‘Illegal landlords’ cashing on ‘sleeping’ councils

Failure by some city and town councils to enforce by-laws has given birth to ‘illegal landlords’ who are collecting fees from motorcycle taxi operators.

The ‘illegal landlords’ who are mostly vendors and shop owners charge the motorcycle taxis operators for parking on public land.

Random interviews with motorcyclists in Lilongwe City and surrounding townships established that the ‘illegal landlords’ charge between K10 000 and K15 000 to allow them operate from the spaces, including in front of shops and near vendors’ kiosks.

On top of the K15 000 initial payment, the taxi operators also pay at least K300 daily for using the spaces.

Lilongwe City Council (LCC) spokesperson Tamara Chafunya, in an interview on Tuesday, said the city Fathers are not aware of the illegal transactions happening right under their nose.

 PHOTOGRAPH: NTCHINDI MEKI

According to Chafunya, the city by-laws established specific areas as paying parking spaces and that any fees paid outside that are illegal.

She said: “Most of the car taxis and motorcycles are operating illegally. The council is automating vehicle parking management system. The system will do away with illegal taxi and motorcycle ranks by applying heavy fines on culprits.”

A motorcycle taxi operator in Devil Street in Old Town, Felix Malinda, told Weekend Nation that some of the people who collect money from them are Minibus Association of Malawi workers.

He said: “We cannot refuse to pay. These people are powerful and we just pay so that we carry on our businesses to avoid losing the spots.”

A public notice issued by LCC this week shows that the council has contracted Memory Business Solutions (MBS) to implement the Automated Vehicle Parking Management System in the city as conferred by Section 182 of the Road Traffic Act.

The automation will cover both open and closed parking spaces within the city boundary, according to the notice signed by LCC chief executive officer Macloud Kadam’manja

“The current system faces challenges in terms of enforcement of council by-laws related to car parking resulting in hazard parking that contributes not only to traffic congestion but also damages road shoulders and pedestrian pavements,” reads the notice in part.

It further states that the car parks have also been poorly maintained as it is challenging to fully and efficiently collect and account for revenue realised.

Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) executive director Hadrod Mkandawire described the illegal act as part of a broader grand organised scheme perpetrated by gangsters calling themselves “Eni  Mgodi”.

He pointed out that such people are found almost in every district, collecting fees which is potential revenue for the councils.

Said Mkandawire: “They are also found in other places such as bus terminals and markets. When the city authorities take decisive steps to break this criminality, we have noted that some political actors intervene.

“It is this political interference, regrettably, that motivates most of the illegal actions in cities. You might have noted mushrooming of vegetables and fruit markets almost everywhere. You might have noted construction of structures in restricted places, regrettably including at graveyards, all this is perpetrated by “eni mgodi” gangsters who are encouraged and motivated by the informal powers yielded by some political actors in the corridors of power.”

Our findings in some districts such as Kasungu show that the motorcycle taxi operators do their business under an association which collects the revenue.

In other places, such as Mchinji and Mzuzu, the motorcycle taxi operators also freely do their businesses without paying any fees to either the council or any association.

It is only in Balaka where the council seems organised as the cyclist taxis pay K800 per month while those operating motorcycles pay K1 600.

An official from LCC, who did not want to be named, agreed with the Malga boss that political interference in councils is what stops management from implementing laid down by-laws.

In September 2020, LCC supported by armed police officers, razed illegal vendors’ shacks along the city’s downtown streets.

In the same month, President Lazarus Chakwera pledged to meet councillors of all cities to find a win-win solution to street-vending.

While councils are losing out on potential revenue from taxi operators, property owners owe LCC K12 billion as of September 2022.n