The Malawi Police v the Rushing Ambulance driver
Legal Analysis corner 2019 April Greenwell Matchaya, PhD Driving around Cape Delgado you are blessed with moments of nice reception such that you can listen to Malawi radios without interruption when you are lucky. So, when I opened my radio on 17 April 2019, I understood a Zodiak presenter as reporting an incident in which an ambulance driver (from Area 25 Clinics) who, in an attempt to save lives of patients and a child who was on oxygen, did not stop in respect of a president’s convoy and was subsequently asked to appear before the police in Lilongwe. It was immediately clear that the police thought the driver’s act of driving while a presidential convoy was passing, was wrongful. Was it? It is common knowledge that where a president’s convoy is using a public road, the law requires that all other road users should in general, stand still or use alternative roads where applicable. The reasons are intuitive, and could include safety concerns since t