Minister of Transport and Logistics supports ZRST call for a national road safety indaba

Lusaka, 11 November 2026

The Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST) today held a courtesy meeting with the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Hon. Eng. Charles Lubasi Milupi. The ZRST delegation was led by Executive Director Mr Daniel Mwamba, with Chief Advisor Mr Allen Mate and Research and Partnerships Manager Mr Thomas Miyoba.

The Trust went to share its concern that road deaths in Zambia are rising, and to ask the Ministry to back a set of practical measures to reverse that trend.

ZRST’s work over the past decade

The delegation briefed the Minister on the Trust’s work, including:

• advocacy, with the Ministry and other partners, that helped lower speed limits, including in school zones
• a four-year AfroSAFE research project, funded by the EU under Horizon Europe, applying the Safe System approach, which shares responsibility for safety across road design, education, enforcement and every other part of the system rather than placing it on road users alone
• work with local authorities on school-zone safety measures
• corporate partnerships, among them Puma Energy’s “Safer Roads for Every Journey” programme, which invests in protecting school children and teaching learners safe road use

The delegation noted that companies investing in road safety need visible encouragement from government.

The Trust’s three priorities

ZRST also briefed the Minister on its recent letter to the Republican President, which it had not been able to present in person during the Independence period. The meeting focused on three priorities from that letter:

1. A national road safety indaba, bringing all stakeholders together to review what is being done, agree what must change and set a shared way forward. ZRST noted that this proposal has been raised before and lost momentum.
2. In-depth crash investigation. At present a police report is written for most crashes, but few are investigated in depth. ZRST called for the Zambia Police and the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to be trained and equipped for this work.
3. Use of Event Data Recorder (EDR) data. Most vehicles built since about 2000, including many imported used vehicles, carry an EDR, the unit that triggers the airbags, which stores speed and braking data from the seconds before a crash. With trained staff, investigators can use this data to establish what happened.

The Minister’s response

Hon. Eng. Milupi acknowledged how serious the road safety situation is and noted that every road death affects a whole family and community. He supported the proposed national indaba and said the Ministry would take up the issues raised, including a comprehensive review of road traffic laws and regulations. He also advised ZRST on which institutions to work with to take the proposals forward.

The meeting also discussed the example of Rwanda, where most road users comply with traffic rules. Both sides noted that enforcement works best when the public sees it as being about safety rather than raising revenue.

Next steps

ZRST will:

• follow up with the Minister’s office on the institutions and contact persons to engage
• give the Ministry a copy of the letter to the Republican President
• prepare a concept note and roadmap for the national road safety indaba
• develop a proposal for training Zambia Police and RTSA officers in crash investigation and EDR data use
• compile verified national fatality data from official RTSA and Zambia Police sources

ZRST thanks the Minister for his time and support, and is ready to begin work as soon as the Ministry gives the go-ahead.