Villagers from Sakoma and Manjolo under Traditional Authorities Bvumbwe and Thomas respectively in Thyolo district are demanding President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration to construct a bridge at ‘deadly’ NKhame River in the district.
The two neighboring Villages have been asking authorities to consider constructing a bridge at ‘deadly’ NKhame River since former Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s era but authorities ‘always’ cast a blind eye on their request.
In an interview, Vice Chairperson for Liwu Nzika Limveke, a joint committee from the two villages, Devison Banda said every rainy season lives of innocent people are lost at the river.
“Chaka ndi chaka maka nyengo ya dzinja anthu amamwalira pa mtsinje umenewu (every year people lost lives when trying to cross the river mainly during the rainy season),” said Banda
He adds: “Anthu akwa Manjolo komanso Sakoma nawonso ndi a Malawi ndipo amapereka msonkho…tili ndi ufulu olandira zitukuko monga mlatho (We are also Malawians and we pay tax, we have the right to demand development such as bridge”
Banda further said that the absence of bridge at the Nkhame River is denying the villagers the right to engage in social-economic activities, access to health services and the right to education among other basic human rights.
In agreeing, Monica Elias, a representative of women from Manjolo Village said pregnant women deliver from home during the rainy season as they cannot cross the flooded Nkhame River to go to a health centre at Bvumbwe Trading Centre a distance which requires crossing the river.
The two villages have since organized a mock wedding to raise funds for the construction of the bridge and road. According to Banda, the mock wedding will take place On July 30, 2023.
However, Thyolo North Constituency Member of Parliament, Ephraim Nayeja is being quoted by local media as having pledged to lobby for the construction of the bridge at the river.
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