The shattered finish of the M1, especially between Kasungu Town and Dowa Turn-off, irks most road users day and night.

Potholes and battered edges mar the country’s most important road, narrowing it down to a single lane.

As trucks carrying heavy goods cruise in the middle of the road, light vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians perilously veer off-road and ram into the shattered sides.

This makes accidents and breakdowns common.

Increasingly, an opinion is gaining sway among road users that a good road will not only reduce preventable accidents and breakdowns, but also accelerate travel between districts.

James Mwandira frequently commutes between Kanengo in Lilongwe and Mzuzu City. He pays a huge price to fix preventable faults when his vehicles break down on the road.

“It is expensive to maintain a vehicle operating on the M1. Currently, one spends more time repairing a vehicle than doing business,” he says.

To keep the country’s roads in good shape, the Roads Fund Administration (RFA) introduced tollgate plazas at Chingeni in Ntcheu and Kalinyeke in Dedza to generate funds. Since October 2021 when Chingeni, the country’s first tollgate plaza, was commissioned, all road users passing the tollgates pay a fixed amount depending on the size of the vehicle for road maintenance.

The two tollgate plazas have earned K3 billion since then, RFA reports.

Besides, the 2022/23 Budget includes K7 billion for the construction of three more tollgates at Naluva on Lilongwe–Salima Road, Chileka on Lilongwe-Mchinji Road and Gwai on the Nkhamenya- Jenda M1 section.

Sub-Traditional Authority Kalikokha is upbeat with the planned construction of a tollgate at Gwai on M1.

He says the project will create employment opportunities for the locals and help the nation improve the roads to reduce deadly accidents.

He states: “The poor condition of the M1 fuels several accidents that result in preventable deaths and injuries.

“However, the funds to be raised from the tollgate plaza will be used to maintain the road, thereby reducing accidents.”

The M1 passes through Kasungu, the country’s largest tobacco-growing district. The leaf is the country’s major forex earner.

Better roads will ease the burden farmers encounter to transport their produce to markets in the district and beyond.

Anne Zimba, director of planning and development at Kasungu District Council, is optimistic that the funds to be raised at the tollgate will improve the condition of the district’s roads.

“We know that as the RFA will be collecting toll fees for rehabilitating the M1 that through Kasungu, we will also benefit by having a good road in the district,” she says.

Currently, the government, with funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), has embarked on the rehabilitation of 310 kilometres on the M1’s selected stretches between Lilongwe andChiweta in Rumphi.

Kasungu North member of Parliament Mike Bango urges RFA to use the earnings from tollgates to construct new roads where people have to do with rugged earth roads.

He states:  “My suggestion is that we should use the funds from tollgates to construct other roads.

“Since we will have a tollgate here in Kasungu, we have to think about an important road in Kakwale-Luwerezi-Khosolo-Kasitu Road for whose construction four MPs have been crying.”

The said road connects Kasungu, Mzimba and Nkhotakota districts.

RFA spokesperson Masauko Ngwaluko says the tollgates are established to ensure road users contribute towards the resources required for maintaining the country’s roads.

“Tollgates use the ‘user pay principle’, so to collect money and use it on another road would not be an ideal situation,” he says.

Since the commissioning of the first two tollgates, some road users have been questioning where the billions collected go.

There has not been clear information on which part of the road the billions that have been collected have been used to maintain or repair.

Kondwani Chinthuli, a driver who frequently uses the site earmarked for Gwai tollgate, says the government has the duty to ensure that all the roads are maintained at all times.

“It becomes frustrating when the funds raised are not used for the intended purposes. In this case, priority then must be the rehabilitation of the M1 Road,” he says.

The communities earmarked for compensation and relocation payouts to pave the way for the tollgates expect the government to treat them with dignity.

 “I hope authorities will consider those who have lost land and treat them fairly by making the compensation process smooth and swift,” says Nicholas Nyirenda.

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