Incessant rains have damaged roads and bridges across the country, cutting off access in several key areas, including the Northern Region which was yesterday disconnected from the rest of the country.
The disruptions were worse on the M1 between Kasungu and Mzimba districts as well as the M5, also known as the Lakeshore Road, between Nkhotakota and Nkhata Bay.
Both roads are gateways to Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania, one of Malawi’s key ports for imports and exports.
In Kasungu, the M1, currently undergoing rehabilitation, was closed after floods washed away bridges at Mphomwa and Nkhamenya while in Nkhotakota, the floods rendered parts of the Lakeshore Road impassable at Dwangwa, Kaombe, Nchandilo and Nkaika bridges.
The disruptions have affected business and social activities, with some Malawians cut off from their destinations and others left in the middle of nowhere.
Roads Authority (RA) chief executive officer Engineer Ammiel Champiti in an interview yesterday said Mota-Engil has been deployed to work on the M1 in Kasungu while China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation was restoring connectivity on the M5.
He said RA was conducting further assessments to determine other roads affected by the floods, adding that Dwangwa Bridge, which has over the years been subjected to persistent cuts, would also be assessed by the contractor working on the M5.
Said Champiti: “On the M1, the contractor is on site back-filling and doing support work on the bridge. We are also looking at how we can put temporary crossings on some sections of the road.
“On the M5, we are still doing investigations because there are still floods, and once the water subsides, we will have a clear picture.”
But the RA chief declined to indicate the cost of repairing the damaged sections of the two key roads, saying the maintenance costs would be determined after the assessments.
Meanwhile, the Transporters Association of Malawi (TAM) has said scores of trucks transporting fertiliser for the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme as well as fuel were stuck due to the cut-offs.
In an interview yesterday, TAM chairperson Frank Banda said: “We are appealing to the Roads Authority to fast-track the fixing of the roads even if it means building temporary bridges so that transportation should resume.”
Wyson Chiusi, a Lilongwe-based technician, is one of the travellers affected by the situation.
In an interview yesterday, he said he was travelling to Nkhotakota to fix machinery, but was forced to return to his base because the road was impassable.
Chiusi appealed to RA to urgently fix the road, saying the situation had affected the businesses of many Malawians.
Another road user, Clifford Zipere, said ongoing construction works on the M5 have worsened the situation, noting that most affected sections were those with diversions.
“The road has been cut off at Mwansambo [in Nkhotakota], especially around the Nkaika turn-off because the ongoing works have rendered it unusable,” he said.
In the Southern Region, several districts have also been affected, with the twin Lower Shire districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa having the highest number of displaced households.
Nsanje district information officer Robert Nayeja said yesterday preliminary reports showed that 3 205 households were affected, forcing 1 300 of them to seek shelter at M’bwazi camping site.
In Chikwawa, there were 2 762 households affected, according to district information officer Leah Malimbasa.
She said: “Continuous rains have caused houses to collapse, which has consequently soaked and damaged foodstuffs. Most of the affected houses are due to poor construction.”
The heavy rains also destroyed electricity infrastructure in Lauji Village, Traditional Authority Katunga, leaving residents and businesses without power.
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has since warned that most major rivers across the country, especially along the lakeshore and parts of the Central Region, were experiencing high water levels.
The ministry’s director of water resources James Chitete said the flood forecasting models indicated that some rivers would likely experience high water levels between December 30 2025 and January 11 2026.
“The water levels in the Shire River are increasing, but have not yet reached the level of flooding,” the statement read in part.
In a related development, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has warned of possible flash floods, particularly in flood-prone areas such as Chikwawa, Nsanje and other lakeshore districts.
On the other hand, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) said it had deployed a search-and-rescue team comprising Malawi Defence Force, Malawi Police Service and the Marine Department to Nsanje and Nkhotakota districts.
Dodma said in a statement that disasters due to incessant rains affected 7 205 households last week in 13 councils, representing approximately 32 422 people.
The districts were Chikwawa, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Lilongwe City, Lilongwe District, Mulanje, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje and Salima.
Dodma Commissioner for Disaster Wilson Moleni said in a statement that between December 22 and 28, there have been three deaths and 41 injuries mainly caused by collapsing walls.
