Accidents kill 1000 people on Malawi roads, Minister talk of traffic reforms

Government says it is taking drastic measures to prevent or reduce road accidents in Malawi that killed 1000 people last year.

Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila said Tuesday in Lilongwe that most of the accidents are as a result of reckless driving and lack of knowledge on road use.

“My ministry has now increased patrols. We are also putting new road signs. We want to deal with this problem. We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this,” said Kasaila during the official opening of the Lilongwe City West bypass road.

The minister said there strict measures in place that do not allow “shopping of driving licences” as was the case.

He said no driver can just walk over Traffic Department offices and buy a driving licence, saying such drivers are a great threat to the roads and are prone to making accidents because, among other things, they do not know the highway code, a booklet that gives rules on how to drive on the roads of Malawi.

“The Road Traffic Department is going through reforms and these are part of the reforms,” said Kasaila.

He said the Road Traffic Department now holds special driving lessons on Wednesdays in a bid to reduce or prevent road accidents.

Kasaila recently hit news headlines when he went to the Road Traffic Department to renew his driving licence and endured hours of standing in a queue as the Department had problems with a new driving licence making machine.

After almost the whole day at the Department, he finally got the licence and can drive without fear of an accident.