Maputo, Mozambique – The Minister of Transport and Logistics, João Jorge Matlombe, has acknowledged that the number of road traffic accident victims in Mozambique has exceeded the average for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Speaking at the opening session of the first Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, Minister Matlombe described the road safety situation in the country as “grave and critical”.
“The number of deaths and injuries on our roads is both dramatic and rising, already surpassing the regional average within SADC,” the minister stated, urging all officials within the ministry to take immediate action. He stressed that the Government is deeply concerned about the situation, which demands a prompt and effective response from all stakeholders.
In under a month, more than 70 people have lost their lives in multiple road accidents, many of which involved public passenger transport.
The Minister called for a shift in attitude among the leadership of the National Institute of Road Transport (INATRO), the regulatory body responsible for enforcing road safety policies.
He assured the public that the Government is committed to pushing forward with the digitalisation of services, including INATRO’s monitoring systems, in order to eliminate existing barriers and resistance to change.
“There is no justification for so many deaths and for our indifference,” Matlombe lamented, adding that “had the already approved regulations been strictly enforced, many of the night-time accidents involving public and freight transport could have been prevented.”
In the Minister’s view, the issue is not a lack of legislation but rather a failure to implement what has already been approved. He warned that a culture of constant excuses will no longer be tolerated, even while recognising that human behaviour accounts for over 75% of accident causes.
