The Zambian government has announced a significant 55% reduction in transit permit fees for international truck drivers.
But truck drivers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region said on Thursday that their planned protest action to block the country’s borders on December 16 would go ahead unless the permits were scrapped completely.
Drivers’ unions, including the Professional Drivers Union of Malawi, the United Truck Drivers Association, the Truck Drivers Union, the Zimbabwe Truck Driver Trade Union, and the United Southern Africa Truckers Association, among others, gave notice of the truck stoppage in a letter to the SADC on December 2.
Truck driver unions warned in the letter that there would be a “truck stoppage” at all borders between Zambia and its neighbouring countries in protest against the transit permits.
In response to truck drivers’ concerns, Zambia’s director general of immigration, Japhet Lishomwa, announced in a statement on Wednesday that the government had gazetted a decrease in the transit permit fees.
According to the gazette notice, the fees for first-time applications will drop from K12 000 to K4 500, while renewal fees will decrease from K15 000 to K5 625 with effect from Monday, December 9.
Lishomwa said the effective 55% reduction in fees addressed “the long-standing complaints” of truck drivers, particularly those travelling through the Katima Mulilo and Nakonde border posts.
The transit permit, introduced under the Immigration and Deportation Act of 2010, saw fees increased from K3 500 to K9 000 in 2019. This steep hike sparked discontent among drivers, who found the costs prohibitive. Further increases earlier this year raised fees to K12 000 for first-time applications and K15 000 for renewals.
Lishomwa said that to address concerns, the department had embarked on a consultative process involving stakeholders, including the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor Group and Joint Permanent Commissions on Defence and Security with Namibia and Tanzania. “These discussions highlighted the financial strain the high fees placed on truck drivers and the potential negative impact on trade across southern Africa,” he said.
“This reduction reflects our commitment to addressing the concerns of foreign drivers while fostering regional trade and cooperation,” Lishomwa added.
“Despite the delays caused by policy-related factors, we remain determined to see this through.”
He said the reduced fees were expected to ease the financial burden on truck drivers and support Zambia’s role as a key transit hub in the region.
However, United Truck Drivers Association Secretary General Fidelis Mukarati told Freight News on Thursday that truck drivers had rejected the move to drop fees as a solution to their challenges, saying nothing short of scrapping the permits would be acceptable.
“The Zambian government has issued a press statement, but we are not backing off the demands for the removal of the transit permit. The protest is going ahead as planned,” Mukarati said.
