By Wanangwa Tembo:

Mpasazi River, which starts as a small stream up Kasungu National Park, becomes notoriously dangerous as it gets down to communities in Kasungu west and north constituencies.

It carries with it large volumes of water threatening lives downstream before emptying the water into Dwangwa River which then snakes down to the lake in Nkhotakota.

Stelia Banda of Ndacha Village in Traditional Authority Chisinga says the absence of a bridge connecting communities on the west and those in the east of Mpasazi River heavily impacted businesses and access to health and education in the area.

“We have Kamphinga Health Centre in the east and a busy market in the west. If we get sick, we have to cross Mpasazi to get to the clinic on the eastern side.

“Those in the eastern side will want to cross the river to get to Chisinga where there is a reliable market for various farm inputs and produce including maize, soybean and groundnuts,” Banda says.

She says communities in the area have faced challenges to access social services on either side of Mpasazi owing to the absence of a bridge on the river that also demarcates Kasungu North and Kasungu North West constituencies.

“It has all been a nightmare for us here. Even school going children have faced tough times crossing this river,” she adds.

In 2022, taking advantage of the increase in Constituency Development Fund from K40 million to K100 million, Member of Parliament for Kasungu North, Mike Bango decided to embark on a bridge project to connect the two areas.

“We started this project two years ago and we are now in the last phase where we are to do spot levelling and gravelling on the end sides. But even before that, the structure is in use and has already changed the narrative.

“With my councillors, we took the challenge to embark on this project which has now cost over K100 million. Seeing it now at this stage, I am satisfied,” Bango says.

Bango says CDF is not an MP’s pocket money.

“For the people of Kasungu North, we agreed that this is public money that has to be invested in development initiatives that will benefit the people.

“When we get salaries and allowances, we can use that the way we want. But when it comes to CDF, we must be mindful that it is a public purse that has to be used with utmost accountability and transparency,” he says.

The Mpasazi impact is a shared experience for many communities in the district who have benefitted from CDF initiatives.

Joseph Etifala from Traditional Authority Chitanthamapiri in Kasungu East Constituency shares his experiences before the construction of the K50 million Livwezi Bridge in his area.

He says: “Roads without bridges lead to nowhere. We had a very good road here but there was no bridge on Livwe