In areas surrounding Chimwankhunda Primary School in Group Village Headman Galeta’s area, which is under Traditional Authority (TA) Kadewere, Chiradzulu District, children of primary school-going age now emerge from their guardians’ homes facing a rising sun.
To begin with, schools are getting ever closer to them and, secondly, most of the schools are of high standard, infrastructure wise.
“My brother, who is in standard seven at Chimwankhunda Primary School now, often talks about years when, while in standard one, they used to learn under trees. That is not the case with me, as I learn in a modern classroom that is not just safe from the scotching sun and heavy winds but furnished with desks, too,” said standard four learner Willard.
The school is one of many that are benefitting from the Malawi Education Reform Programme (MERP), which the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education is implementing.
MERP is implemented in all the 34 education districts in Malawi with an expected implementation period of four years from December 2021 to December 2025. The programme, under its Component 2, involves construction works of 10,900 classrooms and 1,000 sanitation blocks.
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Under component 3, the programme involves the construction of 50 female teachers’ houses across the country, with schools with over 1 to 90 pupil-to-classroom ratio (PCR) prioritised for funding.
According to Chimwankhunda Primary School Head teacher Remson Fasiyo, the school has already started reaping the fruits of MERP.
“We have received two school blocks, each with two classrooms. Before the classroom blocks were constructed, we used to face the problem of congestion,” Fasiyo pointed out.
School development committee chairperson Doreen Mkwate echoed the sentiments, saying congestion due to lack of school blocks was serving as a demotivating factor to some learners.
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Less than 20 kilometres from the school, a 28-bed girls’ hostel has been constructed at Masalani Community Day Secondary School (CDSS).
Funds amounting to K268,298,958.83, made available through the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (Gesd) initiative, have resulted in the formation of structures that stand out in the otherwise flatland of Thumbwe Ward.
What is remaining are kitchen facilities so that girls can avoid the risk of igniting hostel fires when they cook in their rooms.
Other structures have been, and continue to be, constructed at Chiradzulu Primary School, a stone throw from Chiradzulu District Council offices.
One of the classroom blocks has been completed while another one is under construction.
According to Chiradzulu District MERP Construction Desk Officer Francis Pindani, they are constructing blocks in 26 schools.
“At first, we had nine schools that received structures. 17 more schools were reached in the second phase. As I am speaking, 16 school blocks have already been constructed. We even had an opportunity to construct school blocks at Mango Junior Primary School. At first, learners were covering a long distance to Ndunde Local Education Authority (LEA), Nankhuni and Chikuli primary schools.
“As at now, 139 learners are going to Mango School. Enough resources, amounting to K18,685,796,541.40, were provided to Chiradzulu District Council for implementation of the programme, hence we targeted nine schools during the first phase and 17 during the second one. The idea is to provide quality of infrastructure as well as education standards in the district,” Pindani stressed.
Indeed, Mango Junior Primary School Head teacher Sosten Noah, said learners are now covering a shorter distance than before to get to the school.
“At first, children were covering a distance of not less than one-and-a-half kilometre to get to the nearest school, a problem that has been addressed,” he said.
School management committee chairperson Frank Mamphanda said community members are safeguarding the property.
In terms of improving access to justice, one may not be exaggerating for saying that district authorities are leaving no stone unturned. This is because the renovated Mombezi Magistrates’ Court has ensured that the structure has a dignified outlooks befitting a house where laws, no matter how complex, are dissected and duly interpreted.
In April last year, when the Judiciary authorities launched Mombezi Magistrates’ Court, it was all smiles for all those who care about how the wheels of justice are spinning. The development came after renovations of the facility.
Mombezi is one of the courts the Judiciary had renovated in the country, others being Benga Magistrates’ Court in Nkhotakota District, Katewere Magistrates’ Court in Kasungu District, Chitipa Magistrates’ Court in Chitipa District, Likoma Magistrates’ Court in Likoma District, Balaka Magistrates’ Court in Balaka District and Nchalo Magistrates’ Court in Chikwawa District.
In terms of Mombezi Magistrates’ Court, it began its operations in 2015, when it was depending on magistrates who were travelling from either Blantyre or Chiradzulu magistrates’ courts to serve people at the facility.
It was then shut down in 2022.
Speaking after presiding over the re-launch on April 3, 2025, Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda affirmed the Judiciary’s commitment to promoting access to justice for all people in the country irrespective of their locations.
“This launch means that we want to take justice to the people so that they are able to access justice the way they want it. We are making sure that we rehabilitate all other courts within and outside Chiradzulu District and, soon, we will also be recruiting more staff in courts across the country,” Mzikamanda said.
On the other hand, Chief Resident Magistrate (CRM) for the Southern Region, Paul Chiotcha, emphasised the need for collaboration in taking care of the facility and sustaining its impact for future generations.
“Both community members and our staff here should work together and play their part in taking care of, and sustaining, the facility,” Chiotcha said.
On his part, Chiradzulu District Commissioner Francis Matewere said at the time that the Southern Region district had 10 courts, of which five were not functional.
Matewere promised to collaborate with all stakeholders in taking care of the facility.
About seven judicial officials were then assigned to serve people at Mombezi Magistrates’ Court, under the leadership of Second Grade Magistrate Catherine Daudi.
Chiradzulu District officials are also pushing hard to ensure that residents’ health needs are met.
For evidence of this determination, one just has to visit Chitera Health Centre.
The facility is wearing a new face after staff houses, under-5 clinic, maternity wing, out-patents department dispensary, toilets and other facilities were renovated.
A water pump has also been installed at the facility.
Chiradzulu District acting Director of Health Services Dickson Sakwata indicated that they were committed to improving the health outcomes in the district.
“Chiradzulu DHO [District Health Office] looks after 15 health centres and our duty is to ensure that the facilities have the necessary things. As such, there have been massive rehabilitation works at some healthcare facilities, most of which were constructed a long time ago. Now toilets have been rehabilitated and, where need be, constructed.
“Take, for instance, Mbulumbuzi Health Centre, which is located closer to a busy marketplace. The number of service seekers there can be unpredictable because you have people coming in and out all the time [due to the market]. A fence has, therefore, been constructed to ensure that the health centre is operating in a conducive environment. Water has been connected to healthcare facilities to ensure proper sanitation,” Sakwata indicated.
“Where community members were covering a long distance to access services, health facilities have been constructed to ease access to services. The health facilities are being stocked with enough medical drugs. The government, through Gesd, has also constructed health posts, including Mbunda Health Post, where under-5 clinic and sexual reproductive health services are being provided. We are working with community members to ensure that they have an ownership spirit over the facilities,” he added.
In terms of National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) loans, Chiradzulu District Branch Supervisor Mphatso Thole says youths, women and men are accessing loans and transforming their lives.
“So far, we have disbursed K2.5 billion-worth of loans. The figure does not include irrigation farming loans. There are 26 types of loans, catering to all needs, that we provide to people. One of the loan packages pertains to irrigation farming.
“We also provide farm input loans, of which we have given out loans worth K500 million at the moment. We have loans for everyone; youths, civil and public servants, farmers and what have you,” Thole explained.
He was quick to say they are eager to improve on the 70 percent-plus loan collection rate so that many more people could benefit from the services they have on offer.
Chiradzulu District Council Principal Economist, who operates under the office of the Director of Economic Planning and Development, Henderson Kauni, indicated that they are making no compromises on service delivery.
“We have embarked on projects in all sectors and the projects span from the health, education, transport, sanitation, water, hygiene, infrastructure development to agriculture, among others. That is why we have constructed bridges, rehabilitated roads, classroom blocks, health centres, markets, facilitated the provision of business loans, created job opportunities through public works, promoted climate-smart agriculture and put in place grievance redress mechanisms to ensure that things put in our District Development Plan materialise,” Kauni explained.
Chiradzulu has, indeed, been a beehive of activity.
For instance, at Mpama Resource Centre, there are ongoing works on the construction of a youth resource centre, just like at Chimwalira Under-5 Clinic, where health post construction works are underway. At Juwa Health Post, construction works are also under way.
Other projects have since been completed. They include Nthawira CDSS, where a football ground has been graded; June Junior Primary School, where one classroom block and one double-toilet have been constructed; Malimba Primary School, where a semi-detached house has been constructed.
Others include Namaka CDSS, where an administration block has been constructed; Nyandule Junior Primary School, where a classroom block and two double-toilets have been completed; Zaone Primary School, where a classroom block was constructed; Mbulumbuzi Primary School, where an administration block was constructed; Namadzi Health Centre, where the health centre has been rehabilitated and two houses constructed.
In addition, Mbunda Health Post has been constructed, a 197-metre brick fence has been constructed at Namadzi Health Centre, a guardian shelter has been constructed at Chimwawa health facility, a market shed has been constructed at Khonjeni, concrete bridges have been constructed at Mitumbira, Mombezi, Namahra, Tonthola, Mulinda, Namonde and a concrete pad put in place at Juwa.
Not only that, there are now concrete bridges at Mukankhe and Namitembe.
In terms of roads, Masanjala Road has been reshaped, with the grading of the Mikolongwe, Namitambo roads completed.
Also reshaped are roads such as Maiwa Turnoff-Maiwa School, Mpira- Gomani Road, Nguludi Turnoff Road, Sumani-Nsiya-Thomas Road, Tearoom Likhomo-Ngusiche-Likoswe Road as well as Yasini-Pilimiti Road.
Chiradzulu District residents have also seen Mbulumbuzi Police Unit being constructed, with toilets also constructed.
Community-based care centres have also been constructed.
In such tasks, CDF, Gesd, District Development Fund and World Bank funds were put to good use, all as part of efforts to put Chiradzulu on a development pedestal.
On paper, therefore, development projects that are mushrooming across the district may have the
appearance of randomness when, in fact, they are planned around the District Development Plan, Malawi 2063 vision and even the Sustainable Development Goals.
Call it development the Chiradzulu District Council way.
