Ambassador’s Self-Help Fund Project Unites Two Ngoni Communities

In her book The Ngoni of Nyasaland (1956, Oxford University Press), Margaret Read (1889–1991), a social anthropologist and colonial educationist, said: “To the Ngoni war was like work.  When the old men sat in the kraal the talk that roused discussion was of war and their journeyings.”

Since their migration from South Africa over a few centuries ago, The Ngoni people of Malawi have evolved beyond their cultural identities.  Small pockets of the tribe, however, still practice the culture in the country.  In Mzimba, they still dress up in war regalia for special occasions.  For some areas of Mzimba, Ngoni is still the language families speak at home.  Most Ngonis speak Tumbuka and reserve Ngoni for ceremonial and legal terms only.

The visit of US Ambassador Alan Eastham to Mzimba on Friday, April 20 warranted a special occasion.   At a very colorful Ngoni ceremony, Ambassador Eastham handed over the Kapunthuka Bridge, a Self-Help Fund project that has united geographically divided Ngoni communities of the two districts. 

Although the Kapunthuka Bridge is very small, it is very important to the populations of Kasungu and Mzimba districts, and to a larger extent, the entire central and northern regions.  The completion of this all-weather bridge has opened service to more than 40,000 people by linking T.A. Mabilabo in Mzimba District to T.A. Chisemphere in Kasungu District. 

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony, Ambassador Eastham said the Self-Help Fund works where there is a united community.  “This is a terrific project,” said Ambassador Eastham. “The bridge is a nice thing but what’s even better is how it bridges between the two districts, the two chiefs and the two communities.”

In the past, people crossed over a rickety bridge.  When the temporary bridge was swept away by seasonal floods, schoolchildren stayed home indefinitely.

The bridge has improved social and economic interactions among nearly 10,000 people in Traditional Authorities Mabilabo and Chisemphere, by opening cross-boundary trading opportunities.  A cross section of Kasungu and Mzimba districts now has access to Kaluluma, Nkhamenya and the Kasungu District hospitals.  Most importantly, schoolchildren in Emanyaleni Village in Mzimba District can now attend school in Kanjaluni in Kasungu District at all times.  The Kapunthuka Bridge has also connected two regions: the central and northern, as the river forms the formal, natural boundary between both regions.

In September of 2006 the Self-Help Fund granted the Mabilabo and Chisemphere communities $5,500.00 (approximately MK745,000.00) to purchase building materials and hire equipment and skilled labor to construct a concrete bridge.  The bridge measures 25m in length and 3m in width.  This bridge will serve schoolchildren, farmers and traders, amongst other users.

Traditional Authorities Mabilabo and Chisemphere, Kasungu and Mzimba district commissioners, Kasungu North and Mzimba Hewe members of parliament attended the hand-over ceremony and expressed their gratitude to the United States Government.