Nkana East and Ndeke Village communities have always lived apart yet the distance between the two communities is a mere one kilo metre and six hundred metres.
The communities are separated by the railway line and two streams. One stream runs close to houses along Mwenda Street from the foot of the tailings dam in Nkana East towards Nkana Water Works. The other stream runs parallel to the railway line near Ndeke Village.
It takes five Kilometres to drive to Ndeke Village from Nkana east, through Central Street and the Ndola-Kitwe Highway.
It is as if by default, the road networks in high class living areas such as Nkana East, Parklands and Riverside were designed in such a way that pre-independence low class residential areas did not easily link up with such areas that were mainly for the rich and educated.
Until recently, there was no road that linked Kwacha to Riverside, nor is there a road directly linking Ndeke and Nkana east.
The growth of the population in Kitwe in recent years has led to the Kitwe City Council opening up new areas for housing. The undeveloped spaces that separated most communities have been built up. The area between Nkana East and Ndeke Village is now built and the distance that kept the two communities is getting smaller and smaller by the day.
One milestone in this development is the on-going construction of a road that will link Nkana East and Ndeke Village through 21st street. Copperbelt Energy Corporation(CEC) have invested millions of Kwacha in the construction of a bridge on each of the two streams and the road.
Once the road is complete, it will ease traffic flow and congestion at the Nkana East-Nkana West road intersection during peak hours. One interesting thing that will occur after the construction of the road is completed is the bridging of the two communities.
People from Nkana East will probably go to nearby churches in Ndeke Village. The people from Ndeke Village will be able to send their children to nearby schools in Nkana East. Those who drive and live in Ndeke Village will now be able to patronise drinking places in Nkana East on their stop-over from work. Church members prayer meetings, commonly known as ’ icitente’ will be held anywhere in the neighbourhoods of these two communities. Indeed the construction of the road between Nkana East and Ndeke Village will be a welcome way of bridging the social gap that exists between the two communities.
Nkana East – Ndeke Village Bridge_Kitwe
Ndeke Village – Nkana East Road_2 – Kitwe
