Nambuma Bridge gives hope

Lilongwe, May 18, Mana: For several decades, the remote Kapangarika community and surrounding villages under Traditional Authority Chiwaula in Lilongwe have suffered due to impassable roads, resulting in lost lives and unstable business activities. Poor agricultural outcomes also plagued the area due to a lack of better markets to sell their produce.

Year after year, the community's pleas for help seemed to go unheard, until legislator Dr. Mphatso Boti announced that the government, through the GESD project, planned to construct a bridge in their area. The construction of the Nambuma Bridge commenced in 2022, marking the beginning of a new era for Kapangarika.

Senior Group Village Head Kapangarika, who oversees 39 villages, stated that the bridge's timing is perfect and will address many challenges, including agricultural activities, small businesses, and reducing deaths caused by poor wooden boats on the Nambuma River.

"We never hoped this village would have a bridge, but in 2022, we saw the government bringing this great development of the Nambuma Bridge construction project. It has given us hope that many transport-related challenges will no longer exist," he said.

However, he noted that the project's slow progress is affecting local businesses and agricultural activities, as the community had hoped for completion by December 2023. Despite this, he expressed his joy at seeing the work nearing completion.

One of the bridge's beneficiaries, Lloyd Josophat from Chaomba village, highlighted the bridge's potential to improve transportation of agricultural yields to markets such as Nambuma and Mponela in Dowa.

"People from Chaomba and other surrounding villages in the North West Constituency found it difficult to transport their harvests to good markets like Mponela and Nambuma. The Nambuma Bridge is the beginning of our hope.

“It will ease the transportation of goods like soya, beans, groundnuts, and maize," he said with a smile.

He also emphasized that the bridge will help to reduce deaths in the area.

Traditional Authority (T/A) Chiwaula said the development is welcomed with antipation of building strong relationships with neighboring areas.

"I'm very excited to see this development in my area. You know we have our relatives in Dowa. We were very troubled to visit them when Nambuma River was full during the rainy season and we even failed to attend ceremonies like wedding and funeral.

"But I hope the bridge will now address these issues once completed," he said.

Chiwaula also hailed the government for bringing this project in his area.

Member of Parliament for Lilongwe North West Constituency, Dr. Mphatso Boti, stated that the project aims to create a mobility corridor between Lilongwe North West and Dowa, addressing the community's challenges.

"We were losing over 10 lives every year when people tried to cross the Nambuma River during the rainy season.

This project will end water-related deaths. The bridge will also promote trade and transportation of agricultural goods for the people of Lilongwe and Dowa. My desire is to create opportunities for people to do business and create wealth, and this bridge will do exactly that," Boti said.

He added that the bridge will benefit several thousands of people from the surrounding areas.

"Over 80,000 people in the immediate surrounding areas and many more will benefit from this development project. The road passing through this bridge connects the M1 road and the Lilongwe-Kasungu-Kasiya-Santhe Road, boosting agricultural businesses in the area," he said.

Lilongwe District Council is hopeful to see the completion of the Nambuma Bridge, which was delayed due to funding issues. Director for Public Works for Lilongwe District Council, Sydney Chiphaka, said the project was expected to be completed in December 2023 but faced delays due to funding.

Chiphaka reassured the community that the bridge construction project is expected to be completed next month. He explained that the bridge is a 30-ton-capacity concrete deck, 60 meters long, with a 200-meter-long embankment on the approaches.

He also mentioned that the bridge's cost is K120 million, funded by the Performance-Based Grant (PBG) under the GESD project for the 2022-23 financial year.