The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is cautiously optimistic that Government will revise traffic fees as has been stated by Chief Government Spokesperson, Honourable Chishimba Kambwili. We hope, though, that remarks by the Minister will not be another political rhetoric by the Patriotic Front Government in the same manner the PF have given assurances in the past on important national issues.
While we are happy with the assurance from Chishimba Kambwili on Government’s commitment to revise traffic fines, we believe it is important for Government to engage with the motoring public when revising the traffic fees and that it must provide the actual timeline.
It will be extremely saddening to see the PF revise these exorbitant fees in 2016 as a campaign tool targeting the motoring public especially bus drivers and the youth who supported the PF ascendancy to power in 2011. We therefore challenge Government to state when these revisions will be done as opposed to giving blank statement that has no timeline.
YALI would like to remind Government that citizens can only pay what they get and there is no doubt that our people’s wage equivalence on relative terms, as aggregate for average population in Zambian, is very low where most bus drivers get paid $0.315 per hour as compared to other countries with high traffic fees such the United Kingdom and the US where the lowest paid gets a national minimum wage of £7.20/hr and $8/hr, respectively.
It is therefore ridiculous for a taxi, bus driver or indeed any other lowly paid motorists to be asked to pay a fine of K450 while carrying a K30 fare.
YALI believes the concept of law is to construct a citizenry that is aware and knowledgeable on basic corporate citizenship responsibilities in adherence to law and order and NOT looking for who to punish or sheer extortion of money as is the case with administration of traffic rules and regulations.
What is more saddening is to see traffic police officers who hide at blind spots along the road to intercept motorists and the increase in roadblocks and police checkpoints that damage our roads and no one in government seems to care about this.
Issued by
Isaac Mwanza
Governance Advisor
Young African Leaders Initiative
I’ve already been a victim of these stu.pid charges and I told the RTSA that I had no money to pay. I told them to take me to prison if they wanted. This government wants to kill its own people. How can you hike charges in that manner when our economy is on its knees? Where are we going to be finding the money to pay? Sheer stup.idity of the PF government.
Aha – and how much is it now for not defacing our cars with those st.upid stickers from Autoworld? K540.00 per useless sticker missing or what? What a useless country that is becoming. Change the laws and realign them with civilization, then modernize your policing so that you offer good service and not the force you keep confirming to your name as ZPF!
How can join u gyz l Want 2b be part of Group called yali