The Sunday Mail
Extra Reporter
Kanyemba, Luangwa and Zumbo are the three towns that form the border area where Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique meet.
Whereas from the Zimbabwean side, Kanyemba, Zumbo and Luangwa are separated by the mighty Zambezi River, Luangwa and Zumbo are separated the river to which the Zambian town derives its name.
The three are all confluent settlements. That should be about the only comparison that the three share.
Crossing the Zambezi into Luangwa, one cannot help but marvel at the state of development that lies only a river across.
Right from the river bed of the Zambezi River, this tarred road runs some 300 km to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia
From a tarred road that runs from the river bed right up to Lusaka, which is the same distance as from Kanyemba to Harare, the settlement is endowed with a commercial bank, with a 24-hour ATM facility, several grocers, the common flea markets which mark any settlement today, and the obligatory watering holes.
This is in stark contrast to what obtains on the Zimbabwe side, where Chief Chapoto presides.
“The Government is to blame for the lurch that we find ourselves in,” the chief asserted. “At one time there was a bilateral agreement to have a ferry that would take haulage trucks, people and goods from one side to the other. The Zambian government did their part and the ferry was brought but there was nothing from the Zimbabwean side and the ferry had to be withdrawn. We understand the Zambian authorities took the ferry to Kazungula to serve their interests there.”
The closure of Kanyemba as a transit border post has seen business — and life — come to a virtual standstill. Talk of killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
“Most Zambian businesspeople preferred to use Kanyemba for transporting their goods and there was a boom in this settlement. For instance, local youths would find employment in offloading the trucks and others would carry their goods across the river with their canoes. Women would provide catering services for the hundreds of people be waiting to be served here,” lamented Chief Chapoto, born Enock Peter Chapoto.
In a letter from Zimra to Chief Chapoto, seen by this publication, the tax authority said closing the border post for transit goods was purely a legal matter though this was “unfortunately … impacting negatively on the social well-being of your community”.
“As discussed previously, the law that governs transit goods does not allow goods declared to be in transit to be offloaded in Zimbabwe, as is the case when clients use Kanyemba Border Post. The offloading of the goods is necessitated by the fact that there is no bridge to allow the trucks to drive through to the Zambian side via Kanyemba Border Post,” wrote the regional manager for Zimra.
“This is the problem that we have as a country. We are still using archaic Rhodesian laws to govern our country, all these years after Independence. If the Government cannot afford to build the bridge or offer the ferry services, why not waive the law for us here in Kanyemba? Isn’t it the law is made by people for people? So why should laws be made to enslave people, to make them suffer?” queried the chief.
He said land had been made available for a harbour, but “different follow-ups have yielded nothing”.
The same sentiments were raised by CEO of Binga Rural District Council, Mr Joshua Muzamba, when The Sunday Mail Extra recently visited Binga which, like Kanyemba, lies along the Zambezi River.
Mr Muzamba said Binga availed land for a border, but Government departments — like Customs and Immigration, Zimra and Police — were reluctant to take up the offer.
“We have been waiting for years for the Government to declare Binga a border post and that will help boost trade in our town as the human and vehicular traffic would increase activity in the town,” he said.
And Binga, just like Kanyemba, suffers from a poor road network.
“From Luangwa to Lusaka it is tarred and people from Kanyemba find it cheaper and easier to go to Lusaka for their trade and business rather than go to Harare.
“It costs only US$8 to go to Lusaka and US$20 to go to Harare, and these are one-way fares. So the amount of traffic going to Harare has gone down and so has done business on our side of the river,” said Chief Chapoto.
What is also striking about life in Luangwa is how it is relatively cheaper.
For example, a 50kg bag of cement costs K63, which was equivalent at the time of writing to US$6,30.
A litre of petrol was trading for K9,87, roughly USc99, with diesel selling for K8,59 (about USc86).
“When we buy cement or petrol from across the river, when we get to the border post, even as we explain that the cement or petrol is not for business purposes but for personal use, we are charged duty. This is even if one has not exhausted their $300 per month tax exemption. We wonder if all these are being done because we are a remote location?” queried Chief Chapoto.
