Maravi

Mpezeni urges repair of roads to chiefs’ palaces

Mpezeni urges repair of roads to chiefs’ palaces
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sun 07 Mar. 2010, 09:40 CAT

SEVERAL mourners including Eastern Province minister Isaac Banda were last Thursday forced to walk to late chief Mishoro's palace after their vehicles got stuck in mud on the dilapidated road that leads to the palace. And paramount chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni in Eastern Province, has appealed to the government to repair roads leading to chiefs’ palaces.

The mourners who included Banda, provincial permanent secretary Eularia Syamujaye, deputy permanent secretary Nicholas Banda, Chipata District commissioner Moses Nyirenda, and provincial education officer Pilila Jere walked to the palace after their vehicles failed to go through the damaged road leading to the palace.

Several vehicles were parked on the roadside as mourners rushed to the palace.

Later in the afternoon, some vehicles meandered through the bad road and eventually reached the palace.

The portion that needs urgent attention stretches from the Msoro road to the palace.

Some mourners complained that the bad road was a clear sign of how some rural areas were neglected.

"Next year they (politicians) will be coming for campaigns, after voting for them they will neglect us again. So there is no need for voting because people do not do what they promise. It’s bad that our member of parliament Vera Tembo is not here to see the road for herself,” said Jack Soko a motorist whose vehicle got stuck before Msekera stream.

And Mpezeni urged the government to pay attention to the roads leading to palaces.
“I hope you will pay attention to the roads especially those that lead to palaces...this stream Lutembwe was full and we have faced problems. I hope you will attend to it," Mpezeni said.

He said the late chief Mishoro was a good man who served his people well.

He commended the government for providing a coffin and other assistance towards the funeral.
Mpezeni said headman Nzimakazi would take care of the chiefdom as they awaited a new chief.

Nc'wala ceremony organizing committee secretary Leo Jere said it was good that the minister and the permanent secretary walked to the funeral house because of the poor state of the road.

“They have seen how the road is. Chief Mishoro III, we are burying today, used to say ‘repair my road’ but there was nothing. The chief used to say ‘you will only repair my road when I die.’ Have they repaired? No, they have walked. You should repair the road from Chinjala road to the chief’s palace and also on the Chiparamba side so that when we come for the installation, the road will be good because we don't want to get stuck again," Jere said.

Banda said the chief’s death had come as a shock to the government.

"The chief being the longest serving on the throne as chief is described as a vessel of wisdom, not only to the younger chiefs but to all of us and his subjects. As government when we lose a chief then there is a big gap in developmental. The late chief worked closely with government and none of us here heard of him to the contrary," Banda said.

He assured the royal family that the chief's loss was not theirs alone because the government mourned with them.
Banda later promised Mpezeni that the government would work on the roads.

"I think that … you know that we received the road making equipment recently so we started by repairing big roads and also the roads that leads to our two paramount chiefs. Last year we started working on the Msoro road and this year the issue of this road is in the budget. We will repair this road soon.

Even us, we have seen that the experience we had wasn't good so will work on the road as fast as possible," Banda said.

Chief Mishoro, the longest serving Ngoni chief, died at 85 and is survived by three wives, 20 children and 75 grandchildren.

The chief was installed in July 1955.

Labels: CHIEF MPEZENI, CHIEFS, EASTERN PROVINCE, ROADS

posted by MrK @ 7:30 PM