School Children in Machinga Abandon Classes to Work on Dangerous Highway
Reports reaching Nyasatimes have revealed a disturbing trend in Machinga District where some school children are skipping classes to repair potholes on a major highway in order to beg for money from passing motorists.
During a visit to the Liwonde–Zomba road, our reporters found a group of children armed with hoes, plates, and buckets, filling potholes on the tarmac while stopping heavy trucks and other vehicles to ask for cash. The children were not wearing any reflective clothing or safety gear, exposing them to serious risk of accidents.
The scene was shocking. Instead of being in school, these children had turned a busy public road into a dangerous work zone, putting their lives at risk and disrupting traffic.
Speaking to Zodiak Online, Alice Chinthochi, spokesperson for Roads Authority, condemned the practice, saying it is illegal and unacceptable for children to be involved in such activities.
“It is not allowed for children to be repairing roads. The responsibility of road maintenance lies with the Roads Authority. What is happening is dangerous and must stop immediately,” said Chinthochi.
She added that the Authority is now engaging local leaders and security agencies in the district to find ways of removing children from the roads and restoring order.
Meanwhile, Machinga Police spokesperson Western Kansire warned that anyone found sending or allowing children to engage in roadside work for money will face the full force of the law.
“Using children to solicit money on public roads is a criminal offence. Those behind this will be arrested and prosecuted,” Kansire said.
The situation raises serious questions about child protection, road safety, and the state of infrastructure maintenance. While potholes remain a problem on many roads, authorities insist that exposing children to danger is not a solution.
What is happening in Machinga is not just about bad roads. It is about a system failing to protect its most vulnerable citizens — children who should be in classrooms, not dodging trucks on a busy highway.
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That’s the failure of the governments when comes to the maintenance of roads, not only in Machinga, other districts too
I wonder if they are any officials in this department. Wherever you can drive to road is damage
This is not happening in Machiga only. It’s all across dilapidated roads in Malawi. Personally I do not even understand why it has to be indicated here that these children are not wearing any protective wear because even a layman knows roads are not maintained by children. While I applaud the author of this article for bringing this issue to light, let me also bring this to the attention of readers and the roads authority as well as the Malawi Police at large, that most roads users are also being harrassed in the secondary and earth roads that lead to or from these main roads. These roads are in a poor state and some community members have taken the responsibility of maintaining them on their own without consulting community leaders or authorities. This usually happens during market days. Service providers (civil servants) and other development workers apart from community members themselves who usually use these roads are forced to pay some money or otherwise abused or turned away if they make some excuses of not having money or otherwise. Authorities have to look into this issue as well.