Kazungula
Image:Zambezi River borders of [Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe & Botswana.jpg|thumb|Kazungula (centre right) on the Zambezi River, before the construction of the bridge. Zambia is on the right; Namibia at the top on the left; Botswana in the middle on the left and Zimbabwe bottom all the way across the bottom of the picture. The Zimbabwe–Botswana border runs only just this side of the ferry pier.]
Kazungula is a small border town in Zambia, lying on the north bank of the Zambezi River about west of Livingstone on the M10 Road.
At Kazungula, the territories of four countries come close to meeting at a quadripoint. It has now been agreed that the international boundaries contain two tripoints joined by a short line roughly long forming a boundary between Zambia and Botswana, now crossed by the Kazungula Bridge. The ever-shifting river channels and the lack of any agreements addressing the issue before 2000 led to some uncertainty in the past as to whether or not a quadripoint legally existed. Thus, Botswana and Zambia share a border of about at the confluence of the Chobe River and the Zambezi River, between Impalila Island, the extreme tip of Namibia's Caprivi Strip and Zimbabwe.
The Chobe River, which divides Namibia and Botswana, enters the Zambezi near Kazungula. Kazungula is an important trade destination to both Zambia and Botswana.
Transport
Kazungula Bridge is a road and rail bridge over the Zambezi river between the countries of Zambia and Botswana at Kazungula. The bridge was opened for traffic on 10 May 2021, replacing the Kazungula Ferry. The bridge crosses the wide Zambezi river to the eponymous village of Kazungula in Botswana, east of the town of Kasane; it was one of the largest ferries in the region with a capacity of.The bridge has a longest span of and links the town of Kazungula in Zambia with Botswana and is curved to avoid the nearby borders of Zimbabwe and Namibia. The bridge has a single-line railway track between two traffic lanes and pavements for pedestrians.
During the building of the Kazungula Bridge, Zimbabwe disputed that there was a direct border between Botswana and Zambia. Zimbabwe claimed that Botswana and Zambia do not have a direct border, but rather the border was actually between Zimbabwe and Namibia. What Botswana was claiming to be its land crossing the Zambezi was actually Zimbabwe's land and that this might lead to war. In April 2014, Zimbabwe's then Transport Minister Obert Mpofu was asked in Parliament about the Kazungula Bridge being built by Botswana and Zambia. He responded: "So, the position of government is that there is no direct border between Botswana and Zambia. If a bridge has to be constructed in that area, it will have to go through Zimbabwe, hence the stalemate."
Botswana and Zambia, upon realizing their mistake, then went back to the drawing board. They asked for Namibia's permission to use its land, and Namibia agreed. The Kazungula bridge was then re-designed to curve to avoid Zimbabwean land. This was confirmed by Botswana's then Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefi, in September 2014: "we approached Namibia and asked that the bridge pass through their territory and they agreed."
Kazungula lies just from the Livingstone-Sesheke road which connects westwards to the Katima Mulilo Bridge linking Zambia and Namibia.
The border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana, south-east of Kazungula Bridge, is also called Kazungula; it is the most direct route leading to Victoria Falls.
General administration
Kazungula was elevated to district status in September 1998. Government departments, parastatals, and NGOs operate there in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The following governments and government departments operate: Council, education, health, police, National Registration, immigration, social welfare, community development and ZESCO.Political system, governance and traditional leadership
The district is covered by one parliamentary constituency and fourteen political wards which include Sikaunzwe, Sekute, Nwezi, Moomba, Nyawa, Nuba, Kauwe and Chooma. Traditionally, the district is divided into five chiefdoms and these are Chief Sekute, Chief Nyawa, Chief Musokotwane, Chief Mukuni and Chief Moomba. The main tribes in the district are Toka Leya, Nkoya, Lozi, and Tonga.Local economy
The majority of the population within Kazungula does not receive any form of income. The largest industries are peasant/subsistence farming, cross-border trading and fishing. The main economic sectors in Kazungula are agriculture, manufacturing, trade, commerce and tourism.The informal sector is characterised by fish trading, trading in second hand and new clothes and footwear, small-scale fishing, trading in vegetables and other foodstuffs, beer brewing, carpentry, production and selling of traditional handicrafts, trading in groceries, restaurants, bars and charcoal burning and selling. The major activity in the secondary sector is the generation of power at Batoka Gorge located in Mukuni ward. Other secondary sector activities though of less economic significance are the production of timber and carpentry.
Infrastructure development
The following projects are at different stages of completion:- Construction of the Kazungula District Hospital is at 90% under phase one of the project.
- Construction of 30 housing units for government departments is at various stages.
- Construction of Kazungula Bridge has completed.
- The construction of the truck yard superstructure is completed.
- Construction of 10 classroom blocks and 10 VIP toilets.
- Construction of CIVIC Centre is above ring beam while the District Administration is at slab level.
- The construction of the post office is at roof level.
- The local court is completed and operational.
- Construction of Sibandwa Dam.