By Memory Kutengule Chatonda

Blantyre, April 11, Mana: Senior Chief Kapeni of Blantyre District vividly recalls the incident that happened in 2012 when he heard the high-pitched and tremulous voice of a woman in dire need of help.

At that time, the senior chief says, he was presiding over a case that was presented before him at the village tribunal.

The unusual and frightened voice disturbed everyone present, including the proceedings of that day, as the people who had gathered in the courtroom could not resist flocking outside to witness what had happened to the woman.

"We found the woman crying helplessly, holding her child who had died in transit to Mlambe," recalls Kapeni.

According to chief, the woman had travelled from Chembela Village, which is located at the furthest place in his jurisdiction, to Mlambe Hospital, seeking medical help.

"It pained me a lot,” says Kapeni, “If we had a health facility within reach, the life of that underage child would have been saved,” he says.

As time pass by, the memories of the catastrophic event still haunts the senior chief.

With anguish, he took it upon himself to bail out his remaining 40,000 subjects who were prone similar predicament.

He lobbied for support from various well-wishers and the Ministry of Health, through the District Health Office, to build a health facility in this area.

"The District Health Office considered building a health facility in this area in 2014 but not so long after, the construction works for the facility stalled at window level due to a lack of funding," laments Kapeni.

After eleven years of attempts to have the health facility constructed in his area, the traditional leader finally felt relieved when the government announced the introduction of the World Bank-funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) in 2020.

This is a five-year government project, which is facilitated by National Local Government Finance Committee and is implemented by councils across the country.

The councils benefit from the project through performance-based grants, which they use to construct various infrastructural projects to benefit local citizenry.

Blantyre District Council became a beneficiary of the fund in 2022, after missing the grant for two previous years due to poor performance during the annual Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA), according to Alex Mdooko, Blantyre District Commissioner.

In 2022, the council scored 60 percent, to the delight of the commissioner and all his lieutenants.

To Mdooka, this was work well done, but the trajectory that remained was the year 2023: Again, the council worked so hard and improved on the rankings by scoring 73 percent during the assessment.

"The above-average score for the year enabled the council to receive about K1.1 billion from different GESD funding cycles," says Mdooko.

Using the fund, the council, among others, embarked on the construction of a K711 million project in Mtema Village, in the area of Senior Chief Kapeni, which includes Kadidi Health Centre, medical staff houses and incinerator.

"Currently, the projects are towards completion and people will start using the health facility next month (May)," explains the DC after touring the construction works of the health facility, staff houses and incinerator.

Besides impacting on quality of life, Mdooko believes the Kadidi Health Facility infrastructure will also be the flagship project in the district.

The facility will first start operating as a dispensary, offering outpatient services to about 65,000 people and, later, as a fully-fledged health centre which will offer additional services, including maternity.

Elson Chikalusa, chairperson of the Kadidi Health Centre committee, shares his excitement with Kapeni regarding the Kadidi Health Centre construction.

He says the committee pledges to take ownership of the infrastructure to ensure that it continues benefiting the current and future generations.

Meanwhile, Malawi Health Equity Network Executive Director, George Jobe, has commended the council for the development, saying the policy from the Ministry of Health recommends that no one should walk a distance of more than five kilometers to a health facility to access services.

"The construction of a health facility around Mtema Village means people will now have easy access to health services, and more importantly, we are glad that it is being constructed in a place where the old structure had stalled for years," he says.

The council's drive for infrastructural development aligns with the Malawi 2063 blueprint, which describes infrastructure development as crucial to achieving Malawi 2063 (MW2063) Agenda.

The vision serves as a foundational element for economic growth, improved quality of life, and achieving the goal of becoming a self-reliant, industrialized upper-middle-income country by 2063, by facilitating trade, attracting investment, and enhancing productivity across various sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

It further says that access to necessary infrastructure like healthcare facilities directly impacts the quality of life for Malawian citizens, thereby contributing to better health outcomes and overall well-being.

The development has brought relief to Senior Chief Kapeni and his subjects.

“Finally, when I look at the facility, I always wish the soul of that departed child in 2012 a peaceful rest because other children will now have access to essential health services within reach.”