When Zambians and Malawians meet, they call each other achimwene or baneba—brothers split by a colonial divide. This is not cheap talk. Many communities on both sides share the same bloodlines, surnames, food and traditional rites and cultural values.
Nationalists blame the brains at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1985 for dividing the continent like a piece of cake, splitting people who were traditionally one tribe while lumping together avowed foes. When Malawians and Zambians along the porous border meet, it is clear the maps are nothing but lines drawn based on oral descriptions and natural features like watersheds with no clear physical markers. Due to this lack of clarity, divided local communities with shared history, geography and culture—the United Nations definition of a nation—now navigate disputes, physical barriers and other ambiguities that persist in some areas.
For communities in Chitipa District in Malawi and Isoka District in Zambia, however, the spirit of togetherness is unmistakable. People of the two districts not only share blurry borders, but also social amenities, including healthcare, roads, markets and farmland. They intermarry, trade together and mourn shared kinsfolk.
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Anthony Kapesa, from Chisankhwa, Senior Chief Mwabulambya in Chitipa, settled in Nakapelekese in Isoka for farming due to limited land at home. “The chiefs and communities welcomed me well. They gave me a place to live and cultivate.
I feel at home and food-secure,” says the man who grows maize, groundnuts and sunflower. Similarly, Joyce Simfukwe of Nalutete in Isoka describes Malawians as “my people”—relatives. “We have many things in common,” she says.
“Malawi and Zambia are one. We go to Chitipa District Hospital when sick and our children are born there because it is the closest health facility.” Simfukwe says. Since Malawi and Zambias won independence from Britain in 1964, much of northeastern Isoka has relied on social services from Chitipa and intermarriages have strengthened these geopolitical ties.
The realisation that there are many things that unite Africans than those that divide them has given rise to the push for regional integration across southern Africa. This has not only dialled up calls for open borders, open skies to ease the movement of people and goods while boosting trade in their region, but also a united front to confront shared challenges. In the words, the proponents of regional integration say a crisis in one country is a shared emergency and it cannot be eliminated unless neighbouring countries put their resources together to create a safe world for all. The consensus is vividly illustrated by regional efforts to combat cross-border disease outbreaks such as Covid-19, cholera and Ebolavirus.
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