Kwezy Buses Company has halted its operations in Mzuzu citing unfavorable business conditions set by Mzuzu City Council as the driving factor.
Recently, Mzuzu City Council opened a Coach Terminal for all all coach buses to operate from with an aim of bringing sanity in their operations as well as increasing the city’s revenue base.
However, bus operators like Kwezy are not amused with the conditions set by the council as being observed by Benson Vitsitsi managing director of the company who has said they are required to pay an individual’s fair each time they depart from the newly established Coach Terminal a cost he says is too high.
“Each time we depart from the terminal we are required to pay departure fee which is a fair of one passanger and in our case this is 45 thousand kwacha but that is on top of office space rentals and if you do your maths, in a month that’s a lot of money and it’s not making any business sense” observed Vitsitsi.
Meanwhile, Vitsitsi has bemoaned congestion in the newly established coach terminal saying it does not align with the company’s business model which targets to serve a specific clientele in a secluded environment therefore opting to halt their operations to and from Mzuzu until the council revise its terms and conditions.
However, Mcdonald Gondwe Mzuzu city council’s spokesperson while backing the conditions set for the operation of the said terminal has urged concerned parties to use proper channels in lodging their complaints to the council so as to find a win win solution.
According to Gondwe all relevant stakeholders were fully consulted when formulating terms and conditions for the operation of the Coach terminal.
“This terminal is not for the council, it is for everyone and if our stakeholders have reservations they have to contact us officially so that together we should find a solution, but I must say that before coming with the current terms and conditions we consulted all stakeholders including bus operators,” said Gondwe.
The renovated bus terminal used to house offices for the defunct Shire Bus lines Company offices before being used by the National Bus Company.
