Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda has announced that the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) will open a voluntary tax compliance window for motorcycle operators, locally known as kabaza, including those smuggled into the country, to register at a small fee.
The minister made the announcement yesterday when he presented the Mid-Year Budget Review Statement in response to a proposal from kabaza operators under the Malawi Coalition of Kabaza Stakeholders and Associations (Macokasa).
He said the country has thousands of unregistered motorcycles, many of which were smuggled and have created several problems.
Said Chithyola-Banda: “Firstly, the operators cannot obtain insurance, putting themselves and passengers at great risk in accidents. Secondly, knowing their operations are illegal, these operators often act recklessly, endangering public safety.”
The minister added that sites for registration will be announced in due course.
He said apart from reducing kabaza accidents which have put a serious strain on Malawi’s healthcare system, the move also has economic benefits as government will be able to raise funds from the registration fees and other processes.
In July this year, the Ministry of Finance alongside parliamentary committee chairpersons met with Macokasa in Blantyre where a proposal for amnesty was made. Macokasa has since been pushing for this issue in the past five years.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Macokasa chairperson Moses Mwalabu said they are happy that government has finally granted them their wish and they will ensure that their membership benefit from this opportunity.
Currently, registration of a motorbike costs more than K100 000 including various services namely, 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.
