Barely 10 days to the close of the voluntary compliance window given to motorcycle taxis (kabaza) operators to register, there is lukewarm response to the call meant to enhance safety on the roads.
Malawi Coalition for Kabaza Stakeholders Association chairperson Moses Mwalabu in an interview yesterday confirmed that motorcycle taxis owners were reluctant to register their motorcycles for several reasons, including claims that some politicians were insinuating that the initiative was meant to mobilise election campaign funds and that it would be curtailed after the September 16 General Election.
He also said his association did not do enough to reach out to as many kabaza operators as possible to raise awareness on the initiative due to lack of funds.
“On our side, we did not reach out to some of our members, particularly in remote areas,” said Mwalabu.
However, he could not name politicians or political parties that were purportedly discouraging motorcycle owners from clearing and registering their unregistered motorcycles.
Mwalabu appealed to their members to take advantage of the window to clear and register their motorcycles, saying after June 30 this month, law enforcement agencies such as Malawi Police and Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services will be impounding all motorcycles breaking the law.
“We are aware that from July 1 [2025], the law enforcers will go after anyone operating without a [crash] helmet. So, what we are doing now is that we are engaging suppliers to start supplying helmets to motorcycle owners on loan to ensure that from next month our members should be wearing helmets. Most of our members are poor and are failing to buy the helmet at K40 000,” he said.
Commenting on the developments, road safety expert Steve Mwandama urged police, Road Traffic and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) not to relent on ensuring compliance to safety standards for kabaza operators.
He said apart from being a major contributing factor to the country’s road accidents, kabazas were also agents of crimes as some criminals use them to commit violent offenses.
“Registering kabaza and training operators will sanitise our roads and at the same time reduce road accidents,” said Mwandama.
MRA spokesperson Wilma Chalulu and her Road Traffic counterpart Angelina Makwecha asked for more time before commenting on the matter. However, by press time at 9pm they had not responded.
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola announced the amnesty during presentation of the 2024/25 mid-term budget review statement in December last year in response to a proposal by kabaza stakeholders.
The amnesty is to lure Kabaza owners to clear their motorcycles, even those smuggled into the country.
Information published on MRA website shows that the revised import duty for motorcycles has been pegged at K56 000 for models with engine capacities ranging from zero to 100cc while 101 to 250cc attract K77 000.
Police statistics show that between January and March this year, the country recorded 227 kabaza related accidents that killed 21 people.
Statistics from Road Traffic show that between 2020 and 2023, Malawi registered 4 566 kabaza-related accidents that caused 472 deaths, translating to 118 fatalities annually or 10 per month.
