Until last year, Elizabeth Masamba, 38, from Jussa Village near Zalewa Trading Centre in Neno District, was financially independent.
The single mother used to sell meaty snacks at the busy business spot along the M1.
From the roadside kanyenya sales, she could afford food, housing, clothing, children’s school fees and other basics.
In her mind, Masamba saw her business growing and guaranteeing her children a bright future.
However, her ambition collapsed when she spent two months in hospital due to typhoid, fuelled by drinking unsafe water from the Shire River.
“I spent days on malaria treatment,” Masamba says. “When I was finally diagnosed with typhoid, it was advanced and I recovered after two months in hospital.”
She lives in a community of about 12 000 people, who have been drinking soiled water from the Shire since time immemorial.
“When I was discharged, my business had collapsed. I struggle to feed and clothe my family. I cannot afford my children’s school fees. This threatens their future,” she states, holding back tears.
Masamba’s plight exposes the hidden cost of sanitation-related diseases in the riverside community.
Others have lost limbs to crocodile bites.
“I can no longer use my hand after surviving a fierce crocodile attack when I went to draw water from the Shire. I now survive on alms from relatives and well-wishers. It is not sustainable for my family,” says Liness Listoni.
A crocodile mauled her left hand, leaving her unable to provide for her family.
The long walks to the crocodile-infested river were also a cause of marriage breakups as men accused women of promiscuity.
“Some husbands thought we were wasting time sleeping around,” adds Chipiliro Waidoni, from Zalewa.
Village head Jusa says he was inundated with marital disputes fuelled by water problems.
He says: “Besides, no week passes without hearing that someone has drowned or been mauled by crocodiles. We spend precious time rescuing people or settling marital disputes.”
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Fatch-Mbilizi has instructed the Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) to make Zalewa’s problems history.
“Considering various economic activities here, there is no way we can have Zalewa Trading Centre operating without piped water. It is unacceptable unless if we are not serious as a country,” she said in Parliament.
Mbilizi was responding to a call by Neno North parliamentarian Mary Maulidi Khembo for the government to fast-track the K6.7 billion Zalewa Water Project.
“This call really surprised President Arthur Peter Mutharika, considering that Zalewa is one of the busiest and most important trading centres in the country,” she added.
The Zalewa water project started in July last year and was expected to be completed in June 2026.
However, progress stalled in September this year due to funding hiccups.
A record presented in Parliament shows the contractor, Malbrow Palms JV, was only paid K500 000 out of the K1.3 billion advance payment due.
“We believe that the K3 billion allocated during the mid-year review budget to the Zalewa Water Project will enable us to complete the project in six to eight months,” says SRWB acting chief executive officer Tisungane Kapalamula.
The project involves the construction of a water intake on the Shire River, an elevated 500 cubic-metre concrete tank, 10 communal water points, three staff houses, an office block and a control centre.
So, excavations and foundations for the buildings were completed.
This represents five percent of the project activities and 7.5 percent of its financial requirement, according to Khembo.
She envisages the swift completion of the water project addressing the dehumanising challenges that compel women and children to do the work of pipes—carrying water over long distances.
“Zalewa residents can’t wait to have access to piped water,” says the lawmaker.
The revised National Water Policy requires the government to install solar-powered and motorised water distribution systems for rural communities supplied by boreholes fitted with handpumps.
The policy shift is part of the national vision to transform Malawi into a self-reliant, inclusive, highly industrialised middle-income economy by 2063.
The Malawi2063 implementation plan aims at achieving access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal six.
