Four people died while 15 others sustained various degrees of injuries in New Year’s Day road accidents, police have said.
National Police deputy public relations officer Harry Namwaza said in an interview yesterday that they recorded nine accidents during the New Year’s Day celebration, the same figure as in 2024.
He s a i d : “Howe v e r, the number of people who have been killed in the road accidents has increased from two in 2024 to four this year.
“The number of people who have sustained injuries from road accidents during the period has also increased in 2025 from 10 [in 2024] to 15.”
Namwaza called on road users in the country to ensure total adherence to road traffic regulations for their safety and prevention of road accidents.
“During the period, police deployed traffic officers in all major public roads to enforce road traffic rules and regulations. Police booked 510 motorists for exceeding speed limit, 660 for exceeding capacity, 92 for drink and driv ing and f lagged 220 unroadworthy vehicles,” he said.
Comment i ng on the s tat i s t i c s, Road Saf e t y Alert Foundation (Rosaf ) spokesperson Thokozani Chenjezi expressed worry over the lives lost and number of accidents recorded.
“As a country we should strive to reduce accidents so that we meet the 2030 target of reducing accidents by half from the year 2021,” he said.
Chenjezi said there is need for collaborative efforts in 2025 to reduce accidents, especially that 2025 is an election year and there will be a lot of movements. He said politicians should avoid using trucks and lorries to ferry supporters.
The number of deaths in road accidents during Christmas in 2024 increased from eight in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
However the number of road accidents during the 2024 Christmas was lower than in 2023. Police recorded 19 road accidents during the Christmas in 2024, down from 24 in 2023. This represented a 21 percent decrease. The number of people injured also declined from 34 in 2023 to 24 in 2024.
In its 2023 annual report released last March, police said 1 001people died in 4 977 road accidents recorded in 2023, representing about 6.2 percent decrease from 1 068 people in 2022.
Pedestrians were the most affected as 450 of them were killed followed by passengers who accounted for 254 and 119 pedal cyclists. On the other hand, 95 motorcyclists died last year along with 82 motor vehicle drivers and an oxcart rider.
Police and road safety specialists have often attributed the surge in road accidents to poor road conditions, driving under the influence of alcohol, over-speeding and careless overtaking.
However, an investigation Nation Publications Limited (NPL) conducted in 2017 established that corruption at the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services also worsened road traffic accidents. The investigation established that unqualified people were able to get driver’s licences while unroadworthy vehicles ply the country’s roads using counterfeit permits or certificates of fitness dubiously issued for the vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Government plans to reduce road carnage by 50 percent by 2030.
