For the borderland communities of traditional authorities (T/As) Katuli and Bwananyambi in Mangochi, living in this area was a nightmare until the launch of a peace building fund project in 2022.
The geographical positions of the areas exposed people to ills such as human trafficking, sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), child marriages, and the subsequent school drop-outs, and sexually-transmitted infections.
Women and businesspersons fell victim the most due to their frequent travelling to Mozambique as the women wanted to access essential services while the businesspersons wanted to order merchandise for sale back home.
Memory Kassimu, 46, from Litemwe Village in T/A Katuli is one of those who have no kind words for the Mozambicans she has come in contact with. She was a victim of cruelty at the hands of Mozambican corps.
This day, Kassimu remembered, she went to Lichete to fetch firewood.
“This mountain is near our village. People go there to fetch firewood. On this particular day I went there to do the same, but I later regretted doing so,” she lamented.
“The law enforces ambushed me as I wanted to cross the border at Mtembo. They ordered me to drop the firewood, and told me to follow whatever they instructed me to do,” said Kassimu.
She alleged that the law enforcers demanded her to mop their office, sweep their office yard and make ridges in a nearby garden.
She said they later released her, but they confiscated the firewood.
Halima Mdala from Mchocholo Village in the same area is also once suffered a barrage of mockery at the hands of Mozambican law enforcers.
“I am a businesswoman who goes to Mozambique to order fish called “kalafao”. But on one of the trips, I fell victim of abuse by the law enforcers,” she said.
Mdala explained that the law-enforcers confiscated the fish she had bought and ordered her to leave their land without looking back.
“Their instruction was simple, but looking into their eyes, I could detect trouble if I dared to disobey them.
“Without hesitating, I left for home leaving behind the fish which had taken all the capital in my business, and that marked the end of my business,” she regretted.
Mdala added that the area used to be a hot-bed of human trafficking such that many people were being trafficked to work in Mozambican tobacco fields.
“Mostly, those susceptible to trafficking were women and children. Actually, the traffickers lured women into marriages and jobs, yet their reason was to exploit us,” explained Mdala.
She said this situation perpetrated many ills, including SGBV, child marriages and sexually-transmitted infections.
This is the reason the peace building fund project was launched in the two areas, including the border communities of T/A Makanjira to arrest the problems.
The project is being implemented by Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) with funding from the Secretary General Peace Building Fund through United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The project seeks to strengthen and build the capacity of national and subnational infrastructure for peace and conflict-prevention, focusing on borderland communities.
It is aimed at preventing conflicts and instances that make women, adolescent girls and other marginalised groups suffer when conflicts arise.
The project is also empowering youths to access Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) services through the safe space model so that they can escape from issues of early pregnancies, STIs, school drop-out, among other challenges.
Hearing sentiments during the project’s review meeting last Friday, Kassimu was all smiles with its impact, saying it has brought a significant transformation to the area.
“We no longer receive scorn from our neighbours in Mozambique when we go to Lichete Forest to collect firewood. We are now friends,” she said with a wide smile.
Mdala also testified that the project has addressed most of the problems the communities were facing.
“I restarted my business and I freely go to Mozambique to order kalafao and I am making reasonable profits,” she boasted.
Chiponde border officer-in-charge Benjamin Nyirenda also said the project has helped them to tackle human trafficking, which was a serious and major concern in the area.
“Before this project, we were inundated with cases of human trafficking, but now we rarely have the cases,” he said.
Nyirenda said the project has helped to raise awareness about the evils of human trafficking, SGBV, child marriages, school drop-outs, among others.
“People are now reporting to us whenever they spot a strange person in their vicinity. This is unlike previously before the project,” he said.
Nyirenda, however, bemoaned some women’s behaviour of concealing suspects, saying it frustrates police efforts in curbing human trafficking.
The district’s police spokesperson Amina Tepani Daudi also hailed the project.
“Recently, three Mozambicans were convicted and sentenced to 48 months imprisonment for human trafficking.
“We owe this to the project because these convicts were caught after people reported their sinister activities to authorities,” emphasised Daudi.
Mangochi district Yoneco manager Funny Chilembo said the outcome of the project is encouraging.
“It remains our resolve to address problems people from the borderland face and enhance collaboration among actors to support peace building efforts,” she said.
