President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse Alliance administration says the demands by Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (MOAM) to have Tollgate fees reduced are unrealistic and unjustifiable.
MOAM Secretary General, Coxley Kamange recently asked government to reduce the tollgate fees for minibuses from MK3, 400 to MK500.
Kamange said the set tollgate fees ere exorbitant and that there were no thorough consultations in coming up with the fees structure.
But speaking during a presser on Sunday in Blantyre, Minister of Information Gospel Kazako said will the fees are the cheapest in the SADC region and the entire World.
“We have made a bold decision not to reduce the tollgate fees…amene akudandaulawo asiye azidandaula, akalira lira atothola,” said Kazako, who also doubles as Tonse Alliance administration spokesperson.
In a published statement on Monday last week, the Roads Fund Administration (RFA) announced the implementation of toll fees at Chingeni Toll Plaza on the M1.
According to the statement, the fees range from K1 700 to K20 000 per pass, depending on the size of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Minibus Owners and the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) will tomorrow on Mondayhold a vigil at the Chingeni Toll Plaza as one way of forcing government to reduce the tollgate fees.
This government has failed to put things together and as a result they have opted to punish Malawians. Unfortunately, the citizenry will have to accept these punitive measures because it was by choice that they decided to put this mentally compromised and brain dead government into power. Expect these pangs to last till 2025 when another free choice will be tabled. As for now just jump onto the accident prone train and expect a smooth or rough landing. Malawi is not the first country to introduce Toll Stations. Toll Stations are not meant to cheat road users. But looking at the way public money is being utilised, those at the helm are trying everything possible to continue milking an already thin cow, but for how long? These gimmicks will not hold because people will soon get tired or better still, won’t have enough money to simply give away.