From the look of things, fuel woes are a cause of sleepless nights not only to motorists spending nights at service stations hoping to get the scarce liquid, but the presidency as well.
In two separate cases, President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Michael Usi on Tuesday barked out directives to government ministries, departments and agencies involved in the procurement and supply of fuel to speed up the hauling of stocks reportedly stuck in Tanga, Tanzania.
Next, the President rejected a proposal to increase fuel pump prices by at least 30 percent.
Meanwhile, Transporters Association of Malawi (TAM), a key player in the fuel hauling logistics, is demanding an upward revision of rates paid for transporting the fuel to Malawi, saying the current rates are on the lower side.
About 31 million litres of the 51.15 million litres the Malawi Government bought using Kenya’s existing government to government (G2G) arrangement with Abu Dhabi is said to be stuck at Tanga.
Communication from State House showed that the President rejected the proposal to have the pump price for fuel raised by 30 percent and ordered that bottlenecks rocking transportation of fuel be resolved within 48 hours.
If the President accepted the pump price adjustment of 30 percent, the cost of petrol would have jumped by K759 to K3 289 per litre from K2 530 while diesel would have been fetching K3 554.20 per litre from the current K2 734, jumping by K820.20.
Reads the communication: “President Chakwera has rejected an increase in the pump price of fuel by over 30 percent as proposed by agencies responsible for the procurement and supply of fuel,
“…and has instead given them 48 hours to resolve their failure to bring 31 million litres of affordable fuel that he secured a month ago through his new G-2-G policy and that is still awaiting haulage from Tanzania to Malawi.”
On his part, Usi summoned officials from the Ministry of Energy led by Minister Ibrahim Matola, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) and National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) on Tuesday to discuss the fuel crisis.
In an interview yesterday, the Vice-President said he had noted laxity on the matter among the agencies.
He also said he would be meeting the same team today to get feedback on solutions to haulage problems.
Said Usi: “Their behaviour is not in any way resonating with the situation. It’s time-wasting and it’s as if there is no sense of urgency.
“I told them to expedite the processes, do everything and their day each day ends at midnight. Have told them not to play but do the job. I will meet them on Thursday [today] so that they can tell me how the fuel is going to be brought into Malawi.”
He said his directive did not mean that supply of fuel should stop until after today’s meeting, stressing the meeting is not for excuses.
Said Usi: “There are petty issues which are dragging us behind. That is why I directed them to meet and report back. When the President makes a directive, it’s a marching order, no discussion. So, the President has given me marching orders as Minister of State on this matter, and I will do just that.”
TAM spokesperson Frank Banda said the situation worsened recently due to upgrading of a system by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), which led to delays in issuing clearance documents.
He also said the transporters feel shortchanged by low haulage rates as they are paid K10 million from Tanga, out of which K6 million goes towards fuel and K2 million covers toll fees, leaving them with K2 million.
Said Banda: “This is the reason many transporters don’t want to provide their vehicles for this exercise. We want at least the rate moved to between K18 million and K22 million. We have been engaging government, and today [Wednesday] we are also engaging.”
Based on TAM figures, there were 41 trucks earmarked to haul fuel from Tanga by February 4 2025.
Meanwhile, Mera consumer affairs and public relations manager Fitina Khonje yesterday said the sector will comply with the presidential directive.
“The fuels sector is obliged to adhere to the presidential directive. The sector will step up its efforts to navigate the logistical challenges being faced. The public will be comprehensively updated in due course,” she said.
In recent months, pressure has been mounting on authorities to raise fuel prices to avert looming fuel stock outs, as well as, to reflect the realities of landed costs and global fuel prices, and taking into consideration the local currency’s weakness.
Legislators on the government side, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change and Consumers Association of Malawi have been making such recommendations.
Nocma data shows that Malawi uses 1.05 million litres each for diesel and petrol per day.
Malawi spends $600 million (about K1 trillion) on fuel importation per year, according to the Reserve Bank of Malawi. In total, the country needs $3 billion to meet its import requirements.
