The Road Fund Administration (RFA) says government arrears of about K218 billion in unremitted fuel levy over the past two-and-a-half years have severely disrupted road construction and maintenance across Malawi.
RFA chief executive Stewart Malata warned the shortfall is undermining efforts to build a modern, sustainable road network.
a month. I Edwin Mauluka
Malata told a briefing on Friday, convened by the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) ahead of a proposed toll increase due to take effect on 1 January 2026, that the problem is primarily policy-driven rather than a capacity failure. He said the fuel levy accounts for roughly 85 percent of the Fund’s revenue and that the unpaid levies have left the RFA unable to disburse funds to local councils for routine maintenance and new works.
“As things stand, we are no longer disbursing funds to local councils for road maintenance or new construction as we used to. Our coffers are crippled,” Malata said.
He added that the funding gap between the state of roads and the country’s growing urban needs has widened significantly, piling pressure on revenues from the Chingeni and Kalinyeke toll gateseven as some quarters question their relevance amid widespread road deterioration.
“The concerns are valid,” Malata said. “But the technical use of toll revenues and the innovations behind them are often misunderstood.”
Malata clarified that, by law, toll gate revenues are strictly meant to maintain the specific roads on which they are erected, while the fuel levy is designed to support the rest of the road network.
Roads Authority chief executive engineer Amiel Champiti echoed Malata’s concerns, saying the authority could have completed at least three of the five planned toll gates, including those on the Salima–Ntcheu, Mzuzu–Salima and Lilongwe–Mchinji roads, had the fuel levy funds been remitted consistently and on time.
Records Nation On Sunday saw show that Chingeni and Kalinyeke toll gates each collect about K200 million per month, bringing cumulative collections to roughly K16.5 billion since their commissioning in November 2021.
Meanwhile, Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa urged the RFA to regularly publish and publicise detailed income and expenditure reports to rebuild public confidence.
“Preferably quarterly reports should be made accessible to all. Malawians deserve to know the value and impact of the investments they are making,” Namiwa said.
Cdedi has since given the RFA the green light to implement the proposed toll fee hike, arguing that the current charges—unchanged since the toll gates opened—no longer reflect prevailing economic conditions such as inflation and currency devaluation.
In 2023, government scrapped the fuel levy in favour of maintaining what it termed “affordable” pump prices, abandoning the Automated Pricing Mechanism which critics argue could have sustained the Road Fund. While fuel prices remained relatively stable, analysts later described the move as economically unsustainable.
