Chirundu more than just a border post

convenience of travel.
It is just a place where immigration and customs formalities are conducted before one proceeds to their destination in a hurry.
Just about the multimillion-dollar service complex!
However, Chirundu Border Post is the nerve centre with a network of other complex activities that have sprouted to support this important function of facilitating easy movement of people.
Outside the immigration complex is a life that has not really been explored, a life about to explode with a desire for growth and modernity in line with other settlements of similar importance in the country and the region.
Outside the complex is a people that sees a bright future for the border area and have been at hand to support that growth and to add colour to this painting.
Only the painter knows the ultimate picture.
There are many claimants to the title of painter but the frontrunner at this stage has to be time which has been the ingredient that has had the power to influence the course of events in the world.
With over 2500 people, Chirundu is growing rapidly spawning great demand for services and accommodation in the process.
Owing to the nature of growth, settlements have largely been informal which deprives the Local Board of revenue to pursue larger projects and offer expected services.
Of the population, the majority are not in the mainstream activities of the town which boasts a sizeable number of people in formal employ. The border complex has other auxiliary arms such as the police which has just recently completed a modern police station along the highway and government complexes which have had cosmetic effect on the face of the area.
However, currently the buildings which provide the face of an emerging modern area are scattered giving sporadic sights to marvel at while an overbearing sense of being in a wildlife area is there for all to see.
This is typified by dense bushes providing a sharp contrast to other developed towns which have managed to consume their trees to almost extinction levels. With basic services such as schools and health centres still to meet expectations, people have called for a concerted effort to give a jump start to the development of Chirundu into a modern area.
Children who complete primary education at Chirundu Primary still find themselves at sea when time comes to proceed to secondary school. There is no secondary school in Chirundu – a situation that has forced some parents with limited means but with a desire for their children to pursue education to send them to live with relatives and sometimes strangers in nearby Nyamakate or Kariba.
This is by no means easy. “We would like to urge the relevant authorities to quickly come up with a solution because sending a child to start living alone at a young age exposes them to vices such as prostitution and abuse,” said Mrs Egifa Putani, a parent.
The area has a clinic which cannot cope with serious health issues leaving the option of sending a patient to Karoi, Kariba or simply take them across the Zambezi River for attention in Zambia which proves complicated when a person dies in foreign land.
Hurungwe district administrator Mrs Tsana Chirau confirmed the complicated situation in the town saying more needed to be done to make such services available.
“This is a thing that we have been seized with for a very long time hoping to find a quick solution. There is need for a hospital and at least a secondary school in the area” she said.
Chirundu Local Board chairperson Mr William Gadzikwa said plans were afoot to turn the area into a modern town by 2021 which seems far off for people on the ground.
“There are so many challenges militating against us moving with almost lightning speed because there are a lot of factors to be considered. The year 2021 is a realistic projection that can be met under the circumstances,” he said.
He said the allocation of at least 300 stands was a step in the right direction in alleviating the shortage of accommodation and also change the face of the town. The town is home to the notorious Baghdad Settlement where pole and dagga houses are common sight while the bricks they use make the inventors of conventional bricks seethe with anger.
They have developed conical bricks made from a bucket which goes against building models around the country. “This gives us a strong building and it conforms with the temperatures we experience here.
The gaps the bricks leave act as ventilators,” said Enoch Muvhinde recently. Mr Gadzikwa said there was little room to expand the envisioned town as it is marooned in a wildlife area. “We are currently in talks with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority so that they can release some land for our expansion,” he said.
Owing to limited job opportunities, some youths have resorted to drug abuse and starting the day where they ended it – at a beerhall. They wake up in the morning and swarm the leisure spots dotted around the town.
“We work hard my brother but we do not get money regularly which means that drinking is something that helps us kill time and escape from the boredom because we have very limited activities,” said John Satari at a local drinking hole. This is not only limited to men but also women who have turned to prostitution targeting mostly truck drivers who are stranded when the immigration and customs offices close for the day. Scantily dressed ladies with bloodshot eyes from lack of adequate sleep and alcohol can be seen wandering around the town but mostly in areas frequented by trucks to enhance chances of getting a “catch”. This constituency of truck drivers and ladies of the night have had misgivings for the one-stop border post concept developed to ensure smooth movement of goods and people.
Their concern has been that they now have little time to see each other as one is immediately directed to the Zambian side. Previously the mistresses would meet up with their male friends on the waiting area but that has since changed prompting them to clash with their boyfriends accusing them of abandoning them or running away from them.