Sikwela’s fact-finding mission

WHEN Tourism and Arts permanent secretary Howard Sikwela who was recently transferred from the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare arrived in Livingstone, from onset, his intentions were clear.
“I am not here for luxury or sightseeing,” he declared. “I am here to hear the views from my officers and departments to not only acquaint myself with the ministry, but to also see and hear firsthand information on the challenges and see how best we can promote the sector,” Reverend Sikwela said.

Viewing White Rhinos in the Mosi-oa-tunya national park.

With a game ranger

Simply put, he was here on not only a fact -finding visit, but also to familiarise himself with the operations.
His two-day tour and stay in the tourist capital saw him visit among other places, the Livingstone Museum, the Railway and Jewish Museum, the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, the National Art Gallery and also the Maramba Cultural Village that was gutted in August 2016.
While there, Rev Sikwela said a budget had been set aside for the rebuilding of the cultural village that he said was quite important for the preservation of culture and tourism development.
“A sum of close to K2 million has been set aside in this year’s budget for the rebuilding of this facility. As soon as the funds are released, we shall move in and rebuild it,” he said.
Nevertheless, Vincent Kamwanya, the coordinator at the Maramba Cultural Village, said the gutted village earned K107, 000 revenue in 2017.
“Forty percent of which was deposited into government’s Control 99 Account and before that, the village collected K150, 000 in 2015,” he said.
Patronage to the place has dropped because of lack of supporting structures. The auditorium is, however, fully functional but it too needs to be refurbished as its walls have started to develop cracks.
“We need to diversify the economy from mining. Tourism is different from these other sectors. Let’s be creative enough and see how we can create revenue and stop depending on handouts from Government all the time,” Rev Sikwela said. “See what kind of marketing you can do to promote these structures.”
He also toured the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And there, his concern was on the ticketing office.
Many feel it lacks the cultural aspect of what it tries to sell.
John Zulu, the site manager at the Victoria Falls said the point raked in K3.8 million revenue in 2017.
About 149, 630 people visited the site in 2017, a slight drop compared to 154,755 recorded in 2016.

At the Victoria Falls with Zulu and Jocelyn Mutinta

Rev Sikwela also met with tour operators in Livingstone who raised a number of concerns.
Among the issues raised was high taxes which the operators feel disadvantaged Zambia over its neighbours Zimbabwe, Bostwana and Namibia.
Livingstone mayor Eugene Mapuwo told Rev Sikwela that his office has received numerous queries from the tour operators regarding the newly introduced taxes.
“I don’t even know what to tell them anymore,” he said.
Mr Mapuwo said in order for tourism to thrive and the country to beat the competition from neighbours, the tourist capital should be made a tax-free zone.
“We have people that are favouring Zimbabwe over us because of our taxes which in most cases fall back on the clients,” he said. “We have tourists who are just using Zambia and Livingstone as a transit point to go to Zimbabwe because the activities there are cheaper than here.”
On his entourage, Rev. Sikwela had heads of departments from his ministry.
The other place he touched was the Department of National Parks and Wildlife where he held talks with management before taking time to visit the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park to check on the white rhinos the park boasts of.

At the Railway Jewish Museum

In 2016, the park recorded 20, 278 visitors of which 7, 728 where international and 12, 550 were local tourists. In terms of revenue, the visits translated into K3.6 million for that year whereas the amount almost doubled to K6.5 million in 2017.
“In 2017, we had 10, 334 international visitors and 11, 615 local tourists,” said the area warden.
The Mosi-oa-Tunya Park is unique because of its 12 white rhinos, one of the world’s most endangered species and on the brink of extinction. The park also has other animals, except those in the cat family.
In terms of the human-animal conflict, the park area recorded four deaths by an elephant and of course crocodile attacks.

At the Livingstone Museum.

“We are always trying to sensitise the people on how to interact with the animals but you know sir, some of our tourists want to get as close enough to the animals as those in the zoo,” said Mr Daka.
His thoughts after the tour?
Key among them was the issue of collaboration between departments under the ministry. He wondered why for instance, the Maramba Cultural Village could always be a target for elephants when it is close to the DNPW gate.
He also wondered why there was little or in some instances no vigorous marketing of some tourist sites such as the National Art Gallery.
He challenged all the workers to ‘die a little’ and go out of their way and market some sites, especially to the locals so that they can in turn do so to potential foreign tourists.
“Let us create the hype ourselves. Let us talk about these things. Let’s go into schools and tell the people that these things exist and are there for them. This is our baby,” he said.

Irrigation to end Lusitu’s barrenness

THERE is a common Tonga saying: “Atika meenda aatakwe buyoleke,” (Once water spills you cannot gather it again).
This saying is loosely translated as: “When something bad happens, it is not reversible.”
For centuries, the Tonga speaking people have occupied both banks of the Zambezi River, from Kariba Gorge to Devil’s Gorge upstream, in what was known as the Gwembe Valley; calling themselves ‘Basilwizi’ ( people of the river).

LUSITU Irrigation Development Project chief engineer Abedinego Chalikosa standing across the reservoir under construction in Chief Chipepo’s area of Lusitu.

They are said to have lived in relative peace, sharing cultures and languages, with very little outside influence.
Their only contact with humankind is believed to have been limited to prospectors, hunters, surveyors and the settlers’ district commissioners.
The escarpments, at over 60 metres high, created effective barriers from outside intrusions.
Little did they actually know that soon, their lives were going to change, forever.
This time came in the mid- 1950’s, when the decision to construct the Kariba Dam wall was made by the then Rhodesian governments.
Although not very populous, nonetheless, it is estimated that about 150, 000 people lived in the area.
Among those that were displaced were Lenard Kandela’s parents.
At that time, Lenard, now 61, married to two wives and blessed with 15 children, was only two years old.
But he remembers.
“We have been here since 1957 from the dam area where we were displaced from to pave way for the construction of the Kariba dam,” he says.

Lenard Kandela

From the stories he was told by his late parents, life in the valley, before being relocated to where they are now, in Siavonga’s Lusitu area was very good.
“We had a lot of water there and we could grow literally anything all year round,” he says.
That is what many people miss about the Kariba dam area.
It had abundant water to accommodate all their farming needs.
Not Lusitu, their new home.
“This is a drought-prone area. All of us here rely on farming for our livelihoods,” he says.
He adds that farming in the area is always hard because of the bad weather conditions and also the terrain.
“When it comes to soil fertility, the soils are perfect and conducive to grow a wide range of crops,” he says.
It is for this reason that Government, with support from the World Bank, is implementing a US$4.5 million irrigation development project that is expected to change the scenario.
“Poverty is not good. This irrigation scheme will benefit a lot of us here because we put in so much to farm around this area,” he says.
Mr Kandela has a generator and an engine that he uses to pump water to irrigate his farm.
“Some people don’t have these things and it is very costly because it is not all the time that you can have these things,” he says.
He says at one point, he had over 40 cattle, but none is left now.
“The only things I have at the moment are goats and chickens,” he says. Some of his cattle either died from cattle disease or were sold to finance other projects.
However, he stands to benefit from the irrigation scheme that is under construction.
According to chief engineer on site, Abedinego Chalikosa, the US$4.5 million investment project will be in use by November this year.
The project is being constructed by Savenda Management Services, which is working hard to complete the job on schedule.
“Initially, we were supposed to be done by January this year, but [there are] challenges such as weather and also the construction of the 114 houses for those that were moved from the site where we are setting up,” says Mr Chalikosa.
The project is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Irrigation Development and Support Programme (IDSP) and is located on the left bank of the Zambezi River, downstream of the Kariba dam, about 15 kilometres south of Chirundu.
Close to 4,000 people in the drought-prone area stand to benefit from it.
“What we are basically trying to do is give an opportunity to people to have access to water throughout the year. We are going to pump water from the Zambezi River, that doesn’t run dry,” he says.
According to research findings by the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), for the past decade, over 50 percent of the agricultural budget has been spent on maize input and output subsidies, benefiting only a minority group of farmers.
The findings further revealed that 70 percent of the smallholder farmers cultivate less than two hectares and account for only 31 percent of the value agricultural production. Maize, being a low value commodity, cannot be a way out of poverty for this category of farmers.
“There has been limited willingness to change the status quo by the policy makers to shift resources from maize. Areas that have higher pay-offs than maize as far as smallholder income growth and rural poverty reduction have received little attention,” says IAPRI executive director Chance Kabaghe.
That is what the irrigation scheme tries to address.
The size of the existing gross area is approximately 5,000 hectares while the proposed size of the command area is 278 hectares out of which 254 hectares will be arable under irrigation.
Savenda Management Services is almost done with the clearing of the land where the irrigation plots will be situated while access and feeder roads had already been created as other works progress in earnest. A visit to the site of the irrigation scheme found Mr Chalikosa and project general manager Iain Macra supervising the dredging works at the site where the central pumping station will be located.
This is where the water tapped from the Zambezi River, about 200 metres away, will then be supplied to the irrigation areas through a system of pumping stations, reservoirs and pipes.
The works being carried out by Savenda include construction of the civil and electromechanical works of the pumping station located on the left bank of the Zambezi River and installation of the main conveyance pipes network of 6.5 kilometres in total, supplying water to the storage reservoirs and irrigation networks.
Results from a soil analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture in Lusitu shows that the land is fertile for the growing of various crops.
“So far from the houses that have been built for us, it is evident that this project is serious and we are looking forward to seeing it kicking off. I already know what I want to be growing,” said Monday Sai, 34.
Mary Simalambo, 44, a mother of eight children says once completed, the irrigation scheme will help her grow enough crops and to send her children to school.
“Farming here is hard and we are just grateful that this project is underway. It is going to transform our lives a great deal. We already know what we shall be growing, from vegetables, bananas and even tomatoes, those crops with ready market,” she says.
And Siavonga District Commissioner Lovemore Kanyama is optimistic that the project will enable locals in the area to conduct farming throughout the year.
“We are impressed with the quality of works being implemented by Savenda and every one of us is looking forward to having it operational as soon as possible,” he says.
In order to mitigate the impact of resettlement, Government has sought help from a number of organisations to finance irrigation projects – including the African Development Bank (AfDB) which will finance the six-year small-scale irrigation project in Chongwe, Mazabuka and Sinazongwe districts at US$10.77 million.

Being a newspaper vendor earned me college education

AUSTIN Liwakala, 25, is a final-year student at David Livingstone College of Education (DALICE).
He is a former street vendor and today he is at the training institution in the tourist capital, pursuing a course in teaching.
We caught up with the enterprising Austin and he shared his somewhat unique story with us.
Born in 1992 to Liwakala Mungabwa and Nanzila Magumwi in Magumwi village, somewhere in Mwandi district in the Western Province, Austin’s childhood was not the easiest, especially after the death of his parents.

Austin in the library.

“I lost my parents at a very tender age when I was still in primary school at Magumwi Primary School,” he says.
“My father was first to die in 2003 and my mother followed two years later. I am the only one remaining, my young sister died in her infancy, too.”
“I moved here [Livingstone] just after writing my Grade seven exams, in 2005 with my father’s younger brother [Balumbi Mangabwa]. He was a businessman who used to travel a lot,” he says.
When the results came out, Austin was one of the best pupils at his school and was selected to go to Sichili Secondary School.
And his uncle promised to see him through, but that was only a promise.
“My uncle used to travel to and from the village dealing in cattle business. One time, when his marriage was degenerating, he went to the village and never returned,” he says.
That’s how Austin was left in the care of his aunt, with whom he had a somewhat sour relationship.
“I stayed at home for almost two years, somewhere between 2006 and 2007 before I moved in with my cousin and with time I started selling in a neighbour’s shop,” he says.
In 2008, luck struck.
His other cousin, only identified as Lubinda, decided to take him back to school.
Lubinda managed to apply and secure Austin a full government sponsorship through the Department of Social Welfare.
“I was too old for Grade Eight and that was how my cousin suggested that I skip Grade Eight and just go straight into grade nine”, he said.
With his good Grade seven results, he fitted in well in Grade Nine. He did well in his final examinations.
From there, he was selected to go to Linda Secondary School, where he went on to complete his secondary school education in 2011.
He says his time in secondary school was not the easiest either.
Austin narrates that he was at one point hit by a mysterious mental illness which he suspects was caused by a witchcraft spell cast on him.

Austin Liwakala.

“I don’t know whether it was out of witchcraft or what, but after I was selected to go to Linda Secondary school, I developed a mental illness which I feel contributed to my poor performance in the final exams,” he says.
“But after a series of prayer sessions with Pastor Emmanuel Sitondo, I became better and managed to have a full certificate. It did me really bad because I became slow at grasping things at school.”
He adds: “After the results came out, I only performed well in about three subjects. The rest were satisfactory, so I had to re-sit.”
But in order to re-sit the subjects, he had to raise money.
What better way to raise money than to become a newspaper vendor for the Zambia Daily Mail.
“I owe where I am today to the opportunity I got from the Zambia Daily Mail. Just by me being a vendor of the newspaper opened up a lot of opportunities and it is from that I managed to raise money to re-sit my Grade 12 examinations and save some to get me to college,” he says.
Nyambe Lungowe, a senior sales executive at the newspaper, describes Austin as “one of the most vibrant vendors the newspaper has had”.
Asked about life as a newspaper vendor is, Austin says it was always not rosy.
“It was not easy because at times you would have a lot of returns. But with time and on special occasions, you would find that you sell all the papers,” he says.
He also used to sell airtime.
His favourite ‘hunting grounds’ were the hotels, especially when there were conferences and meetings.
“Many times, we would go there and sell many copies,” he says. “Otherwise, I can’t say it was easy.”
Nonetheless, it would be a field day whenever there were government advertisements in the newspaper.
Advertisements such as military, public service commission or teacher recruitment exercises made the newspaper sell like hot cake.
“Those days I would sell a lot of copies,” he says. “The commissions were little but I still managed to raise money to re-sit and I even opened an account with Airtel Mobile Money where I used to bank my little profits.”
In no time, he managed to become a vendor for three other newspapers and he lived like that from December 2011 to 2015 when he was accepted to pursue a teaching diploma at DALICE.
“I am in my final year. I have done my first school teaching practice at Mwandi Secondary and I will be doing my final teaching practice at Simoonga Combined Secondary School.”
He is advising all those that could be going through hardships to remain steadfast and persevere.
“I think the greatest power one can ever possess is that fighting spirit and determination within themselves,” he says. He also says being humble and grateful to those that help you in life is equally important.
“I never forget people that were kind to me. That is why I always endeavour to show the same kindness in my own small way."