A concerned villager, Nyadani Maseya, said to show ownership, last year, the locals mobilized themselves to upgrade the earth road from Manjolo through Sakoma to Bvumbwe, fetched sand and stones as per the parliamentarian's request.

"MP Nayeja expressed interest to help us construct the bridge using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). But after we followed up, he said that the government is yet to disburse the funds. So we are just waiting for that," Maseya said.

Maseya said pregnant women have been giving birth at the bridge on their way to the hospital, others swept away while students fail to access secondary schools, all on the Bvumbwe side.

The bridge shares a boundary for two constituencies and MP for Thyolo north, Ephraim Nayeja, said he is waiting for the government to disburse money under the CDF funds to commence the project and others which have stalled.

"We are yet to receive about K50 million funds for the October-December and January-March quarters to commence the works. The project is in our plans and we will do it this year," he said.

The community embarked on the road construction project in line with the Malawi 2063 mindset change enabler that the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE advocated in the area.