Six people, including a mother and her three children, have died within five days in two separate fuel explosions in Mchinji and Mangochi districts, raising questions about enforcement of a ban on illegal fuel vending.
In Mchinji, two family members died on Tuesday night at Guilleme following a petrol explosion that gutted their house while on Friday, four people were killed at Malembo in Monkey Bay, Mangochi after their house caught fire from a spillage of petrol meant for storage.
Mchinji Police Station deputy public relations officer Susan Mchekeya in an interview yesterday confirmed the deaths of 44-year-old Sternard Kasitomu and his eight-year-old child.
On the other hand, Monkey Bay Police Station public relations officer Kondwani James identified the deceased in the district’s incident as Enifa Kamwendo, 33, from Manze Village, Traditional Authority Namkumba and her three children Wyson Jailos, 13, Brian Jailos, aged nine and three-year-old Patrick Jailos.
He said Enifa’s husband and father to the children, Jailos Jambo, a known vendor at Malembo Trading Centre, on Friday evening allegedly returned home and drained petrol from his vehicle, filling it into jerry cans and told his children to carry the substance into their house.
James said one of the children slipped and fell while carrying the jerry cans, spilling the petrol onto a charcoal burner which sparked a large fire.
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) spokesperson Fitina Khonje said in a written response yesterday that while there are guidelines to prevent illegal fuel vending, the police are duty-bound to enforce the law on perpetrators.
Fuel Retailers Association chairperson Happy Jere yesterday attributed the rising accidents to poor law enforcement, observing that some motorcycle taxi (kabaza) operators were being used as a vending conduit.
Reacting to the concerns, National Police spokesperson Lael Chimtembo acknowledged the use of motorcycle operators as a challenge in law enforcement and said police have stepped up efforts, including seizures, arrests and public awareness campaigns.
“The key challenge is that this fuel is often obtained legally from service stations using motorcycles and then drained into jerry cans in residential areas,” he said.
Malawi is reeling under a fuel crisis attributed to foreign exchange scarcity and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
