Government has disclosed that it will remove duty on motorcycle in the forthcoming 2021/2021 financial year.

Speaking in Parliament, Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu said the decision has been arrived with an aim of boosting the Kabaza business that motorcycle operators conduct in the country.

In an interview, Mlusu has dismissed fears that government will lose its revenue due to the decision arguing that it will collect more fuel levy.

“I don’t think that we are losing by reducing the duty on the motorcycles, the first thing is that the values of motorcycles themselves is not much.

“As government we are also going to benefit in terms of them buying fuel for them to ply their businesses, so the more motorcycles we have the more fuel they buy and will be getting our revenues from increased revenues volumes from the fuel levy,” said Mlusu.

Meanwhile, Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda has also told the august House that the Transport Ministry will facilitate training of motorcycle taxi operators with an aim of certifying their cycles in the country.

“These are bonafide Malawians who are looking at a change to an income to support their families, what we are putting in place is to make sure that they are trained but at a reduced fee and affordable and accessible.

“We are also looking at the possibility of reducing that amount [levy] which has been confirmed by the Minister of Finance as well, in a nutshell, the aim is to reduce accidents by having well qualified and trained motorcycle riders and allow them to operate the roads of Malawi without any problems,” said Chimwendo Banda.

He disclosed that the motorcycle trainings will be done at Traditional Authority (T/A) headquarters in all districts across the country.