Inspector General (IG) of Police Lexten Kachama has faulted the Traffic Police Department for the increased road accidents in 2015 from last year’s 7,360 to 8,195 this year, representing a four percent increase.
Delivering a Christmas message on Tuesday from the IG at Christmas Ball for officers in the North, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police and Director of Training, Richard Luhanga, said police officers needed to improve on their work to prevent road accidents.
“The IG says the area of concern is road traffic management. We did not do well in road traffic management. This year we have registered 8,195 road accidents compared to last year’s 7,360 which represents a four percent increase in road accidents.
“The IG urges us to improve. He says traffic officers should be more visible, enforcing the law,” said Luhanga.
He also attributed the accidents to drunkenness, unroadworthy vehicles and a high population of vehicles on the roads of Malawi.
However, while Kachama admitted that the police were haunted by violent crimes in 2015, the law enforcers reduced the cases from last year’s 16,470 to this year’s 16 151, representing a two percent reduction.
“Be proud of this outstanding achievement,” said Luhanga.
The police boss warned that corrupt officers and those that engage in criminal activities will find no place in the service because they tarnish the image of the police.
He also expressed concern over the increased cases of mob justice and urged the public to stop taking the law into their hands.
Kachama also cried foul over the increased cases of torching police stations and units in the country.
He urged communities to engage in dialogue with the police to find amicable solutions, instead of torching their facilities. He also urged police officers to give room for discussions where there are differences with the public.
Speaking at a similar event in Lilongwe last Tuesday, Central Region Police Commissioner, George Kainja, said at least 418 people are said to have died in road accidents in the region from January to November 2015.
According to police, most of the people involved in these accidents were school children.
“I regret to announce that road traffic accidents in the Central Region increased during the period from January to November 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014 by 18.8 percent with 2653 accidents recorded in 2014 and 3,152 recorded in 2015.
“A total of 418 persons were killed in 2015 compared to 352 in 2015, representing an increase of 18.8 percent while those seriously injured increased by 6.8 percent from 353 persons in 2014 to 377 in 2015,” Kainja said.
He added: “The increase in road accidents means that the region has lost a lot of productive citizens due to untimely deaths and injuries. Sadly, most of those involved in these accidents were school children. The causes of the accidents were numerous but the most common ones are over-speeding and driving whilst drunk.”
Meanwhile, the Southern Region police has hailed motorists for driving carefully during this year’s Christmas period (24-28 December), which led to no accident being recorded compared to four fatal accidents during the same period last year.
Southern Region Police spokesperson, James Kadadzera said this in a statement on Wednesday.
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