bizinesiyo. Bwanji akugula ma truck anyuwani? Pay them what they are worth. I don’t think they are worth Mk50,000

       1. et et

    8. In much as i agree with you on some section of your comments but giving a driver a salary of MK50,000 i feel is way below par. Yes, this is besides the allowances that these people gate at the end of the day when they travel. I feel Salary is depend on the size of business and how sustainable that is on the long run. Some transporters are just anthu ankhanza and act on the premise that Drivers ndi anthu akuba amazilipila okha..but i bet we still have some honest drivers who rely on salaries at the end of the month as their main source of income. Lets consider them. These are people who are driving your business and making sure that your assets are safe and well taken care of. Surely they must be good consideration.

    9. U are just right let them stop driving akayambe Ku G4S asatikwane

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