THE liberalisation of the transport sector by the Frederick Chiluba regime in the early 1990s has birthed an increase in a number of vehicles on the roads.
The proliferation of vehicles has, without a doubt, enabled the fast movement of passengers and goods.
However, it is an undeniable fact that the liberalisation of the sector has also led to an influx of pirate taxis plying various routes in the country.
One group of persons that has seemingly taken advantage of the liberalised economy, apart from private players, are police officers.
In each and every district, the men and women in uniform have at least managed to buy one or two cars.
While some of them have legally registered their vehicles, others have, unfortunately, resorted to merely using their private vehicles as pirate taxis.
On the Copperbelt, it is not uncommon to see a number of pirate taxis owned by the men and women in uniform ferrying passengers to various destinations.
While the colour red is the number plate for vehicles permitted to carry passengers, it is not uncommon to spot a car with a black number plate pirating on the streets of most Zambian towns.
If one leaves in Kitwe and commutes to and from town, chances are that one has on several occasion unknowingly or knowingly boarded a pirate taxi owned by some cop.
According to the Zambian laws, pirate taxi operators are supposed to be aware that it is against the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002 for any person to operate an unlicensed motor vehicle for the purpose of hire and reward.
The Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RTSA) rules states that if one is caught pirating on three occasions, there is a provision that such a vehicle being used in the act is supposed to be forfeited to the State.
But routes such as Town-Wusakile, Wusakile-Masuzyo, Town-Ndeke, Town–Changa Changa, Chamboli-Town and Town –Ndeke Village, Riverside-Town, Chimwemwe-Town, Mindolo-Town, Luangwa-Town, among others, are notorious with pirate taxis allegedly owned by some police officers.
Having lived in Kitwe for several years, this columnist was accustomed to seeing many overloaded pirate taxis and commuter minibuses, which pick up and let off passengers at undesignated places at a moment’s notice, putting the lives of same passengers, pedestrians and other road users in the city at risk each day.
Similarly in Ndola, pirate taxis ply the Town-Masala, Ndeke-Town, Chifubu-Town, Chipulukusu-Town, Twapia-Town, among other routes.
The situation is the same in towns such as Lusaka, Kabwe, Livingstone, Solwezi, Chipata, Mongu, Mansa, where pirate taxis are also flourishing under the watchful eyes of those mandated to clampdown on the illegality.
It is a well known fact that unlicensed taxis are a menace and a danger to the public, but unfortunately, they are roaming the streets of major towns on a daily basis with impunity.
Some people believe there is a possibility that some of the crimes could even have been conducted using the same unregistered vehicles that operate as pirate taxis, which would have been avoided if the transport sector was properly regulated.
What surprises the public is that some of the pirate taxis do not have road fitness and neither do the owners pay for insurance or road tax.
Some of the taxis are not even registered at all.
This puts the lives of the passengers and other road users at risk.
The passengers risk being attacked or worse still, being killed as they board unregistered taxis.
The failure to regulate the transport sub-sector has further led to registered taxi operators and law abiding taxi business owners abandoning the idea to have their vehicles registered as they
claim that there is no benefit in doing so due to lack of regulatory endorsements.
The Roads and Road Traffic Act clearly states that taxis should also be metered to ensure transparency in charges for members of the public, but this is not followed up, leading to an opaque pricing structure and exploitation of unsuspecting members of the public.
Surprisingly, because the said vehicles that in some cases are allegedly owned by some police officers, they are allowed through various checkpoints even when they drivers to not abide by the traffic regulations that could lead to the vehicles being impounded.
But Transport and Logistics Minister Frank Tayali says police officers whose car are with private registration numbers but operate as pirate taxis should immediately regularise their businesses.
Mr Tayali says the Government wants to restore sanity on the roads and curb pirating which has become a serious concern.
The minister, who is also the Ndola Central Constituency lawmaker, said police officers who own private motor vehicles should equally comply with the law by applying for road permits so that they can operate legally.
He said no one is above the law.
Mr Tayali said sanity needs to be restored in the operation of the transport sector where pirating has become rampant.
He said motor vehicles need correct registration to be on the road so as to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
With road carnage being a frequent occurrence, relevant authorities in the transport sector cannot stand akimbo as unregulated taxis flourish.
The onus is on Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to ensure that pirate taxis, whether owned by individuals or police officers, are penalized to save as a lesson to other would be offenders.
Unregistered taxis do not contribute to the revenue base for the country.
Therefore, it is high time the nation starts to put the transport sector in order.