One day, way back in February 1989, my mother, Marculatta Chimpikizo Chirombo, decided to take me to Kamba Market, where she wanted to buy vegetables, tomatoes, onions and beef.
We, actually, had to walk from our house, number 11 in Chitawira Township, to the market, a journey that did not take us 25 minutes. Needless to say we were on holiday at school; that is, Mlambalala Primary School, where I was in standard one.
Not that I was in standard one for the first time. The previous year, I had in standard one at Chitawira Primary School and, when I did not make it to standard two, decided to trek to Mlambalala, a stone-throw from Chitawira Primary School, because my cousin, Nisphore Gervasio Chirombo, was learning at Mlambalala. During the school holiday of the first term, my mother, fully aware that I was just idling at home, decided to take me to Kamba Market. Needless to say it was my first time to visit the market.
My mother chose to make her, and my, entry into the market through the front gate When my mother Namoyo/Nalidaka and I—I do not know why my totem is Phiri, by the way— reached the entry point of the market, we found youths in ‘Youths’ attire; that is, the red and green long-sleeved shirts that party youths used to wear in those days—days when the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was in power and Malawi was a one party State, with all Malawians belonging to that one party at that given point in time.
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Whether you were a civil or public servant, you were an MCP supporter. Whether you were a corporate sector player or otherwise, you were a member of that mighty party, hence everyone was supposed to buy a party card. It so happened that on the day my mother took me to Kamba Market, she had either forgotten her party card at home or, by oversight or whatever reason, had not bought a party card by then. For such people, there was only one outcome; denial of public services.
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So, on this day, party youths were manning the gates, which they were opening to those with party cards or those that would buy party cards at the entry point.
Well, I guess my mother only had money for relish, hence she could not utter a word of protest when party youths told her to “go back home; you do not have a party card”.
Back home we went, bitter and sad. That is my first memory of Kamba Market. Of course, from then on, I visited the market several times—of course in the company of friends.
My mother and father—Leviano Simon Chirombo—had introduced me to a man called Mr Kalemera, who used to sell fruits to customers and buy empty bottles from people short on cash in the market. Mr Kalemera knew good varieties of fruit trees, such that he was tasked, countless times, to identify good avocado pair seeds for planting at home—Chitawira, house number 11. Needless to say Mr Kalemera planted tree seedlings of avocado pairs there.
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I last saw Mr Kalemera when I visited Kamba Market in 2018. Of late, I have been there several times and I do not see him at his usual spot Needless to say whenever I pass by Chitawira Township, closer to my former home, I see the trees—now grown up and, probably, ‘grandparents’ in the tree world—from the main road.
Needless to say whenever I see such fruit trees, I cry. I always remember my mum, who commissioned the planting of such trees and is now long dead. Yes, long dead—having gone towards the path of all the earth way back in 1993.
I, however, take solace in the fact that whenever I see the avocado trees, whose fruits I have never tested, I see my mum. She is there. She is the trees.
When their [trees’] leaves dance in the wind, it is my mum dancing for the Lord! What makes me write all this? News that vendors at Kamba Market in Naperi Township have vowed to defy a Blantyre City Council order for them to vacate the premises within 30 days.
On Monday this week, the council distributed notices to the vendors, asking them to leave market stalls to pave the way for its demolition so that a shopping mall and service station can be constructed at the spot. The development has left market vendors in sombre mood, with Kamba Market chairperson Davie Window telling The Nation of Tuesday, December 5 2024, that they are shocked with the order.
He said, to compound the situation, the council had not allocated them a new place for conducting business. As such, according to Window, the vendors have agreed not to vacate the premises even after the expiry of the 30 days, saying “If it is for us to die, we will die here because the decision itself is killing us”.
Even the market’s secretary Booker Chaphinza is resolute. He told the publication: “Besides residents of Kamba, the market was constructed to serve patients and guardians at Queens [Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital]. Does this mean the hospital will also be moved? We will not allow them to move us from the premises. If they want to kill us, they will find us here.”
Of course, the council’s chief executive officer Dennis Chinseu has said CP Investment has expressed interest in developing the site at a cost of approximately K3 billion. The city fathers and mothers indicate that the market generates about K800,000 per month against K2.5 million that the council spends monthly on the provision of water and sanitation services. What is my take on this? Nothing, Dear Pain, save to say that rest in peace Kamba Market!
