BY DRAXON MALOYA

In a bid to ensure that learners don’t walk long distances to school one of the patriotic citizens from Usisya in the Nkhata-Bay District, Mackenzie Nkhwazi Chipalamoto has constructed a kitchen block housing all catering services at Usisyá Community Day Secondary School.

The construction of a kitchen comes at a time when the rains have continuously disrupted the teaching and learning at the school since students could not go to class without eating hence chiefs approached Chipalamoto to assist.

In an interview, Chipalamoto who is an engineer by profession said the construction of a kitchen compliments the teaching and learning environment for girls who reside at the school’s boarding facility.

“When chiefs approached me it felt duty-bound responsible to contribute something to my home which is lacking a lot, apart from paying school fees for a good number of learners I also decided to build the kitchen structure to ease the challenges encountered at the girl’s hostel,” Chipalamoto said.

He further stressed the need for government to speed up the plans to construct an all-weather road to Usisya which has the potential to ease health services and boost the country’s tourism industry in line with the Malawi Vision 2063.

“We are continuously crying to the government day and night to consider speeding up plans to construct an all-weather road to Usisya, we have very nice fishing grounds and the potential to boost our economy through hospitality attractions as stipulated in Malawi Vission 2063,” he said.

Asked if he has plans to contest in the 2025 parliamentary elections, the soft-speaking Chipalamoto couldn’t commit himself though he was quick to point out that he is always available to provide his services if the people of the Nkhata-Bay North constituency find it wise and necessary to do so.

Usisya is among several areas in the country’s northern region usually completely cut from the rest of the country during the rainy season due to a very poor road network affecting even the health service delivery.

Usisya Health Centre serving is failing to be upgraded into a rural hospital due to inadequate funding and it has run for more than 3 years without water following the breakdown of its water pump.

During an engagement meeting on Wednesday the Hospital In-charge, Roosevelt Njeghéghe disclosed that Usisya Health Centre is experiencing a sharp rise in number of unsafe abortion cases among young women and sexually transmitted infections (STI) resulting from unprotected sex among the youths apart from the common miserable stories of waterborne diseases.

“We receive 400 patients a day but we have a perennial shortage of essential drugs like amoxicillin and gentamicin used to treat asthma and STIs, and the water problem at our health centre is forcing us to refer every admission to either Nkhata-Bày District or Mzuzu Central Hospital,” Njegheghe said

The current parliamentarian for the Nkhata-Bay North constituency which has a population of 17 660 people is the former deputy minister of health and United Transformation Movement (UTM) member, Chrissy Kalamula Kanyasho.