Protests yesterday marred a joint police and Malawi Coalition of Kabaza Associations (Macokasa) operation to enforce sanity among motorcycle taxi (kabaza) operators in urban areas as riders briefly blocked roads in Limbe, Blantyre.
During their protest yesterday, the kabaza operators blocked the road at Midima Roundabout and in the process disrupted traffic on the exit routes from Limbe to Thyolo, Chiradzulu and Mulanje districts as well as Bangwe and Chigumula residential areas within Blantyre city.
By the time The Nation arrived at the scene around 10am, police had cleared the road. However, tension still engulfed the atmosphere.
In separate interviews, some of the kabaza operators, speaking on condition of anonymity, lamented that they were not given enough time to meet all the requirements yet police were already preventing them from entering Limbe central business district (CBD).
“What they are doing is depriving us of economic activity. I moved from my village to stay in Bangwe Township here in Blantyre surviving on this business. What do they want us to be doing?” said one of them.
But Limbe Police Station deputy spokesperson Demetria Banda said in an interview that the operation is meant to promote road safety and ensure compliance with traffic laws.
She said that during yesterday’s enforcement exercise police impounded 39 motorcycles and that the operation will continue.
Macokasa chairperson Moses Mwalabu said the operation is happening nationwide and that they have made efforts to sensitise their members.
He disowned kabaza operators who staged the protest in Limbe, saying their members believe in dialogue and acknowledged that they were given enough time to comply.
“We have been in touch with our members nationally who are aware of the development,” said Mwalabu.
He said the association’s data show that there are more than 1.4 million motorcycles across the country.
According to Mwalabu, motorcycle owners now have two months remaining to register their motorcycles at between K56 000 and K77 000, depending on the type of motorcycle.
He said that after the grace period the registration costs will revert to the normal cost of K400 000 and K500 000.
Mwalabu added that the association has also been working with driving schools that are offering licences at as low as K120 000 instead of K430 000.
Recently, city councils have also been considering implementing various measures to bring order and reduce motorcycle accidents.
Blantyre City Council Mayor Isaac Jomo Osman is on record as having said that kabaza operators would have designated places where they would terminate from without entering the CBD.
He said the plan is to have those coming from Bangwe and surrounding areas to terminate at Illovo Roundabout, while those coming from Manase and surrounding areas would stop at Vanmali Building in Blantyre CBD.
On the other hand, kabaza operators coming from Ndirande and surrounding areas would stop at Clock Tower Roundabout.
Mzuzu City Council spokesperson MacDonald Gondwe said they are working with various stakeholders, including Macokasa and the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services, to bring sanity to the city and have given kabaza operators three months to register their motorcycles.
In the CBD, they have been restricted to using the M1 and M5 roads.
Zomba City Council said it has designated areas for kabaza ranks on the outskirts of the CBD and at the bus depot.
Last week, police in Lilongwe barred kabaza operators from operating beyond 8pm, among other reasons, to reduce cases of robberies after seven of the kabaza operators were killed within a week.
Between 2022 and 2025, road traffic authorities have linked 979 deaths and more than 2 000 serious injuries to motorcycle crashes.
Malawi Police data indicate that a total of 814 road accidents involving kabaza were recorded in 2025, claiming 162 lives and causing 652 injuries. The figure is higher than the 727 accidents recorded in 2024, which claimed 146 lives and left 581 people injured
Statistics from Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery indicate that the hospital treats more than 2 000 motorcycle-accident patients annually and performs roughly 300 surgeries a month, with each bone fracture costing K5 million.
