By Moses Amweelo
At independence the government inherited a total of 624 km of road leading to the Zambezi river now referred to as the Trans-Caprivi Highway, 441 km of which were of gravel standard and the rest of fair to poor condition and required major rehabilitation. To date government with assistance from our development partners has upgraded to bituminous standard over 400 kms to the standards required of the SADC regional trunk road network at a cost close to N$1.0 billion at today’s prices. The last section between Kongola and Katima Mulilo covering 118 km was rehabilitated during 2005. Its completion has fulfilled government’s commitment of linking Namibia to our neighbours by all-weather roads. The Zambezi river bridge and the rehabilitation of the Livingstone-Sesheke road, is sure commitment by the Zambian government to the promotion of the use of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi corridor which has been adopted by SADC as a regional development corridor. We offer sincere congratulations and would also like to extend our appreciation for the support that has been provided, especially with regard to the sourcing of construction materials for the Trans-Caprivi Highway in view of the acute shortage of these natural materials in the Caprivi region. This support has been facilitated through the technical steering committee created for the purpose of overseeing the completion of the Zambezi river bridge in particular and the approaching road networks in general. The completion of the Wenela-Katima Mulilo-Ngoma section is a step forward and marks the beginning of the final stage in the provision of all-weather road links on the SADC regional trunk road network in the Caprivi region. The importance of the Trans-Caprivi Highway to the SADC region and to the three (Botswana, Namibia and Zambia) countries in particular cannot be over-emphasized. The government recognized soon after independence that this highway’s completion was a necessity to enhance regional trade and co-operation and promote tourism in the Zambezi basin area. The Trans-Caprivi Highway also services the Walvis Bay-Caprivi-Ndola-Lubumbshi corridor besides linking Namibia to Zambia over the Zambezi river and to Botswana through Ngoma and Mohembo, at our common border points. The government identified the existing ferry crossing of the Zambezi river at Katima Mulilo as a bottleneck to linking the Trans-Caprivi Highway to the road network in Zambia. As such the African Development Bank was approached to fund the preliminary design of the bridge as part of a large project referred to at the time as the detailed engineering design study of the Trans-Caprivi Highway. The Zambezi river bridge has been a centre stage of activity for the last four decades. Real activities towards implementation only commenced in 1994, when the preliminary design study of the bridge was commissioned as part of a larger project for the detailed engineering design of the Trans-Caprivi Highway funded through a grant of the African Development Bank. Close liaison was kept with two countries (Namibia and Zambia) during the study, to ensure that the requirements of both countries are taken into account. The recommendations of this study became the driving force for the sourcing of finance for the bridge, for which the German government responded positively. The preliminary design of the Zambezi river bridge was section four of the detailed engineering design study, funded through a grant. The other three sections covered the detailed design and documentation for the Bagani-Mohembo road including the improvement of the Kavango river bridge as section one, the tender documentation for the Kongola-Katima Mulilo road rehabilitation as section two and the detailed design and documentation of the Wenela-Katima Mulilo-Ngoma road including the rehabilitation of the Chobe river bridges as section three, which has since been completed and was opened on 11 April 2002 at Katima Mulilo. In view of the fact that the bridge is a SADC project meant to link the Trans-Caprivi Highway to the road network in Zambia over the Zambezi river for the benefit of the region in general and Namibia and Zambia in particular, a technical steering committee chaired by the ministers responsible for transport in the two countries co-opting officials from Zambia and Namibia was established for overseeing the study. The purpose was to ensure that those parties responsible for customs, immigration, security, transport and the local communities are consulted at all development stages of the project. The terms of reference (TOR) for the study required the consultant to investigate a number of possible river crossings for the bridge. The TOR also emphasized the accommodation of Zambian nationals who will use the bridge between that part of Zambia to the west of the river and that to the east. A total of six sites were therefore investigated, three being Zambia-Zambia crossing options and three being Zambia-Namibia options. Investigations of the founding conditions and bridge configurations at the possible sites eliminated four crossing points leaving only those crossings located at the Mpwanda rapids (site one) north of the existing ferry crossing point and the Katima Mulilo Rapids (site two), at the border with Zambia. The two sites were further investigated taking into account the cost of the additional approach roads that would be required to link the bridge to the existing road network. Because of the length of approach roads required for the bridge at theMpwanda Rapids and the costs therefore, site one was eliminated. A bridge at the Namibia-Zambia border therefore remained as the only option and was initially meant to cross from Zambia to Namibia and vice-versa. However a more detailed look at the founding conditions especially on the western bank of the river, found that the Namibian side previously envisaged for the abutment and approaches, would require foundations up to 30-40 m below ground level. However on the Zambian side of the western bank, firm founding material was close to the surface, which would reduce the cost of the bridge significantly and therefore increase its viability. The bridge was therefore swung to the north of the border for the abutments to be constructed on shallow and good founding material. One of the advantages of this option is that the Zambian nationals crossing the river using the bridge do not have to go through immigration procedures as would have been required if it was a Zambia-Namibia option. Discussions held with funding agencies also revealed that for a Zambia-Namibia option, grant funding would be provided to Zambia and loan funding to Namibia based on a 50/50 funding allocation. With the bridge completely in Zambia, the entire project would be funded through a grant which was the case with the KfW providing a total of DM20 million or N$100 million for this bridge. This option was endorsed by the Ministers responsible for transport from the two countries at a Ministerial meeting held in Windhoek in September 1997. As far as regulation of the bridge is concerned, the mandate of the technical steering committee has been extended to include the overseeing of the bridge after its completion. It is therefore anticipated that regular meetings will be held by the technical steering committee to address any problems reported after it is open to traffic and therefore the control of the bridge is now regulated by the said committee. On May 13, 2004 the Zambezi river bridge at Katima Mulilo was officially commissioned by Your Excellencies Mr Levy Mwanawasa, President of the Republic of Zambia and Comrade Dr Sam Nujoma, former President of the Republic of Namibia. Finally we extend our gratitude for the brotherly gesture of co-operation and we are sure that this will continue in future. The Caprivi region is blessed with the Zambezi river, friendly people and a green environment and therefore as visitors to the region you will find it entertaining.