By Wanangwa Tembo:
Mpasazi River, which starts as a small stream up Kasungu National Park, becomes notoriously dangerous as it gets down to communities in Kasungu west and north constituencies.
It carries with it large volumes of water threatening lives downstream before emptying the water into Dwangwa River which then snakes down to the lake in Nkhotakota.
Stelia Banda of Ndacha Village in Traditional Authority Chisinga says the absence of a bridge connecting communities on the west and those in the east of Mpasazi River heavily impacted businesses and access to health and education in the area.
“We have Kamphinga Health Centre in the east and a busy market in the west. If we get sick, we have to cross Mpasazi to get to the clinic on the eastern side.
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“Those in the eastern side will want to cross the river to get to Chisinga where there is a reliable market for various farm inputs and produce including maize, soybean and groundnuts,” Banda says.
She says communities in the area have faced challenges to access social services on either side of Mpasazi owing to the absence of a bridge on the river that also demarcates Kasungu North and Kasungu North West constituencies.
“It has all been a nightmare for us here. Even school going children have faced tough times crossing this river,” she adds.
In 2022, taking advantage of the increase in Constituency Development Fund from K40 million to K100 million, Member of Parliament for Kasungu North, Mike Bango decided to embark on a bridge project to connect the two areas.
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“We started this project two years ago and we are now in the last phase where we are to do spot levelling and gravelling on the end sides. But even before that, the structure is in use and has already changed the narrative.
“With my councillors, we took the challenge to embark on this project which has now cost over K100 million. Seeing it now at this stage, I am satisfied,” Bango says.
Bango says CDF is not an MP’s pocket money.
“For the people of Kasungu North, we agreed that this is public money that has to be invested in development initiatives that will benefit the people.
“When we get salaries and allowances, we can use that the way we want. But when it comes to CDF, we must be mindful that it is a public purse that has to be used with utmost accountability and transparency,” he says.
The Mpasazi impact is a shared experience for many communities in the district who have benefitted from CDF initiatives.
Joseph Etifala from Traditional Authority Chitanthamapiri in Kasungu East Constituency shares his experiences before the construction of the K50 million Livwezi Bridge in his area.
He says: “Roads without bridges lead to nowhere. We had a very good road here but there was no bridge on Livwezi River, which was as good as having no road.
“The stream used to flood, breaking its banks and giving both motorists and pedestrians some hell of time,” he says.
At the climax of its notoriety, the river swept away two children belonging to the same family, killing them in the process.
“Although we have those bad memories about Livwezi River, we are thankful to government through our MP for constructing a concrete bridge on this river,” he says.
Further north of the constituency is Nthema River whose ghost has also been put to rest following the construction of a bridge on the river, conveniently connecting communities in the area to Kasungu Town.
Community members like Tyson Phiri tell tales of horror in which Nthema River has swallowed everything including oxcarts, vehicles, people and other property.
When President Lazarus Chakwera took over power in 2020, government hiked the CDF from K30 million to K40 million before raising it again by 150 percent to K100 million in 2022.
In February 2023, Chakwera announced another 100 percent increment in CDF bringing it to K200 million per constituency.
Kasungu District has nine constituencies and receives K1.8 billion in CDF resources.
Bango, the MP, wishes the amount was increased further to fund more projects.
“We have constructed another 55-metre long Chapambuyo Bridge in Traditional Authority Chisikwa near Lodjwa in Kasungu North which is connecting communities including those from Zambia to markets and other social services.
“We are also constructing teachers’ houses in several primary schools ensuring that the standards of education are not compromised with teachers staying far away from their schools,” he says.
Councillor for Nthembwe, one of the two wards under Kasungu North Constituency, John Tomoka, hails the good collaboration between councillors and the MP.
He says this has helped to achieve more development initiatives
According to Kasungu District Council authorities, CDF has helped construct various structures including rehabilitation of at least 51 kilometres of roads in the district.
Director of Planning and Development Annie Zimba cites houses for teachers and health workers, girls’ hostels, under-five clinics, water reticulation systems and at least 14 bridges as some of the projects funded under CDF.
Zimba says the council respects and follows all standard procedures to ensure that the communities get quality projects.
In his State of the Nation Address last week. President Chakwera recognised these projects that signify the importance of fiscal devolution to lower levels of governance.
Inspecting the projects recently, council chairperson, Mwambilaso Mbedza urged the council secretariat to involve all council members in supervision of development initiatives to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
Mbedza says: “Regular and inclusive supervision exercises like this will help us appreciate if what is on the ground really reflects what is in the budget. In that way, we will ensure that that funds are not being mismanaged in anyways.
“I must thank the secretariat that they planned that we go together with the chiefs. This will assist the communities to properly follow and appreciate what is happening in all the public projects in their areas.”
Senior Chief Simulemba says joint monitoring exercises are an effective way to foster coordination and cooperation among the chiefs and elected members towards working together in uplifting communities.
“It’s good we came to see for ourselves what we see in budgets so that we appreciate if the communities are really getting the best out of these initiatives,” he says.
In an environment with systems that encourage transparency and accountability, CDF – erstwhile dubbed MP’s pocket money – can help spur socioeconomic development, easing community woes as demonstrated in Kasungu.—Mana
