The United Federation of Employers of Zambia (UFEZ) has called on Government to declare road traffic accidents a national emergency, warning that rising fatalities are devastating families and undermining economic productivity.
Speaking at the Special Drivers Safety Workshop and Six-Month Road Safety Study officiated by Labour and Social Security Minister Brenda Tambatamba, UFEZ Executive President Humphrey Monde said Zambia must treat road accidents with the same urgency as a national health crisis.
“Over Christmas alone, 224 accidents were recorded, 23 of them fatal, claiming 28 lives. During the New Year period, 136 accidents occurred, with 16 more deaths,” Dr Monde said, citing Zambia Police Service statistics.
“These are not statistics. These are fathers, mothers and children.”
He urged Government to mobilise key institutions, including the Ministries of Transport and Home Affairs, the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA), employers, trade unions and civil society, to implement a coordinated emergency response plan.
“Declare road traffic accidents a national emergency. Just as we mobilise every resource to fight a health crisis, we must treat this challenge on our roads with the same level of seriousness, the same whole-of-government response and the same unwavering political will,” he said.
Dr Monde noted that road crashes are weakening supply chains, increasing insurance costs, disrupting productivity and discouraging investment at a time when Zambia is positioning itself as a regional trade hub.
Meanwhile, Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia president Kwibisa Muyaywa said drivers remain the backbone of the economy but continue to face long hours, fatigue and unsafe working conditions.
He cited Statutory Instrument No. 80 of 2016, which regulates driving hours for public service vehicle drivers, stressing that fatigue and overwork remain major contributors to accidents.
“Without drivers, our stores would be empty, our hospitals would lack medicines and our economic trade would grind to a halt. Yet for too long, these hands that steer the wheels of our development have been treated as spare parts, easily replaced and often ignored,” Muyaywa said.
Muyaywa also raised concern over attacks on Zambian truck drivers along regional trade corridors, including the Democratic Republic of Congo route, and called on police to strengthen security.
Representing the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), director Deluxe Mwansa, speaking on behalf of president Blake Mulala, said road safety must be treated as a shared responsibility among government, employers and workers.
He stressed that decent work includes safe working conditions, regulated rest periods and proper occupational health systems, adding that driver safety should be recognised as a fundamental labour right.
Mwansa further called for the establishment of local training in occupational health and occupational medicine to ensure injured workers are properly treated, rehabilitated and retained in employment.
The workshop brought together employers, labour unions, policymakers and transport sector stakeholders to review findings of a six-month road safety study and propose reforms aimed at reducing accidents and professionalising the transport sector.
Minister Tambatamba is expected to use the study’s recommendations to guide further policy interventions in workplace and road safety, emphasising that driver safety begins with decent working conditions, social protection and strict enforcement of labour laws.
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