ISLANDS IN AGONY: Tale of Likoma and Chizumulu

Tamkwera Ilala, Ilala, Ilala, lero; Tamkwera Ilala, eeeh! This song—popular among Tongas and people living along the northern shores of Lake Malawi—sums up how deeply attached these people are to the MV Ilala, their beautiful lover whose fidelity to them over the years has been an emotive subject.

AN ELUSIVE DARLING: MV ILALA

When it recently returned to the crystal clear waters of the ‘Lake of Stars’ after a year-long absence during which it was undergoing repairs, the ships’ lovers were willing to pick up broken pieces of their hearts, forgive her for the umpteenth time and gather her back into their arms.

They are optimistic—though cautiously so given the Ilala’s past transgressions—that this time she will stay.  

That is evident with Likoma residents, who are celebrating the return of MV Ilala with caution, fearing the worst in case the 64-year-old vessel breaks down again.

On June 2 2013 around 10am, the reconditioned ship, operated by Malawi Shipping Service (MSC), returned to the island district for the first time since its disappearance on June 30 last year.

According to MSC spokesperson Austin Msowoya, Ilala had to undergo a resit, the first major rehabilitation since its original engines were replaced in 1994.

The motor ship’s appearances at Likoma, one of the country’s busiest ports, are always a catalyst of optimism and excitement to locals who consider her a lifeline to the outside world, even mainland Malawi, where food is grown and their life-or-death decisions are made.

STUDENTS VYING FOR A GLIMPSE OF ILALA

Not unexpectedly, her return on a sunny Sunday morning was so euphoric that prayers at St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral were interrupted as people from all walks of life hurried to the harbour.

The following week, maize prices on the islands fell to K2 500 for a 20-kg pail from about K3 500 before the Ilala, which is the major transporter of goods to the island, docked.

But behind the delightful turn of events rages some uncertainty over whether their on-and-off darling will show more fidelity and resilience than it has done in the past following similar renewals. 

“It is always a relief to see the ship at Likoma because she is more affordable, cheaper and safer than the risky boats that we often do with when she breaks down. However, it is time we had a new one to give Ilala a break. We don’t have to wait for an accident,” said businessperson Gladys Mandala, who singlehandedly fends for six children.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

The reaction is symptomatic of a growing perception of the motor vessel, built in 1949 by Yarrow & Company in Scotland.

Launched in June 1951, she has clocked approximately five million kilometres plying up and down Lake Malawi.

Inscriptions on her shell show that the colonial ship was recomissioned by founding president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda at Monkey Bay on November 10 1972.

This followed massive maintenance without replacing its aged engine, said Msowoya.

For 10 years, the motor vessel’s ‘seaworthiness’ has been questionable, with some wondering how safe are the lives and goods it ships on its weekly voyages from Monkey Bay Shipyard in Mangochi to Chilumba Jetty in Karonga.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Focus on Africa magazine of January-March 2009 quotes Captain William Nyasulu as affirming that “60 years is a long time for a ship”—albeit expressing hope that “it can go another 100 years or even 200” with regular repairs and proper handling.

Last month, Captain Tasauka Ngwira and his crew brimmed with equally calculated hope.
“It still has a long way to go,” said Ngwira, whose crew still relies on a navigation map that dates back to the 1950s.

Politics and lives

TRADITIONA AUTHORITY NKUMPHA

Having endured long periods without their favourite ship, Likoma dwellers and traditional leaders have misgivings about the vessel—for even presidents have expressed a feeling that it is time Ilala had a viable substitute.

Speaking at the launch of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Ndirande in Blantyre on May 30 2005, fallen president Dr Bingu wa Mutharika described Ilala as “old and slow’.

 “I will replace passenger ships that sail on Lake Malawi with ferry boats and modern vessels that can travel between Nkhata Bay and Likoma within an hour,” said the late Mutharika—the man who thought he was so visionary that he claimed to have been dreaming in ‘techni-colour’.

However, the promise, repeated to uproarious applause during his visit to Likoma the same year, might have been proclamations of a politician who often attributed to his predecessor Bakili Muluzi a fairy-tale pledge to build a bridge connecting the island to Nkhata Bay.

“Some politicians are so crooked that they will promise to build a bridge where there is no river at all,” said Mutharika when he renamed Mangochi Bridge after Muluzi in 2005.

However, his reign (2004-2012) meant no end to the island’s nightmares.

Eight years after the false assurances, President Joyce Banda was under fire from concerned citizens of Likoma for keeping quiet on the high cost of living during the latest spate without Ilala.

Following the citizens’ open letter to the President, Malawi Watch executive director Billy Banda accused the leader of “just trying to market herself on the global scene as well as trying to draw attention at big events and religious celebrations while people of Likoma are in deep pain.”

But wading off accusations of not caring enough and a growing rebellion, State House said President Banda was spending sleepless nights over deteriorating livelihood in Likoma.

“She is the President who has people’s welfare at heart,” State House press officer Tusekele Mwanyongo told The Nation of May 22 2013.

LIKOMA RESIDENTS WAITING FOR A BREAK

But the people of Likoma and Chizumulu want the President to show that they count in her priorities by avoiding a repeat of the untold misery that gripped the island when the Ilala was under maintenance.

These included people offloading business merchandise into the lake to save boats from capsizing, scarcity and rising prices of foodstuffs, stalling of local government development projects, difficulties in ferrying foodstuffs for boarding students as well as erratic supply of drugs and essential medical supplies.

Likoma’s village head Mwasi said: “We needed a new ship as early as 20 years ago, but we are still relying on vessels bought during Kamuzu’s era. Since 1994, we have had a string of leaders who are playing politics with our lives. They keep lying and people no longer see any reason to vote next year because polls bring us liars.”

The ageing fleet includes passenger ships Mtendere, Mpatsa and Viphya II; fuel tanker Ufulu as well as cargo carriers Karonga and Katundu.
The 1 000-tonner Katundu delivered maize to the district’s two Admarc depots to offset rising food prices.

A huge sense of alienation is gaining sway, so much so that village head Chalunda feels government sidelines the island “as if it is in Mozambique, not Malawi.”
Proclaimed a district in 1999, Likoma is surrounded by the former Portuguese colony, but its affairs are run by Lilongwe.

With Ilala’s return, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nkumpha III of the Island has set sights on calls for a new ship and a jetty.

BAYING FOR A DISTANT DARLING

At present, ships at Likoma Port dock about 200 metres in the lake, with passengers pouring into two 22-seater lifeboats to embark or disembark.

The precarious beginnings and endings of Ilala are unfriendly to the elderly, patients and people with disabilities, the chief stated.

Ilala’s unreliability and its dependents’ search for alternatives has also brought into question the status of MSC which was privatised to Glenns Waterway in 2002 and then Mota-Engil in 2010.

“What sort of concessions allow complete withdrawal of essential services without putting in place an alternative considering that some people are totally dependent on the ship?” said James Mphonde, leader of concerned citizens who petitioned the President over Ilala.

He also backed calls for a new jetty.

According to district commissioner (DC) Charles Mwawembe, government has been planning to construct a jetty for years. 

“We are told that designs and feasibility studies are complete. In February 2013, officials from the Ministry of Transport and MSC were here to view the site for the project. We are waiting for implementation,” said Mwawembe.

MAKWENDA LODGE FROM CHIZULULU PORT

He indicated that the makeshift port does not only infringe on the mobility and rights of people with special needs, but also affects the transportation of cars and other heavy goods for government projects.

MSC’s Msowoya said developing and rehabilitating ports is the duty of the Marine Department, which has been talking about upgrading ports at Likoma, Nkhotakota and Malindi for years.

“But if we had proper jetties, it would shorten the time the ship takes to sail from Monkey Bay to Chilumba and back to two days instead of the five the round trip currently takes, said Msowoya.

The reduced time would guarantee shorter durations of offloading goods and passengers, he added.

Currently, Ilala leaves Monkey Bay on Saturday and returns on Thursday.
Msowoya also indicated that containers carrying some components of a new ship have already arrived at Monkey Bay.

He said the company plans to commission the new ship by April next year, saying: “She is designed to carry fewer passengers than Ilala, but it is so speedy that you can make two trips between Nkhata Bay and Likoma a day.”

PART OF THE CREW READING AN OLD MAP

This news is timely as Ilala, which reportedly cost MSC about $2 million (about K680 million), is weakening by the day.

But it may not be allowed to ply the lake for long because of its single-bottom design.

“Its future rests with the International Maritime Organisation, which is trying to phase out single-bottom vessels for safety reasons,” writes BBC freelancer journalist Ruth Evans.

Apart from Chizumulu and Likoma Islands, the ship’s 500km route takes her to costal stops at Chipoka in Salima, Nkhotakota, Matengula, Likoma and Chizumulu islands, Nkhata Bay, Usisya, Ruarwe, Tchalo and Chilumba.

Likoma has a population of 10 433, including about 3 000 from Chizumulu, which depends on the mainland for nearly everything.

Its voyages are characterised by people gripping children, cartons of medical drugs, business merchandise, and stacks of maize, electrical goods, furniture, chickens, bicycles, canoes and everything they value.

Others from costal fishing villages paddle feverishly to meet the ship, selling their catch and curios to passengers.

Despite being optimistic about their ship, which celebrated its 60^th birthday in March 2009, MSC officials are pessimistic about the return of her younger sister, MV Mtendere.

Msowoya argued that it has become too costly to repair and operate it—with Captain Ngwira saying it is beyond repair because engineers and ship builders flouted its design.

“The actual ship is different from its design. There are scenarios where the sketch shows wires or pipes are just overhead but you will find nothing if you open the roof. This led to bypasses that have left the ship almost irredeemable,” said Ngwira.

The concessionaires envisage making profits and serving the cut-away communities without government subsidies.

Ilala’s revival is not just manifest in the fact that she completed the Likoma-Nkhata Bay stretch in less than three hours. Its riveted steel panels and body have been painted and welded.

For people of Likoma and Chizumulu, their hope and prayer is that this time, the vessel will outlast its new paint and their relationship with their beloved  ship will endure and they can continue singing: Tamkwera Ilala, eeeh!