K559m house, K370m bridge and court case that won’t end: inside Mzimba Hora’s CDF billions

A council has launched a K559 million house for a government extension worker in a village where the High Court found voters were handed cash during the last election, while the constituency’s MP waits to learn if she keeps her seat.

M’mbelwa District Council has unveiled the Chaboli house and a K370 million bridge over the Luweya River in Mzimba Hora.

In November 2025 the High Court found that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cadres gave voters between K2,000 and K10,000 at Chiseng’ezi and Chaboli polling stations. It declared the MP, Martha Mzomera Ngwira, not duly elected. She appealed, and the Supreme Court of Appeal heard the case in January. It has yet to rule.

A price that needs explaining

The Chaboli house accounts for about 60 per cent of the two projects’ value.

Earlier this month the same council launched a K249 million piped-water scheme at Bulala Trading Centre, also in Mzimba Hora, so Chaboli costs K310 million more. A similar scheme at Edingeni cost the same K249 million.

A house and a water scheme are different kinds of work, and the K559 million may include costs the council has not mentioned.

But the documents that would settle the question have not been published, including the Bills of Quantities, the engineer’s estimate, the bids and the tender evaluations.

A bridge with a history

Building materials meant for the Luweya bridges featured in a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) criminal case that ended last year.

Former councillor Dan Nkosi was convicted on three counts of misuse of office and one of forgery, and was sentenced to four years. His co-accused, Ngwira’s husband and predecessor as MP, Christopher Ngwira, was acquitted.

Christopher Ngwira has a separate conviction for abuse of office over a school project in the constituency. The High Court upheld it in 2022 and reduced his sentence to immediate release on health grounds.

Mrs Ngwira, who is also Deputy Minister of Gender, said at the launch that the projects would improve services and create jobs. Residents say a new bridge is badly needed, as the old crossing collapsed in March 2024.

‘No wrongdoing shown’

The record does not show that Mrs Ngwira has done anything wrong in connection with the current projects, and nothing in the public record links the choice of Chaboli to the election dispute. Her husband’s convictions are his alone.

Together with Bulala, the three projects total K1.178 billion, almost a quarter of the constituency’s K5 billion CDF allocation for 2026/27, which is up from K200 million. The full programme has not been published.

District Commissioner Emmanuel Bulukutu urged communities to monitor the work. The council’s finance director has said the process would be transparent and that no contractor would be favoured.

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