Cry my beloved Neno District

Neno District used to be part of Mwanza District in the early days when the colonialists and (later on) Kamuzu Banda ruled this country. The district headquarters (boma) was at Mwanza. However, those who know the history of Mwanza tell us that Neno used to be the headquarters before prominence was given to Mwanza due to its geographical position as a gateway into Mozambique and Zimbabwe and on to South Africa.

Over the years, it proved to be difficult to manage issues of Neno from Mwanza Boma due to the long distance between the two areas. Neno was a favourite of Kamuzu Banda whenever he wanted to remind the country where ‘it’ has come from. He used to say that people in Neno were “literally naked” before he came to break the “stupid” Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. At first, we used to dislike the statement but then we got used to it somewhat and would joke about it with friends.

When Bakili Muluzi came on the scene, he decided to make Neno a district. This excited us people of Neno because we knew that development necessitating a district would take place to make Neno Boma a full-fledged district headquarters. However, over the years, we have realised that the district has become the most neglected in terms of development. All district headquarters in Malawi have at least a tarmac road and a few other basic facilities which are provided for the effective running of the district. This has not been the case with Neno. The road to Neno is now probably the worst road in the country, whether one goes through Ligowe or Lisungwi. It is just a nightmare to travel to Neno.

Now, governments have come and gone and Neno still has this terrible condition of its roads, yet it is one of the most productive districts agriculturally and the people are very hard-working. We produce maize, Irish potatoes, wheat (probably the only district producing this) and citrus fruits, among many other crops. It is a real shame that after almost 50 years of independence, any district in Malawi should be in the condition Neno is!

Of course, during the Bingu wa Mutharika administration, we saw tremendous development at the bomathrough the Clinton-Hunter Foundation. There was a lot of excitement with the activities going on at theboma. We saw the building of a very good hospital and staff houses, a community centre hall, district offices, a mini stadium and even a bus depot. But the road is still in a sorry state.

Now, here we are with yet another administration but the situation of roads in Neno remains desperate. We have given government time to settle down and get to work but now we cannot continue to lie down. Recently, the people of Neno took to the street in a peaceful demonstration to present a petition to the government (through the district commissioner) concerning the roads in the district. Sadly, we notice that in the new budget, government has put in the construction of the Mzuzu-Nkhata Bay Road which is already bituminised, and yet the Neno Road does not appear there. One wonders how such decisions are made really.

Government may not have anything to gain from Neno District, but by virtue of being a district in Malawi, it deserves its share of development. We of Neno really feel neglected, we feel we are only required during voting time! It is ironic that now we are being encouraged to go and register so that we can vote. But why should we vote when we do not benefit from developmental activities? What should we vote for? For someone to go to Parliament and get fat allowances while the President is always on the road or in the air, blowing away billions in the process?

We have come to wonder where our taxes go to because we see very little of the development cake being shared to our district. Government needs to be serious about Neno District. After all, the distance we are talking about from the Zalewa Road to Neno Boma is only about 40 km! n

—The author likes to comment on social issues.