As Malawi commemorated 2023 African Road Safety Day (ARSD) on Friday, Ministry of Transport and Public Works launched National Road Safety Strategy for 2022 to 2030 that focus on key result areas among them safe vehicle and post-crash response
Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jacob Hara presided over the ARSD commemoration and launch of the National Road Safety Strategy at Mitole ground in Chikwawa where he said the commemoration was crucial as it provided opportunity for stakeholders in road safety and road users to reflect and stir action on ways and means of reducing road accidents.
“Road accidents have become leading causes of deaths and injuries such that there is need for collective action by both duty bearers and citizens to address the problem,” the minister said.
Launching the National Road Safety Strategy, Hara outlined five key results areas that focus on; road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safe road users, safe vehicles and post-crash response.
The minister therefore called on stakeholders to view the strategy as a guide for practical and impactful actions other than viewing it as a mere document.
“To all stakeholders, I say let the availability of the National Road Safety Strategy be a guide to your activities not just a booklet. To all road users, be it motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and many more, the strategy would be meaningless if we don’t use it,” Hara said.
Refering to the ARSD theme; Open Vehicles are Death Trap, Use Secured Vehicles, the minister said statistics were so alarming on road accidents involving open vehicles and called on citizens to desist from travelling on open vehicles saying the risk is always very high.
In his remarks, Director of Road Traffic and Safety Services, Andrew Sandula said ARSD commemoration was ideal and relevant, adding that the commemoration provided opportunities for citizens to learn more on magnitude of road accidents.
“Road safety is a shared responsibility involving various players beyond government institution such that there is need for concerted effort to achieve the 2030 strategic goal of 50 per cent reduction,” Sandula added.
He added that Malawi still alarming statistics on road accidents despite limited fleet and road network as compared to other countries
“Despite having small proportion of world total motor vehicles fleet and road network, Malawi register 5,553 road crashes in 2022 and majority of which were fatal (919) with 1,068 people losing their lives compared to 1,226 fatal road accidents recorded in 2012 when 1,444 people died, representing 25 per cent and 26 per cent decrease respectively,”
“Although there has been a noticeable 26 per cent drop in fatalities when compared to statistics in 2022, the number remains higher when considering the reasons behind theses collisions and Malawi ‘s goal to reduce road traffic fatalities and injuries by 50 per cent by 2030,” Sandula said.
The Director of Road Traffic and Safety Services, cited Chikwawa as one of the districts where road accidents claimed many lives and left other people with serious injuries.
“Chikwawa alone recorded 13 fatal road accidents with 3 serious and 7 minor crashes in the year 2022 as compared to 2021 which recorded 25 fatal road accidents, 11 serious and 11 minor crashes. These statistics are quite alarming as they represent loss of human lives and injuries hence the need to concentrate on efforts to curb the scourge,” he said.
In his remarks Chikwawa District Commissioner, Nardin Kamba said the accidents affects people in the district and sectors at the council in many ways.
“Road accidents affects our drug budget at the hospital and families of those involved in the road accidents are also affected economically as many resources are used in caring for them and in some cases accidents claim lives of breadwinners, “added Kamba
Reflecting on the ARSD, the DC therefore called on passengers to avoid travelling on open vehicles and further appealed to drivers of open vehicles to avoid enticing passenger to travel on such vehicles.
