DRTSS Director Madalitso Kuyera (all black) at Makata Satellite Office yesterday
* Recently established Ngabu satellite office and plans set up more in Mulanje, Salima and Mzimba
* To offer a wider range of road traffic services in order to decongest the Southern Region Head Office at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre
* Intends to utilise existing weighbridge offices to offer selected services, including driver’s licence renewals and road permit processing
By Duncan Mlanjira
In order to decongest the Southern Region Head Office at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre and bring its services closer to the people, the Directorate of Road Traffic & Safety Services (DRTSS) recently established a Ngabu Satellite Office and plans set up more in Mulanje, Salima and Mzimba.
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These satellite offices will offer a wider range of road traffic services and plans are also on the table to utilise existing weighbridge offices to offer selected services, including driver’s licence renewals and road permit processing.
On its official Facebook page, the DRTSS reports that its newly-appointed Director, Madalitso Kuyera disclosed this when he visited staff members at the Southern Region Office and the Makata Satellite Office on Friday to engage with them on key issues affecting service delivery.
The Director is reported to have highlighted Government’s ongoing reforms aimed at decentralising public services and improving accessibility — thus the need to decongest the Southern Region Office and bring its services to the people by establishing the satellite offices.
The tour of Makata Satellite Office was to appreciate ongoing operations and identify areas requiring improvement to enhance convenience and easy access to services for clients.
The DRTSS also reports that during the engagement, Director Kuyera “underscored the importance of integrity, effective time management, quality customer care and the fight against corruption — emphasising that these values are critical to the provision of efficient, transparent, and professional services to Malawians”.
“He further encouraged staff to work as a united team in advancing the Directorate’s mandate,” says the report.
Meanwhile, DRTSS Director Kuyera and Inspector General of Police, Richard Luhanga issued a joint statement on January 9, reminding the public on the two institutions’ enforcement of regulations on motor vehicle registration and display of registration number plates.
The statement highlighted that the Road Traffic Directorate and the Malawi Police Service (MPS) have taken note that despite several warnings and reminders against the use of unregistered vehicles, some motorists are defying the regulations — with some driving cars without displaying registration plates.
IG Luhanga
“This practice is a serious infraction prohibited under the laws of Malawi through section 11 (2) of the Road Traffic Act (1997) which states that: ‘No person shall operate on a public road an motor vehicle which is not registered and licenced under this part’.
“Regulation 5(1) of the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing) Regulation, 2000 further stipulates that: ‘Every motor vehicle in Malawi shall, whether or not it is operated on a public road, be registered by the title holder thereof, in accordance with the provisions of this part’.
“With regards to affixing of number plates on a vehicle being operated on public road, Regulation 19(11) (13) of the Road Traffic (Regulation and Licencing) Regulations, 2000 provides as follows: ‘The owner of a motor vehicle shall cause the registration plates of such motor vehicle, in the prescribed manner, whether or not such motor vehicle is operated on a public road’.
“This again is a serious infraction under the laws of Malawi,” emphasises the two law enforcement institutions, which further remind the public that in line with Regulation 10(1) of the Road Traffic (Regulation and Licencing) Regulations, 2000, all imported motor vehicles have a 14-day grace period from the date they enter Malawi to complete all required registration process.
This include clearance with the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), the Malawi Police Service (Interpol) and subsequent registration with the DRTSS — and after the expiry of this period, “any vehicle found operating with valid registration is deemed to have contravened the law”.
A vehicle with no number plate captured abducting demonstration leaders during the MCP administration
The statement issued a reminder that the DRTSS and traffic police department “will continuously enforce compliance on all unregistered vehicles exceeding the 14-day grace period and all vehicles being driven without affixed number plates”.
“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,” say the two law enforcement institutions.
However, there are some overzealous traffic police officers, who wrongly charge motorists of some offences because not many challenge such decisions — but Lilongwe businesswoman, Agatha Zephaniah is reported to have done just that.
A post of Facebook page reports that the businesswoman bought a vehicle from Be Forward in Japan, which entered Malawi on January 2, 2026 and on January 12, as she was on her way to the DRTSS to register the vehicle, she was stopped by the traffic police near Kapani stage.
She is reported to have been accused of driving an unregistered vehicle and told she had committed an offence but her explanation to the officer that traffic regulations allow a person to drive an unregistered vehicle for up to 14 days after it enters the country, were not entertained.
The female traffic officer insisted that once an unregistered vehicle enters the country, it must be registered the following day and went ahead to issue Zephaniah a K20,000 fine, which she paid.
But Zephaniah later reported at Area 30 Police Headquarters to complain, believing she had been wrongly charged and some officers there agreed with her and advised her to report the matter to Kanengo Police Station Traffic Officer (STO).
“She followed the advice, and after reviewing the case, the STO confirmed that Ms. Zephaniah had not committed any offence,” said the post. “The traffic officer who issued the fine was summoned and instructed to refund the money.
“This incident highlights a common problem where some traffic officers charge motorists wrongly, assuming they will not challenge the decision,” says the Facebook post. “The public is encouraged to report any abuse of authority to the Station Traffic Officer whenever they believe traffic laws have been misapplied.”
The same goes with kabaza operators — traffic police officers at road checkpoints are quick to stop motorists and slap them with fines for some minor offences, such as running out of water from the windshield washer or not having reflector triangles, but allow the kabazas to pass through despite visibly breaking almost all traffic regulations.
Overloading is part of a kabaza operator
They and their passengers don’t wear helmets or have them their in possession; their bikers don’t have indicators; they carry two or more passengers; they overload their bikes — and a majority of them are so rickety to the point that one wonders why some passengers choose such risky machines.
The public thus keeps asking that the law enforcers should stop being selective. However, it is suspected that a lot of the kabazas are owned by law enforcement officers — thus they are not acted upon.
It’s food for thought for the DRTSS Director Kuyera and the MPS IG Luhanga since the newly-appointed Minister of Transport & Public Works, Jappie Mhango highlighted the urgent need to curb the rising number of road accidents, particularly those involving motorcycle kabazas.
He said this on January 7, 2026 when engaged the DRTSS leadership in Lilongwe, urging decisive action to address pressing challenges in the road transport sector — as reported on the Ministry Facebook page, which the DRTSS also copied on its own Facebook account.
Minister Mhango reportedly called for strong measures to eliminate “the scourge of reckless motorcycle-related crashes” that continue to claim lives and livelihoods across the country.
He also stressed the importance of integrity and adherence to the law, urging officers to stand firm against corruption and not be intimidated when enforcing road safety regulations, even by high-ranking officials.
“Corruption must end. Let us patrol, enforce the law, and do the work of this office according to the law,” he is reported as saying.
Regarding driver licensing, the Minister “called for tightening regulations and proper monitoring of driving schools to ensure that only well-trained and competent drivers are allowed on Malawi’s roads”.
“He noted that weak enforcement and inadequate training contribute to ongoing accidents, adding that strengthening the licensing system will improve road safety and protect lives,” reported the Ministry.
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