Zambia Lusaka Missini Krzysztof Błażyca 2011

Misisi Compound is a shanty town or

komboni A komboni is a type of informal housing compound or shanty town common to Zambia, particularly the capital city of Lusaka. It is characterized by a low income and a high population density. Kombonis typically began as housing for employees of a p ...

located in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 milli ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

. In 2008, it was estimated to have 10,000 inhabitants. Plans for redevelopment were announced by President

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (born 11 November 1956) is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 25 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Fo ...

in 2019.

Foundation

Misisi was established in the mid 1960s as a shanty town or

located beside the Kafue Road, three kilometres south of the central business district of

. The name Misisi came from the

Nyanja Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for ...

word for "Mrs" which referred to Mrs Edwards, the owner of the farmland which was originally

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

. The first inhabitants lived in shacks made from mud, poles and grass roofs.

Living situation

At first, water supply was a difficulty, but as of 2014 the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) would rather connect people to the supply than risk the spread of disease. In 2008, it was estimated to have 10,000 inhabitants. Health problems result from factors such as overcrowding, bad sanitation and lack of transport and employment opportunities. Poor drainage of sewage leads to outbreaks of cholera. Lack of proper drainage also leads to regular flooding. Misisi is ranked as one of the five worst slums in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the official language spoken in Zambia is English, the people of Misisi tend to speak a number of local languages, in particular

and Bemba.

Project Zambia

Misisi is one of the main places in which Project Zambia works. Much of the work takes place in the adjoining St Lawrence's Centre, which houses the Home of Hope, an outreach programme removing street children from Lusaka and offering them a safe haven and attempting to reunite them with their families, a Community School, bakery, Agricultural Project for a few examples, but a significant amount also takes place in the compound itself, such as the provision of clean water. Project Zambia also works in the St Catherine's Centre, in the middle of Misisi; it is a school offering education to local children of Misisi. Project Zambia's continued work in the St Catherine's Centre, with the work of Mr Peter Tembo, the co-ordinator of the St Catherine's centre, has seen its expansion from a few buildings acting as a temporary school, to a walled compound that has continued expansion with each year that Project Zambia continues its involvement.

Redevelopment

In 2019, President

announced plans to redevelop the Misisi and Chibolya settlements. They were one of four initiatives submitted to the

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) is a foreign aid agency established by the government of Abu Dhabi in 1971. The fund provides concessionary loans to fund economic and social development projects. The fund also invests in order to expand ...

. Whilst residents were concerned about eviction, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development Ronald Chitotela announced that under the Urban Renewal plans, the government would build 12,500 housing units in Misisi and also Kuku, which would house 50,000 people.

Footnotes

External links

The Zambia Society TrustGroundwater quality assessments in the John Laing and Misisi areas of Lusaka
{{coord missing, Zambia Neighborhoods of Lusaka Shanty towns in Zambia Slums in Zambia