‘Akabaza’ beg  for amnesty

Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs is set to meet kabaza operators over a proposal for an amnesty and tax waiver to allow for registration of all motorbikes, including those smuggled into the country, for easy enforcement of the law.

Kabaza operators, under the Malawi Coalition for kabaza Stakeholders and Associations (Macokasa), have been engaging government on the possible reduction of taxes and other fees associated with the importation and registration of motorbikes in Malawi.

The operators argue that registration of all motorbike taxis will improve enforcement of the law and reduce accidents which are on the rise.

Secretary to the Treasury Betchani Tchereni has since invited various stakeholders to a high-level meeting in Blantyre tomorrow afternoon to look at these proposals.

Among those invited to the meeting are parliamentary committees on Health, Social Service, Budget and Finance, Public Accounts, and Legal Affairs, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), Department of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS), Malawi Police Service and Ministry of Transport.

“The objective of the meeting is to discuss opportunities and challenges faced by the kabaza business community,” reads the invitation letter signed by Tchereni.

In a written response, the ST confirmed the meeting, but referred us to Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda for details. Banda was equally coy to confirm whether the meeting will discuss the proposal by kabaza operators.

In the concept note we have seen, expected to be presented at this meeting, operators argue that many are unwilling to register their motorbikes because they were brought into the country through uncharted means; hence, the need for amnesty.

Reads the proposal: “The stakeholders propose that the Ministry of Finance, through the MRA should reconsider introducing another tax ceiling of all the smuggled motorcycle to get registered through an agreed window period instead of rendering the motorcycles to the usual valuation process.”

The operators are asking for the reduction of registration charges from K200 000 to K320 000 range to K53 000 (100 cc) to  K77 000 (250 cc and above) range. This, they say, was the agreement with the Minister of Finance in 2022.

During the proposed amnesty period of three months, the operators are requesting that they should pay K38 000 to register a motorbike, arguing that government will still make a fortune given the high number of unregistered motorbikes.

Currently, registration of a motorbike costs more than K100 000 as it includes fees for the following services; traffic registration number, trade entity bluebook, booking for driving tests, license, and Interpol and MRA inspection as well as purchasing of number plates and  other costs.

The proposal has the full backing of Parliamentary Committee on Health chairperson Matthews Ngwale who also confirmed that among the agenda was the amnesty, tax waiver and reduction of registration fees.

He said: “For me, Saturday is about action. I do not want to hear stories about how serious this problem is; who is affected. We have done a lot of talking on this for so long. It is now time for us to take action. Ministry of Finance and MRA will be there. We want them to take a stand on proposals; reducing taxes and the issue of amnesty.”

Macokasa chairperson Moses Mwalabu refused to comment on the issue but their proposal claims that they have a membership of about 2.8 million, meaning Malawi could be home to over two million motorcycles.

Meanwhile, records from DRTSS show that as of September 2023, only about 115 400 motorcycles were registered in their system (Maltis).  This shows that many are not registered and government is losing out on revenue. If only two million registered at the proposed fee of K38 000 government can rake in K76 billion.

Last November, Ngwale tabled a motion in the august House aimed at curbing the rising number of kabaza accidents.

He said his motion followed a request by the Ministry of Health whose budget is under pressure due to kabaza accidents, most of which require specialised treatment.

DRTSS statistics show that between 2020 and 2023, Malawi registered 4 566 kabaza-related accidents that caused 472 deaths. This translates to 118 fatalities annually or 10 per month.

In August 2022, during his tour of the Orthopedic Department at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), President Lazarus Chakwera said he was concerned to learn that 75 percent of the cases at the time were from kabaza-related crashes.

The President said there was need for the country to start regulating motorcycles to reduce road accidents.

A number of official reports have identified poor enforcement of the law as bein responsible for the spike of kabaza-related accidents.