Charcoal sellers have become more innovative to beat scrutiny from law enforcers a Weekend Nation sting operation has exposed how officers connive with the sellers, thereby perpetuating the illegal sale of the product.
The businesspersons are now using motorcycles to carry charcoal from elsewhere to urban markets to beat both roadblocks and security checks.
Since NPL’s Weekend Nation published ‘Our sting’ on January 30 2021, that exposed how officers from the Department of Forestry, Malawi Police Service and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) aided charcoal smugglers in exchange for bribes, we have observed how charcoal continues to find its way into cities, despite existing tough penalties.
Our follow-up investigation established that charcoal smugglers use trucks to carry charcoal from forest kilns. They then offload it at designated places for motorcycles to carry it and pass through roadblocks in full view of police officers.
For instance, from Mwanza, some charcoal smugglers use the Chileka route in Blantyre, where trucks offload hundreds of bags of charcoal at Mpinganjira, about three kilometres west of Chileka Police Station.
From here, motorcycle operators charge at least K2 000 per bag to take the product to townships such as Machinjiri, Chirimba, Ndirande and Mbayani in the city.
On the other hand, from Neno via Zalewa, trucks offload charcoal near Mota-Engil Camp, where motorcycles reload and cross Zalewa Roadblock into Blantyre City.
On this route, the motorcyclists charge an average of K2 500 per bag.
While from Zomba, through Zomba-Chingale Road, trucks offload the illicit product around Lirangwe Trading Centre in Blantyre where motorcyclists move it into the city, at about K2 000 per bag.
To substantiate the illicit movement of charcoal through motorbikes, we followed some of the motorcycles, each carrying up to nine bags of charcoal from Mpinganjira and Lirangwe to the city.
From Mpinganjira, we followed a motorcyclist carrying nine bags and freely pass through two roadblocks at Gadaga and Chatha trading centres to Machinjiri.
At Chatha Roadblock, the motorcyclist just waved at four police officers.
From Lirangwe, another motorcyclist also passed through two roadblocks mounted by the police at Lunzu and GDC.
Section 64 (1)(a) of the Forestry (Amendment) Act states that any person who, without authority fells, cuts, takes, destroys, removes, collects, uproots any tree and other vegetation or forest property in a forest reserve or protected forest area, commits an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine of K5 000 000 and to imprisonment for a term of 10 years.
And Section 64 (2) stipulates: “Any crop, structure or equipment involved in the commission of the offence shall be confiscated and forfeited to the State.”
Although this is the case, motorcyclists feely transport charcoal without being arrested or their motorcycles confiscated and forfeited to the State.
In an interview, a motorcycle operator Timothy Gawani said he has been transporting charcoal for close to a year and police have never stopped him.
Said Gawani: “I don’t think there is anything wrong with carrying charcoal on motorcycles. That is why we pass through police roadblocks easily.”
Another motorcyclist, Kingstone Siwakwe, echoed Gawani’s sentiments in a separate interview and claimed that he makes an average of K18 000 per trip, after spending K5 000 on fuel.
“This [charcoal transporting business] is now in my blood. I pay school fees for my children and one of them is in university through this business. On average, I make about K60 000 a day,” he said.
A charcoal burner at Namatunu in Blantyre, which borders Zomba, Isaac Kamkwita vowed to continue producing charcoal, saying it is his only source of income.
The situation is similar in Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, where charcoal smugglers also escape huge penalties using motorcycles to pass through police roadblocks.
In an interview, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said Malawi Police Service is doing a lot within its mandate to protect forest products, including charcoal.
Asked why the police do not enforce the law on motorcycles as they do with vehicles, Kalaya claimed enforcement is the same and no road user, including kabaza, is exempted.
Explained Kalaya: “Just as it is not every vehicle that is inspected, it is also not every motorcycle that is stopped on the road, hence the publics’ perception that the police don’t stop motorcycles.
“We don’t exempt anyone in law enforcement. To show that we also stop motorcycles, or even bicycles, go to any police station and you will find plenty of them that were impounded.”
He added: “Our efforts would make great sense if locals and all other stakeholders joined us in this fight. Evidence that we are actively fighting these crimes, there are various cases in courts under prosecution. Apart from those cases in court, some are under investigation.”
But State Vice-President Michael Usi, who was also Minister of Natural Resources at the time of the interview, acknowledged that illegal charcoal production remains a big challenge in the country.
He echoed Kalaya’s sentiments that the fight against illegal charcoal production needs a multi-sectoral approach as most Malawians have no alternative source of energy.
Usi said government intends to engage investors to manage some forest reserves as one way of combating illegal charcoal production.
He said: “When we have alternative sources of energy, it is going to be easier for Malawians to start using them.
“But there is also a problem getting people to adapt to alternative ways of doing things.”
Renewable energy advocate Kenneth Mtago, in a separate interview, observed that charcoal smuggling is here to stay as biomass is the only affordable source of energy in the country.
He said: “Charcoal smuggling will not end because charcoal is on high demand and people access it easily, compared to other sources of energy.
“Limited access to gas and electricity is another contributing factor to the continued use of charcoal.”
A study by Susan Ngwira and Teiji Watanabe from Hokkaido University of Japan shows that in Malawi, deforestation is estimated to be responsible for the loss of 33 000 hectares of forest per year, due to agriculture expansion, tobacco growing and excessive use of biomass.
According to the 2017–2027 National Charcoal Strategy, more than 97 percent of Malawian households use charcoal or firewood for cooking and heating, making Malawi one of the most biomass energy-dependent countries in the world.
In Malawi’s rapidly growing urban centres, biomass energy remains the primary cooking and heating fuel for 88 percent of the population, and charcoal is now the primary source of fuel for 54 percent of urban households.
