Malawi: Government Forms New Authority to Reduce Traffic Accidents

Excerpt from report by Malawian MBC radio on 5 January

[Presenter] Government says the establishment of the Road Traffic Authority [RTA] will facilitate the formulation of effective and efficient traffic regulations to reduce road accidents in the country.

The minister of transport and public works, Honourable Henry Mussa, says government is finalizing the process of repositioning the traffic police department, Road Traffic Directorate and National Road Safety Council in the Road Traffic Authority.

Honourable Henry Mussa says the authority will now be responsible for the three departments in managing all traffic and related matters in the country.[passage omitted]

[Reporter] To say that the country’s transport sector is undergoing a metamorphosis is just a fact as the face-lift started with the splitting of the National Roads Authority into NRA proper and Roads Fund. The repositioning continues, says Honourable Minister responsible, Henry Mussa who applauds the progress made so far in relocating the Roads Traffic Directorate, National Roads Safety Council and more interestingly Traffic Police into an umbrella organization to be called the Roads Traffic Authority [RTA].

The minister says the umbrella organization will be making its own rules and regulations in managing the country’s road transport affairs.[passage omitted]

[Mussa] Once we have that authority, it will then come up with its own effective and efficient rules and regulations to ensure that accidents are minimised on our roads and as a process this is the beginning of it as you see these things now taking shape.[passage omitted]

[Reporter] Obviously, such a re-establishment needs Parliament’s favour, hence a government bill is in the offing. The European Union through its Institutional Support to the Transport Programme has been carrying out a feasibility study of such an arrangement and is in agreement.

Dr Chris Ingelbrecht is first counsellor responsible for Infrastructure at the EU Commission.[passage omitted]

[Ingelbrecht] We re particularly interested in the roads sector because we have a lot of historical activities and expertise in that sector up to probably the end of 2010. So, we are going to help with institutional reforms, improvements in efficiency, institutional restructuring and so on.

And we are also going to use the programme to support our own physical infrastructure projects.[passage omitted]

[Reporter] Like the NRA, the Roads Traffic Authority will be reporting to the Ministry of Transport with the Malawi Police Service still providing officers for the Traffic Department.[passage omitted]

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