Talking About Malawi Roads

 When one talks about diversification, the issue that will automatically resonate with Malawians is food. And, definitely, most Malawians would think that the issue of diversification from maize, the stapple crop, has resurfaced.

No one, certainly not we, can blame them. Malawians’ obsession with maize has become almost like an addiction, such that there is a need to change diets.

Most importantly, there is a need to change the mindset, which will enable people to know that maize, and its associated food products, is not the only food.

However, Malawians also need to diversify their line of thinking on diversification.

There are countless areas that need a paradigm shift, in terms of thinking.

Take, for instance, means of transport.

When Malawians hear foreign nationals lamenting lack of variety of transport means in the country, most of them tend to think that the foreign nationals are talking about lack of vehicles for use on the country’s roads.

Thing is, the movement of people and goods from one place to another cannot only depend on road transport. At this point, we do not want to talk about Malawi’s pothole-filled roads.

Malawi should start investing heavily in air, water and railway transport.

Just this week, Malawians were surprised to hear that MV Mtendere had tipped over in Monkey Bay, Mangochi District.

This is a clear indication that the country has been failing to invest in water transport. The vessels that operate on Lake Malawi have been there for a while, such that it is high time they were replaced.

Another area that needs heavy investment is air transport. The country’s so-called ‘international’ airports are ramshackle to say the least. We do not want to talk about issues of radar and what have you. The ongoing parliamentary inquiry on the Chikangawa Forest plane crash has exposed glaring gaps in that regard.

And, then, there is rail transport, once a flourishing means of transport under former president Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu’s Banda’s administration. Today, some people and institutions have even fenced areas that used to be part of the country’s railroad.

And, to add salt to the festering wound, we now hear that construction of a northbound railway connecting Malawi to the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority network remains on paper, almost 20 months after the plan was announced.

In February 2025, the Ministry of Transport and Public Works announced that construction works would begin later that year and that a feasibility study was under way.

This is not the news Malawians wanted to hear.

All Malawians want to hear is that we have embraced the principle of transport-means diversification, too.

That way, the cost of goods may be reduced and people may have a choice as to which mode of transport they want to use.

Time to rethink our approach to development is now—or never.