Malawi Police vow not to give in to minibus drivers, conductor ahead of Lilongwe protest
Malawi Police have vowed never to give in to minibus drivers and conductors to ease road traffic offence punishments, saying the law enforcers have a mission to eradicate the increasing accidents on the roads.
The police comments on the issue come as minibus drivers and conductors intend to stage protests in the Capital City, Lilongwe on Tuesday which is likely to cripple transport services for workers to and from work.
Deputy regional traffic officer for the south Alex Zimba said the police priority is to deal with a spate of accidents which are claiming dozens of lives.
“We are working with other stakeholders to ensure that our roads are free of accidents. We are working closely with the Road Traffic Directorate,” he said.
Blantyre experienced violent protests on Friday which saw three police units torched before the law enforcers calmed the situation.
The minibus drivers and conductors are protesting against the government decision to impose higher punitive fees for traffic offences which is up to K20000 or five years imprisonment with hard labour.
The offences include drink and drive and overloading.
Meanwhile, a court in Blantyre has slapped five men with a K150000 fine each for drink and drive.
The magistrate said drink and drive is one of the causes of the current spate of accidents which has shocked the nation.
They were told if they failed to pay the fine, they would be jailed for a year. President Peter Mutharika on Saturday announced the government has formed a committee with members from ministry of Transport and Public Works and ministry of Justice to look into the spate of the road carnage.
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vuto ndi utsogoleri not the minibus drivers. we have the best laws on the land but if the leadership is not brave enough to champion law breakers what do you expect, apart from what is happening
Start with upgrading of our roads hey….y …oppressing……cause u hv shares in Buses u start abusing…… Our roads are not good and u know it Mr Man o what shame poor country no good plans hw to solve issues because of ur benefits…
As citizens, let’s use our mobile gadgets to expose a corrupt acts. We see these police receive bribes. We can take a video and share it. Expose them. Osamangodandaula!
It is not good to drink and drive yes. But where will these underpaid traffic officer going to eat? Last time i check it was my drinking ability that put food on their tables. The more government thoughen the fine the worse the situation will became. If i was able to get away with 1000 mk not they will need more . Mbava izi. Improve the road standard, build attractive bus deport bla bla bla…………
Squeeze these drivers and conductors very hard. They have ambused passengers for so long time
dziko lokanika ngali lathuli sindidaliwone ine, olo mutakhwimisa malamulo chotani sikuti zisintha chilichonse, accidents are there mpakana yesu kuzabwelanso basi
Thats not a solution let the government commit itself in road infraatructure development for instance let the M1 be upgraded to a double lane and the other degraded roads be maintained to upto date state with 2 metres pavements as required n see wat happens next.
We always drink and drive in the eyes of off duty traffic police, magistrates, road traffic officers, MPs etc
and pass through so many roadbloacks but NOTHING HAPPENS
The irony is the police and judges need to arrest and charge themselves
Our poor roads also contribute to this.Its not only drivers.How come a road from Lilongwe to Nsipe its not even 10 years old remember it was constructed by an international company we hailed so much but now its too bumpy; this affects suspension of cars and any slice mistake on the road leads to accidents .The traffic police, government and all MP’s are mum on punishing these road contractors.Other countries punish these companies for substandard jobs.Malawi is now registering a large number of cars but still we are having a very small single lane just to much a single vehicle.Lets… Read more »
You are write even though i have not been home for a while but it looks like the is alot the government is missing…they should look at both sides f the page…to Understand the story…Expand roads its time we go part of the Globe Rwanda is doing it at a pace of no close to touch…Peter have stayed in America he knows better of all these things but it looks when these guys get to power they seize to exist in reality……Come on our leaders wake up….Eish
Much as we hate accidents, stiff and tough penalties will not help improve the situation at. Firstly, those enforcing these regulations will benefit more from kickbacks. That’s a fact. Secondly, you do not groom your child by “whipping him/her hard”. To the contrary, show them love and care. Teach them good lessons. Don’t use excessive amount of force to teach them. Phindu lomwe lingapezeke ndi laife tonse kapena iwo wokhawo wosungitsa malamulo? Mpofunika kuwonapo bwino apa. Dekhani mtima a Malawi. Dziko ndilathu ili.