Grief as Lilongwe township mourns its dead, picks up pieces

Vice-President Saulos Chilima over the weekend comforted the family that lost a 10-year-old girl through electrocution after a ferocious storm wreaked havoc and affected some 1 100 families during a downpour in the sprawling Kauma Township in Lilongwe soon after midnight on Friday.

Chilima also said government is committed to providing food and shelter to the affected people, adding that it expects to appeal for more assistance from international development partners like United Nations organisations and the Red Cross.

Members of dozens of families in Kauma Township were jolted from their sleep when debris and raindrops drenched them soon after 2am on Saturday, after their iron-sheet roofs were literally ripped off their houses and blown hundreds of metres away in the storm.

Several church buildings and primary schools were not spared either.

Some stranded church members, whose prayer houses collapsed extensively as their roofs were tossed far and wide in the storm, yesterday maintained the routine Sunday services, albeit from virtual ‘shacks’ that had survived the ordeal.

Chilima’s condolence over the death of Standard Five pupil Shakila Chaka was a moving occasion, as he solemnly heard how the blanket-clad and rain-drenched girl, in trying to run to a safer shelter, got electrocuted by a live power line dislodged and left sagging on the ground from its nearby pole by the storm.

He lamented Shakila’s death and all those injured by debris and other ways during the storm disaster.

The injured people included children on whom a wall had collapsed before they were later taken to Kamuzu Central Hospital for treatment.

Among others, Chilima was accompanied by his wife, Mary, and Lilongwe City Council mayor, councillor Willy Chapondera.

He said the Department of Disaster and Risk Management Affairs is working hard with traditional leaders to assess the damage in the township before computing the mitigation needs that could include temporary shelter, food items, utensils and blankets.

Chilima said government will appeal to organisations like the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme and the Red Cross for assistance, to complement the help it will speedily provide.

He saluted many people who quickly went about repairing their houses after they had been damaged by the storm.

But it later transpired that Samson Chirwa was the second death in the storm disaster after he tried to replace his roof on Saturday and a wall on the side he climbed gave way, sending him hurtling to the ground.

It was clear that most of the affected people were so dazed that they seemed to postpone even the pressing need to identify their now-mangled and warped iron sheets from tree tops and gardens in the neighbourhood, let alone plot how they want to bounce back to life.

Kauma Primary School teacher Ishmael Chipala reflected on how a probable mixture of shock and denial can overwhelm someone.

Of all things, he clasped two chicks in his hands, wore a wry smile and had to be prodded for an interview as he seemed ‘lost’ in thoughts while watching well-wishers loading his household property into a lorry.

His family was about to be taken to the nearby Magwero Primary School for a temporary shelter, for the storm had blown away most of the iron sheets on his house.