By Andrew Mkonda

Lilongwe, April 13, Mana: Matamando Matseko (not her real name), aged 22, from Funachina Village in Traditional Authority Kalumbu in Lilongwe district, named her first born son Kamizere for giving birth between rocky ridges in a maize field.

“Picked on kabaza bicycle during odd hours, soaked in heavy rains mixed with lightning and thunders, with agonizing labour pains, we failed to cross Mlinda River which rainy water had burst its banks to Ntenthera Health Centre about five kilometres away.

“Women who were escorting me to the health centre couldn’t do otherwise, but assist me to deliver my baby in a maize garden, while men were waiting patiently at a distance. By God’s grace, the baby boy was born. Immediately, I called his name Kamizere for being born in a maize garden,” she narrates.

Matseko says with what had happened to her, she doesn’t have any interest to have another child any time soon.

“I am still traumatized; I am not healed yet mentally. Memories are still fresh in my mind, more especially when I pass this river going to the market.

“Thanks now to Governance for Enabled Service Delivery (GESD) project for constructing a K24 million bridge on Mlinda River. I am so happy and I will now give my son a middle name called Chimwemwe, to show my appreciation to this development,” she narrates with a smile of joy on her face.

Matseko is just one of the many women who have been giving birth in their homes and in the bush for failing to cross Mlinda River during rainy season.

The absence of a reliable bridge on Mlinda river also impeded children’s right to education during rainy season as they could not go to school.

Head teacher of Mataka II primary school, Chris Chawanda, says in the past leaners who were crossing the river, were unable to attend classes during rainy season because they couldn’t cross the river.

“Memories are still fresh, we lost two leaners on this river when they were trying to cross the river as they were coming to school during rainy season. Up to date, their bodies are not recovered. A dark cloud engulfed the whole school and the entire community.

“No one could believe that we have lost young learners just like that, we really thank the government for constructing this bridge here, our learners do not have any challenges when coming to school these days,” says Chawanda.

He further says the construction of a bridge on Mlinda river has also assisted in reducing absenteeism among learners more especially during rainy season, as parents could not allow their kids to risk their lives to cross the river.

Such memories also crept in the minds of Group Village Headman Funachina and his kinsmen as they walked on new Mlinda Bridge.

The traditional leader recalls: “It was a far-fetched dream to access health care services without challenges. Poor road network affected all aspects of our lives here from livelihood to human rights.”

Joy has overwhelmed communities in this part of Senior Chief Kalumbu who have to cross the river to access social services at Nkhoma and Kamphata respectively.

Apart from bringing new lease of life, Funachina says the new bridge is an asset to the development of his subjects.

“This bridge will allow us to enjoy our rights and be productive. As farmers, we rely on Kamphata market to sell our farm produce, but now our markets have widened.

“I am optimistic with this development, the livelihood of the people in this area will be totally transformed as they will be able to sell their farm produce to the right markets rather than selling to vendors at a loss as they have been doing,” he says.

The Area's Ward Councilor, Davison Mangani, says the initiative has allowed the duty bearers to serve communities with basic needs for their sustainable development.

He says: "The bridge is an answered prayer. People could not believe it when the construction of the bridge was announced during an Area Development Committee (ADC) meeting. Its completion has indeed reaffirmed their hope of more developmental activities coming to the area.

“We are so thankful to the government for this development. Good road network enhances socioeconomic development of an area. This bridge will now give people access to a lot of social services like schools, hospitals and agricultural markets,” says Mangani.

He says the construction of the bridge has also assisted in promoting cross-border trade between the people from our country and those from Mozambique as it only takes few hours to be in Mozambique where people go and purchase various commodities.

However, Mangani says there is need for government to think of constructing another bridge on Diaphwi river, which connects people of Lilongwe to Dedza up to Mozambique as the people are still using canoes to cross the river going to Mozambique.

“Should government construct a modern bridge on Diaphwi river then it will boost the cross-border trade between the two countries [Malawi and Mozambique] as currently the root is being used by vendors to run away from paying taxes for their goods,” says Mangani.

He added that if a new bridge can also be constructed on Diaphwi river, it will save the lives of many people who have been dying after drowning into the river from the canoes they are using.

“We have been losing a lot of people on that river. And when they draw into the river, their bodies are rarely recovered because the river is full of crocodiles,” says Mangani.

He has since urged communities surrounding the newly constructed Mlinda bridge to enhance protection of the river’s catchment area by among other things avoiding cultivating along river banks.

One of the kabaza motorcyclist in the area, Noel Maseko, also applauded the government for constructing the Mlinda bridge saying it has assisted in boosting their business as they are now cycling on the road without many challenges.

“It was boring when we reach here, customers were told to cross the river on their own, by foot and meet them on the other side of the river, a tendency that was time consuming,” he said.

Maseko adds that in the past they were not making a lot of money, but these days they are able to make reasonable amount of money because they are able to operate on the road several times in a day.

He further said the new bridge has also assisted farmers to be connected to agricultural markets at Kamphata and even in Lilongwe central markets, thereby reducing the poverty levels of the people.

Recently, Lilongwe District Council approved the new GESD and District Development Fund (DDF) projects which will be implemented in the 2024/2025 financial year.

Lilongwe District Council Vice Chairperson Dominic Banda said the projects that have been approved will prioritize the 11 constituencies that did not benefit from the funds previously.

However, Banda said despite prioritizing the 11 constituencies, the council will also be able to allocate at least one project in all constituencies from the funded money.

Banda then asked Members of Parliament, councilors and traditional leaders to take a leading role in supervising the progress and quality of the projects, saying the quality of the projects should tally with the funds allocated.

“I am happy that in this financial year, once we start our projects, they will never stop and we will honour the due dates because we will have the funds readily available. We don’t want to see projects such as classroom blocks without toilets. Let us be vigilant and love our country,” says Banda.

The K24 million Mlinda bridge was constructed through the Governance for Enabled Service Delivery (GESD) project implemented through the National Local Government Finance Committee, with funding from the World Bank.