More than 300 traders have been detained for hours at a roadblock near Chilumba Barracks in Karonga over tax evasion accusations.
The traders were travelling in five buses from Tanzania and were allegedly stopped by Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers at around 7PM last night.
One of the traders said they are being accused of under declaring their goods at Songwe border. Despite the traders producing their receipts which they got at the border, the soldiers were not reportedly not satisfied.
“We are not happy with being detained because we have followed all necessary procedures to import out items into Malawi and by this time, we would have been at home but we are still detained here along the road,” said one of the traders.
The trader added that they asked for MRA to go to the spot where they have been detained but they have been told to go back to Songwe to rectify their issues.
Malawi Defense Force spokesperson Major Emmanuel Mlelemba has told the local media that the MDF was yet to receive any report about the incident.
