The hub that is Mwanza

To those who went to Mwanza some years back, the district is some sleepy place where ‘civilisation’ does not exist. But as Kondwani Kamiyala found Saturday last week, Mwanza brims with life even in the dead of the night.

Get to Mwanza at dusk, be there for the night, you will see what a hub the border district is.

You will realise there is more to Mwanza than a district where the gruesome murders of three Cabinet ministers and an MP took place. You will know there is more to it than a district where some people were supposedly walking around naked in colonial times.

The boma is a hive of activity as the sun goes down, as some travelers kill the night, preparing for the long journey to Mozambique, Zimbabwe or South Africa.

The heavy goods trucks, lined at entertainment joints, lodges and motels tell the story. Be at Sangalala Leisure Centre at 3am, you would forget this is not yet a town, as fun seekers from all walks of life mingle and get the fun going, music blaring and the dance at its height.

“The fun never stops down here, from Monday to Sunday. Most of the people here are in transit,” says one fun seeker, Charles Kangulu.

According to Alex Likupe, who owns Cinderella Night Club, business thrives with travelers using the M6.

“Mwanza is a hub, with people spending their nights here, especially when the border post closes at 9pm. People spending their nights in entertainment joints and lodges, waiting for the post to reopen at six the following morning,” said Likupe.

Likupe added that some of his customers come all the way from across the border, in Mozambique.

“Apart from people going to other countries, some of the people come from across the border. There are many Malawians working and doing business across the border.”

The growing entertainment business in Mwanza has not missed the eye of Chileka-based band, Black Missionaries. Last Saturday, the Mwanza Hotel was jam-packed as fun seekers flocked from other joints to dance to the group’s reggae vibes.

“In the past, we could hold shows down here, but the turn-up was usually low. Right now, more and more people are patronising these shows, a clear sign that the entertainment business is growing,” said the group’s band leader Anjiru Fumulani.

Being such a hub, the presence of commercial sex workers as the night heightens cannot be ignored.  You see them gyrating their waists to P Square’s music, winking at this or that man.

A commercial sex worker based at one of the lodges said she spends half the year in Mwanza and the other half in Mangochi.

“I have been here for the past three months, renting a room at the lodge. I spend half the year in Mwanza and only go to Mangochi during the summer when we get many tourists. The difference is that business in Mwanza can run the whole year since people use the district when going to other countries,” she said.

Mwanza district commissioner Paul Gwedemula said prostitution is one of the major problems they are encountering in the district. The other is human trafficking.

Observed Gwedemula: “Prostitution is a major concern. That is why as a council, we have various projects to curb the situation. Apart from that, several organisations are running projects to sensitise commercial sex workers and their customers the importance of avoiding Aids.”

He said several non-governmental organisations are complementing the council’s efforts in the fight against Aids. These include Red Cross, Bridge Two Project and Save the Children Fund.

The DC manages a population of 99 434, according to the 2008 National Statistical Office (NSO) population census.  The population is projected to reach 100 997 in 2013.

On human trafficking, Gwedemula noted that although studies have not been conducted to determine the gravity of the problem, it is clear the vice exists.

“With more and more people in transit, one can’t rule out the social ill. Mwanza as a district is growing and being on the border, some people may have their own sinister motives,” said Gwedemula.

But what is the main reason for this growth?

Gwedemula says it is the railway line that is on the cards to be constructed from Nsanje to Mchinji through Mwanza, Neno, Ntcheu and Dedza.

“We expect more growth with that railway line, which will be completed, according to plans, in the next three years,” he said.

For traffic police head at Mwanza Salayekha Guba, police are doing a lot to avoid accidents in the district, where trucks are a normal feature. According to him, progress is being made, with no accident recorded in the district between January and April this year.

“The only problem we face are motorcycles that commute passengers between Mwanza and Zobue in Mozambique. The cyclists do not have licences. Their cycles are not insured and they cruise a lot. Many people travelling between Mwanza and Zobue use these cycles because they are faster,” said Guba.

A cycle operator, who did not want to be named, said most of his customers want to go to the Zobue border post for a K250 fare.

“But some customers want us to take them to herbalists who ply their trade in the no-man’s land between the Mwanza post and Zobue. We know the routes to the best herbalists,” said the motor cyclist.

While you are about the district, getting absorbed in what is going on around you, waiting for night to fall, you can’t resist the temptation to get a tangerine. That is the other Mwanza signature.