Largest alcoholic beverages producer, Castel Malawi has called on Malawians to exercise caution on the roads by among other things, drinking responsibly, to avoid accidents.
Castel Malawi Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Director, Gloria Zimba made the call during the launch of a Road Safety Awareness Campaign in Blantyre on Friday.
The campaign, which will run up to November 2023, comes following a series of defensive driving trainings that the company conducted for its truck drivers, scooter riders, and all employees driving company cars with the hope of reducing accidents in the country.
“We have given the campaign the theme ‘Yendani Bwino Pamseu, Samalani Moyo’ because we are one of the big corporate organizations in Malawi, we are the second tax-payer in Malawi. We have seen and we hear almost every day of road accidents, so we think it’s not on to leave the initiative of fighting road accidents only to the government.”
“We want to lead in the private sector assisting the government and partnering with the government to talk about road safety because whoever is on the road is a citizen of Malawi, is our customer and is a breadwinner somewhere, even if they are young, but they have a future ahead of them.”
“We know we are producing, selling and distributing alcoholic beverages which are just there for socializing. We don’t want people to take that social drink and end up dying because they are of no use to anyone including their families, and country if they die. That is why Castel Malawi talks about responsible drinking, responsible driving, being a responsible citizen, even the pedestrian,” she explained.
Chief Road Traffic Officer at the Directorate of Road Traffic and Services, Madalitso Gunsaru commended Castel Malawi for the initiative while calling for the need to comply with road safety rules.
“Castel Malawi has involved us on several occasions to train its Drivers and Scooter Riders in defensive driving. They also supported the National Road Safety Awareness campaign last year in Mzuzu. This shows their commitment to ensuring that everybody adheres to the rules of the road as we strive to reduce accidents in the country,” he said.
According to Gunsaru, last year the country recorded 1, 068 road fatalities, of which 680 involved motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians.
The campaign by Castel Malawi will target markets and trading centres across the country which are prone to road accidents.
