In 2019, motorists travelling between Lilongwe and Blantyre needed fuel worth K36 000 for the 311 kilometres trip.
This made business sense for Kingsley Majoni, a father of two whose Honda Freed needs 36 litres of petrol for the trip.
Since 2015, the 38-year-old driver has been ferrying commuters between Pathanki at Biwi Triangle in Lilongwe to Kameza Roundabout in Blantyre.
However, the business built on tight calculations and quick turnarounds suffered a hit between 2018 and 2020 when rising fuel prices sent fares surging from K15 000 to K35 000.
“Customers used to complain, but the fares still manageable,” says Majoni. “We used to remit K200 000 to K250 000 weekly to vehicle owners and anything extra formed our modest take-home.”
Today, Majoni requires K240 000 to buy 36 litres and a passenger coughs K55 000 per trip, up from K40 000.
It follows a 34 percent hike in petrol price from K4 965 per litre to K6 672.
The weekly remittances have surged to K350 000 and K400 000.
This causes heartbreak as the driver shares his meagre profit with touts and traffic police on the M1.
To cope, long-haul taxi drivers like Majoni not only exceed speed limits to make more trips, but also seating capacity and take parcels for delivery.
“It’s the only way to survive as the sole breadwinner,” he says.
The touts demand a share equivalent to one passenger’s fare for loading the vehicle and providing security.
Traffic officers too demand kickbacks for minor offences, he says.
“You can be stopped for anything. If you follow every rule, which is rare, you lose time. If you don’t, you pay,” Majoni laments.
Some minibuses and taxis pay for the right of way.
However, the likes of Majoni compete with opportunistic motorists travelling on personal or institutional errands, who pick up passengers at significantly lower fares.
“They don’t worry about fuel because it is already covered,” he states.
In April 2020, the cost of fuel slumped—with petrol prices cut by 16 percent from K930 to K780—due to a global oil market slowdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
By 2021, prices rebounded to K1 150 before climbing to K1 746 in 2022. It spiked to K2 530 following the 44 percent kwacha devaluation in 2023.
Last year, petrol price hit K3 499 per litre.
It jumped to K4 965 in January this year following the reintroduction of the automatic pricing mechanism, which has given to the April 1 hike to K6 672 per litre for petrol. Diesel now costs K6 687 per litre.
This means fuel prices have increased more than six-fold in six years.
“The APM triggers fuel price revisions whenever key cost drivers shift by more than five percent,” says Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority acting chief executive officer Dad Chinthambi.
He reckons international free-on-board prices have surged by 42 percent for petrol and 87 percent for diesel, but the public and businesses pay the price and feel the sting.
Commuters have no option.
“We complain about the high fares, but fuel and maintenance costs are expensive now,” says Sailesi Gomonda as Majoni prepared to speed off to Blantyre.
Flora Kamphulusa said the spiking cost of travel was painful but unavoidable.
“I hate being packed like sardines but I have no option, but the drivers are also struggling to make ends meet,” she said, rubbing sweat off her face as she struggled to breathe.
Civil society say the fuel hike threatens livelihoods as it has inflated the cost of transport, food and production.
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has warned of potential business closures and scale-downs, especially among small and medium enterprises.
As the local currency keeps weakening from K730 to a dollar in 2019 to K1 750 on the official market and two times higher on the illicit market, the cost of living for most Malawians has become unbearable.
The World Bank estimates that about 80 percent live below the international poverty line of $3 per day.
For Majoni, the arithmetic leaves a sour aftertaste.
“Back in the day, K36 000 could take you somewhere. Today, even K200 000 is not enough.”
His story paints a stark picture: Freedom of movement has become a luxury for the rich as the cost of travel spirals beyond their reach of poor Malawians.
