Kidnappings, sexual assaults and a baby delivered on the banks of a raging river.
This is not the ‘promised land’ they had in mind when about 15 000 families relocated from their densely-populated homes to new lands under the Community-Based Rural Land Development Project.
It was activated in 2006 and closed in 2011.
But 13 years after the World Bank-funded initiative, popularly known as Kudzigulira Malo project, wound up, the government is yet to fulfil some basic obligations to the relocated families, mostly from the tea-growing districts of Thyolo and Mulanje.
Now, the majority of these ‘settlers’ are stuck in the wilderness of Mangochi, Machinga, Balaka and Ntcheu districts without potable water, health and educational facilities.
The search for such services miles away has brought horrible experiences to some, including 65-year-old Fred Kapasule.
He was abducted by a nyau cult on his way home from looking for his wife who had gone searching for water.
On this fateful day, Kapasule, whose family settled at Msikidzi Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nankumba in Mangochi, said his 61-year-old wife took longer than the three-hour trek to the borehole.
He found himself in Mfuti Village, T/A Masasa in Ntcheu District, nearly seven kilometres from his base.
“I found her in the queue,” said Kapasule.
But just before they crossed the Namwiri River in Mfuti Village, they met nyau members—a secretive cult among the Chewa people built around a ritualistic, cryptic dance gule wamkulu.
“We stopped to give them way to pass, but they followed us. I failed to decipher their request upon their signal. They grabbed and dragged me to the nearby bush,” Kapasule recalled.
His wife was allowed to proceed
Upon arrival at dambwe— an initiation camp in Mfuti Village—the nyau asked Kapasule if he was initiated into their cult.
“I told them I wasn’t because I am a Lhomwe from Thyolo,” he said.
Kapasule was allegedly forced to eat a raw chicken for refusing to be initiated.
“I initially refused to eat the chicken, but I was beaten to force me to do so. I vomited, triggering further beatings,” he said.
Kapasule alleged further that he spent two days without food, after which his wife was informed and she sought permission to bring him food.
After 11 days, he was released after his wife paid K3 000, but the experience was traumatising.
Kapasule’s harrowing experience made him regret leaving Thyolo.
“In Thyolo, we had a borehole just 50 metres from our house
We were also near the Msuwazi River. While here, this whole village gets water from Ntcheu,” he said.
Group village head Msikidzi said he knew about Kapasule’s ordeal, but that there was nothing he could do.
“Government is aware of the challenges, but there is no solution,” he said.
Mother of four Ester Maloya, 45, from Matungululu Village, T/A Nankumba in Mangochi said the water woes cost her marriage.
“My husband was unhappy to see me leave around 3am in search of water, so he returned to Thyolo,” she said.
Elena Robert, from Bweya Village, T/A Chikweo in Machinga, said most families returned to Chimbalanga Village in Thyolo following the drying of boreholes that forced them to walk long distances to fetch water.
Mangochi district acting water development officer James Manda said his office was not aware of the challenges.
“We need to do a physical assessment and produce a report. Afterwards, I will request chiefs to write to me and I will write a proposal for a possible water facility,” he said.
Manda noted that sometimes boreholes dry-up because proper standards were not followed when drilling them.
Mangochi acting district commissoner Bisai Mtayamanja said he is aware of the problems these people are facing and his office is appealing for help for potable water.
However, WaterAid Malawi has heard the settlers’ cries, particularly those in T/As Chilipa, Ntonda, Namavi, Chowe, and Chiunda in Mangochi.
WaterAid interim head of programmes George Kaluba said they have constructed 15 new boreholes and rehabilitated 75 existing ones, benefiting about 23 710 people across those T/As.
“We fundraise and mobilise resources through project proposals. We want to influence key stakeholders, including government, to address the ongoing water crisis, especially in Nankumba, where the situation remains critical and requires a serious intervention,” he said.
Apart from lack of access to
potable water, children travel about seven kilometres to the nearest primary school.
Girls are prone to sex predators and perverts. In the end, some girls drop out of school, get married and become mothers as Gladys Mathesa did.
Mathesa, 28, was determined to walk the distance in pursuit of her dream to become a medical doctor.
But her dream turned into a nightmare when a man attempted to rape her on her way from school, forcing her to drop out in Standard Eight.
She was 17 years old when she got married and now has three children.
“Had my parents not moved from Thyolo, perhaps I would have become a medical doctor,” she said. The unfortunate part is that Mathesa’s two sons and a daughter cover the same distance she covered to school.
But she wants to change that as she is determined to see all her children live their dreams.
Mathesa, alongside chiefs, mobilised communities to build a junior primary school, using mud.
Today, they have Namwiri LEA School, which opened in 2019 and caters for Standards One to Five.
But for their senior primary school education, they need to trek seven kilometres.
Namwiri committee chairperson Langston Mangani said they have been asking government to build a school block and teachers’ houses, but to no avail.
“One structure here collapsed. Government has been promising to help us, but they only sent us teachers,” he said.
Blessings Mzembe, 28, a Standard One teacher from Msikidzi in T/A Nankumba came to the area when he was in Standard Two, aged nine years.
Since he could not walk seven kilometres to Mdedza Primary School, he returned to Thyolo to live with his grandfather.
“It was my parents’ decision in 2010. I attended my primary and secondary school in Thyolo and, later, I pursued teaching courses,” he said.
His sister, the firstborn child in the family, dropped out in Form Two while the secondborn dropped out in Form One as they could not walk long distances to school in Mangochi.
Today, their parents have sent their fourth-born child back to Thyolo where he is in Form Three.
Authorities might have failed the Kudzigulira Malo beneficiaries on ensuring their children’s rights to education, but denying the people access to essential health services could be akin to condemning them to death.
Imagine the case of Tereza Patrick, 40, from Matungululu Village in T/A Nankumba, who delivered her third-born baby near Nanyanja River in the same village.
One day, in 2015, she was on her way to Nankumba Health Centre, eight kilometres from her new home.
She found the river bank swollen with raging rainy water.
“At around 4am, I delivered the baby right on the river banks assisted by my mother,” she said.
Village head Matungululu has 54 households translating to 310 people.
The 51-year-old said when they arrived in the area, government promised to construct a clinic within two years.
But 18 years down the line, his people have to trek eight kilometres to Nankumba Health Centre in Mangochi or Kasinje Health Centre in Ntcheu District, spending K12 000 and K18 000, respectively, on transport
