Kasungu

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Kasungu
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pushpin_map_caption = Location in Malawi
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = flag|Malawi
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Central Region
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 = Kasungu District
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population_total = 59,696
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latd= 13|latm= 02|lats= |latNS=S
longd= 33|longm= 29|longs= |longEW=E
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elevation_m =1342
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Kasungu is a town in the Kasungu District of the Central Region of Malawi. The population of Kasungu is estimated to be 59,696 as of 2008.Kasungu is approximately convert|130|km|mi north-west of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, and is convert|35|km|mi east of Kasungu National Park.cite book|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zo1sg8FnF2gC&printsec=frontcover#PPA196,M1|title=Lonely Planet Southern Africa: Join the Safari|publisher=Lonely Planet|date=2007|page=pg.196|accessdate=2008-07-09|isbn=1740597451|last=Murphy|first=Alan|coauthors=Armstrong, Kate; Firestone, Matthew D.; Fitzpatrick, Mary] The main industry in Kasungu is tobacco-growing.cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313110/Kasungu|title=Kasungu|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=Encyclopaedia Britannica]

History

A farm close to Kasungu was the birthplace of the first President of Malawi, Hastings Banda.

Geography and climate

Kasungu is in central Malawi, lying at a height of convert|1342|m|ft. It has a "warm tropical climate" and a rainy season that lasts from November/December to March/April. The dry season lasts from May to October. The town receives, on average, between convert|500|mm|in–convert|1200|mm|in rainfall each year.

Demographics

Language

Chichewa is the language spoken in Kasungu.cite book|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nVrsAmvjhNQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA21,M1|page=pg.21|title=Language Planning and Policy in Africa: Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa|accessdate=2008-07-22|isbn=1853597252|date=2004|author=Baldauf, Richard B.|coauthors=Kaplan, Robert]

Facilities

Transport

Kasungu is served by buses and minibuses that travel to Lilongwe and Mzuzu. In June 2008, Central East Africa Railways announced plans to extend the rail line from Lilongwe to Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=10023|title=CEAR promises to compliment Shire-Zambezi Waterway|last=Msiska|first=Karen|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=The Daily Times|date=2008-06-23]

Amenities

There are guesthouses, bars, restaurants, a supermarket and a petrol station in Kasungu; according to "Lonely Planet", there are "no major attractions" in Kasungu. In June 2008, there was a petrol shortage in Kasungu, causing an increase in the sale of black market fuel.cite web|url=http://www.nyasatimes.com/national/572.html|title=Motorists stranded as fuel pumps run dry|last=Moyo|first=Judith|accessdate=2008-07-09|date=2008-06-16|work=Nyasa Times] In May 2006, a branch of the Opportunity Bank of Malawi opened in Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-128307602.html|title=Oibm Kasungu Branch Opens Today|date=2006-09-05|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=AllAfrica]

Emergency services

Kasungu has a police station.cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200209030145.html|title=Malawi: The Wider Angle|date=2002-09-02|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=AllAfrica] The town is also home to a 179-bed government-funded district hospital. The hospital is often overcrowded, and suffers from a lack of nurses and anti-retroviral drugs.cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/feb/18/aids.sarahboseley6|title=Athenase Kiromera, doctor|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=The Guardian|last=Bosely|first=Sarah|date=2003-02-18] cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/feb/16/aids.sarahboseley|title=One small miracle brings hope to thousands threatened by Aids|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=The Guardian|date=2004-02-16|last=Bosely|first=Sarah] The hospital's 13-bed paediatric department can receive over 100 patients, leaving some patients on the floor.cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Esteri/2004/12_Dicembre/09/malawi_riotta.shtml|title=Tra gli orfani nel Paese dell’Aids|language=Italian|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=Corriere della Sera|last=Riotta|first=Gianni|date=2004-12-09] UNICEF-Hamburg has sent over US$6000 to train care-workers in Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.welt.de/print-welt/article394372/Unicef_Wo_die_Spenden_bleiben.html|title=Unicef: Wo die Spenden bleiben|date=2002-06-13|language=German|accessdate=2008-07-09|work=Die Welt]

Land and economy

The land in Kasungu lacks nutrients and water, and is mostly "sand veld"; the Kasungu area is suffering from depleted forests.cite web|url=http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2007/12/24/104897.html|title=Alternative source of income may help to protect forest|last=Kitabu|first=Gerald|publisher=IPP Media|accessdate=2008-07-22|date=2007-12-24] A tribal chief stated in 2004 that over 250,000 people in Kasungu own no land.cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-14375544_ITM|title=Traditional leader says 250,000 people in central Malawi landless.|accessdate=2008-07-22|work=Asia Africa Intellligence Wire|date=2004-11-11] Tobacco is the only cash crop grown in Kasungu,cite web|url=http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v6/v6i1a11.htm|title=Modeling Agroforestry Adoption and Household Decision Making in Malawi|accessdate=2008-07-22|date=2002|publisher=University of Florida|work=African Studies Quarterly|author=Thangata, Paul H.|coauthors=Hildebrand, Peter E.; Gladwin, Christina H.] and the area has been described as a "tobacco heartland" by Xinhua News Agency. The opening of Kasungu National Park in 1970 has increased tourism in the area. Due to their poverty, most residents of Kasungu live in houses made of hand-made dung bricks, covered by roofs of straw or corrugated iron. According to AllAfrica, Kasungu is a "child labour hotspot."cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200212110106.html|title=Malawi: Story Workshop Fights Child Labour|accessdate=2008-07-22|date=2002-12-11|work=AllAfrica]

Politics

Kasungu is a "stronghold" of the Malawi Congress Party.cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-14589444_ITM|title=Malawi police arrest 12 persons for electoral violence.|date=2004-11-23|accessdate=2008-07-13|publisher=Panafrican News Agency] The Member of the Malawian Parliament for Kasungu Central is Carrington Jimu.cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200601250289.html|title=Malawi: MPs Defection Detrimental to Democracy - Kadzamira|accessdate=2008-07-10|work=AllAfrica|date=2006-01-25] and the MP for Kasungu North West is Gerald Jere.cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=10000|title=Gondwe throws out 50% salary hike for teachers|accessdate=2008-07-22|work=The Daily Times|last=Kashoti|first=Dickson|date=2008-06-18]

Foreign links

Kaluluma School in Kasungu has formed a relationship with Greenford High School, Southall, England.cite web|url=http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.2049522.0.teachers_fly_out_for_charity.php
title=Teachers fly out for charity|last=O'Leary|first=Sarah|accessdate=2008-07-09|date=2008-02-16|work=Ealing Times] A church in Kasungu also formed a relationship with two churches near Peterborough, England in 2001. Parishioners from the two churches have travelled to Kasungu several times and have built a new church and a fish farm. In February 2008, the church group built a maize mill in Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Lent-is-about-giving-something.3738770.jp|title=Lent is about giving something back for Canon Malcolm|accessdate=|date=2008-02-04|accessdate=2008-07-10|work=Peterborough Evening Telegraph]

Notable events

Famine and disease

Over 100 people died in a famine in 2002, according to official estimates; Kasungu was the worst affected area in Malawi.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1985765.stm|title=Malawi's 'worst-ever' famine|last=Tenthani|first=Raphael|accessdate=2008-07-22|date=2002-05-14|work=BBC News] In 2005 a famine occurred in Malawi, affecting 4.2 million Malawians. The efforts to distribute food to the needy were concentrated in Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/09/13/solidaridad/1126611123.html|title=Malawi se enfrenta una crisis alimentaria que durará varios meses|accessdate=2008-07-22|date=2005-09-15|work=El Mundo] During 2004 and 2005, there was an outbreak of cholera, with eight people recorded to have suffered the disease.cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=107D39A242A3853B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
title=Report on cholera outbreak in Malawi|accessdate=2008-07-22|publisher=MIJ FM|date=2005-01-24]

June 2003 riots

In June 2003, Kasungu Muslims rioted with police, after five Malawians, suspected of being al-Qaeda operatives, were arrested and taken into United States custody. One demonstrator was treated for "serious gunshot wounds".cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-104517251.html|title= Malawi police fire on Muslim demonstrators|accessdate=2008-07-10|date=2003-06-30|publisher=Xinhua News Agency] cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-75039611.html|title=Malawi Muslim group condemns violence in protests of Al-Qaida arrests|date=2003-07-02|publisher=Associated Press|last=Tenthani|first=Raphael|accessdate=2008-07-10]

Evacuation of President

In May 2005, Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika evacuated to a palace in Kasungu after he claimed that the presidential palace in Lilongwe was haunted by "evil spirits".cite web|url=http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1675564,00.html|title=President flees 'haunted' home|date=2005-03-12|accessdate=2008-07-10|work=News24] cite web|url=http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=273215&tabla=notas|title=Un mundo raro - Ahuyentan fantasmas del palacio presidencial al mandatario de Malaui|work=El Universal|accessdate=2008-07-10|date=2005-03-17|language=Spanish]

Chess championships

In January 2008, the African Junior Chess Championships were held at the Kamuzu Academy in Kasungu.cite web|url=http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=34392|title=UWI celebrating 60th anniversary|last=Herbert|first=Allan|date=2008-01-20|work=The Barbados Advocate|accessdate=2008-07-22] The academy, which "The Nyasa Times" describes as "highly regarded" and "Eton in the bush", was founded by the first President of Malawi, Hastings Banda.cite web|url=http://www.nyasatimes.com/index.php?news=533|title=Malawi’s Bingu: Eliminating dissent Kamuzu style|date=2008-06-10|accessdate=2008-07-22|work=The Nyasa Times]

References

See also

* Kasungu National Park