Malawi Police for K25m daily “robbery” revenue collection through traffic fines

The Malawi Police Service (MPS), especially the Department of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS), will now be expected to make sure they collect K25 million as their daily target, according to a directive by Inspector General (IG) George Kainja.

A report by the Officer-In-Charge responsible for Service Traffic and Transport, which Nyasa Times has seen, indicates that the traffic enforcement daily return for Tuesday, December 21, 2021, was K15, 872, 000. 00 as total revenue and 701 as the total number of vehicles that were impounded.

But Kainja, it seems, was not amused with the day’s return.

He commented on the report: “As said let’s aim at K25m as our daily revenue target. K15m is too low.”

Reacting to the development, Bernadette Malunga, a lecturer in the law of business organizations at the University of Malawi (Unima) described the development as “immoral to say the least.”

She said: “The memo would have made sense if it said that the department is worried about the huge amount of money it is collecting because it means traffic offenses are on the increase. And then they should have called on strategies to reduce the same not setting higher targets.”

However, Dowa North East legislator Sam Dalitso Kawale and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Chief Whip was of a different view saying the development was way to go.

“The heavy fines are a very good deterrent for bad behavior on the roads. I am sure this is one such good strategy to reduce accidents,” Kawale wrote on Facebook.

A social media commentator, Emmanuel Chapo, also corroborated with Kawale saying there was nothing wrong.

“Nothing wrong with that boss. Any law enforcement agency can set targets for conviction. Truth be told: the levels of lawlessness on our roads are unprecedented. They can easily reach K100 million in a day in fines.”

The Malawi government collects its revenue from its various departments and agencies including the DTRSS.

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