By Wezzie Gausi:
A report by the Parliamentary Committee on Trade has unearthed numerous challenges facing cross border traders in the country.
The committee came up with the report following a petition from Cross-Border Traders Association of Malawi.
Presenting the report to the House, committee vice chairperson Thoko Tembo said the committee visited all borders to appreciate the situation on the ground.
He said, for instance, when the committee visited Mwanza border, it was observed that the border was the biggest clearing station and containerised goods, amounting to K20 million bonds, were normally cleared in Blantyre due to the large volume of goods that were exported and imported.
“We also observed that some traders would hide their goods at the border, hence they would be charged again once officials at roadblocks would uncover the malpractice.
“However, it was also alleged that some officials at roadblocks still charge traders twice even after undertaking evaluations at the border because the MRA system did not update its results efficiently. MRA officials were considered inefficient when conducting first time evaluations,” Tembo said.
Minister of Trade Simplex Chithyola Banda said his ministry was aware of the challenges in the borders.
“We believe the time for change is now. And, as a government, we are doing everything possible to have our borders safe and secure for traders and people that come and go using the borders, “Banda said.
