Police vehicle among 95 blacklisted over charcoal

The Department of Forestry has blacklisted 95 vehicles, including one belonging to the Malawi Police Service, for allegedly transporting illegal charcoal.

Authorities have since summoned owners of the vehicles over the matter.

 The Police vehicle registration MP 1695 is based in Lilongwe, according to a press release the department, which falls under the Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources, issued on Friday.

Signed by director of forestry Clement Chilima, the statement reads, in part: “The Department of Forestry would like to particularly warn the owners of the following vehicles which have recently been seen in various places, transporting illegal charcoal and firewood.

“The owners of the listed vehicles are seriously advised to contact the department.”

Chilima says around 10 privately owned vehicles have been forfeited to government after they were impounded for transporting charcoal and firewood.

National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera, in an interview yesterday, said he has just seen the list on social media and was gathering more information.

 “We, currently, don’t know what happened, but we have seen the list and the police vehicle registration number there. We will comment better once we have found out what really happened,” he said.

Around 80 of the blacklisted vehicles are said to be based in Lilongwe while the rest are from Nkhotakota,  Salima, Blantyre and Dowa.

The Department of Forestry launched a crackdown on illegal charcoal transportation earlier this year after our sister newspaper Weekend Nation published an investigative article detailing how security agents were being bribed to let charcoal pass through the roadblocks.

Carried out between October 2020 and January 2021, the investigation uncovered how a syndicate involving officers in the Malawi Police Service, Forestry Department, Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services and the Malawi Revenue Authority have been giving charcoal racketeers a smooth ride from Zalewa to major markets in Blantyre City.