During a special operation, the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services and Malawi Police Service have impounded at least 269 unregistered vehicles and those driving without displaying number plates.
Data from the directorate show that 121 vehicles were unregistered while 148 were being driven without displaying number plates.
The directorate’s director Christopher Kuyera confirmed to The Nation yesterday, saying the exercise will continue.
“The exercise will be ongoing as we have observed that there is a lot of noncompliance to the registration of vehicles and the fixing of number plates across the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, the directorate has also advised all car importers and dealers to get registered to be issued with Motor Trader (MT) number plates, which may be displayed on vehicles that are being offered for sale.
The directorate posted on its Facebook page on Saturday: “MT plates are issued strictly to registered car importers and dealers and must only be used in accordance with the conditions set.
“Any vehicle operating without proper registration or valid MT plates will be subject to enforcement action.”
Road Safety Alert Foundation executive director Joel Jere has since commended the directorate, saying the exercise will bring sanity on the roads and make it easy to trace those that use unregistered vehicles for wrongdoing.
“The exercise should not be one off activity, it should be done now and again,” he said.
In December last year, Chief Secretary Justin Saidi and the Ministry of Transport and Public Works issued a warning against driving of vehicles without displaying number plates.
On December 2, Saidi said his office had “noted with concern” that some senior government officials and drivers were driving government motor vehicles without displaying registration number plates.
Early this month, the directorate and police also issued a similar warning, saying the conduct is against Section 11 (2) of the Road Traffic Act.
Kuyera and Inspector General of Police Richard Luhanga jointly issued a statement, decrying the tendency and warning of consequences.
“To avoid being inconvenienced and embarrassed with traffic law enforcers, all motorists are expected to refrain from operating vehicles without affixed number plates on public roads,” read part of the press statement.
The operation started on January 21 2026.
