The Congo Pedicle road (at one time referred to as the 'Zaire Pedicle road') crosses the
Congolese territory of the
Congo Pedicle
The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French ', meaning 'Katanga boot') is the southeast salient of the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which divides neighbouring Zambia into two lobes. In a ...
and was constructed by and is maintained by
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
to connect its
Copperbelt
The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.
Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...
and
Luapula Province
Luapula Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces located in the northern part of the country. Luapula Province is named after the Luapula River and its capital is Mansa. As per the 2010 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 991,92 ...
s. Both the road and the territory may be referred to as ‘the Pedicle’. It is designated as the N36 Route on the Congolese Road Network.
It connects the
M3 Road at
Chembe
Chembe is a border town in Chembe District in the Luapula Province of Zambia. It once had the Chembe Ferry as a means of crossing the Luapula River from DR Congo to Zambia; but now, it is the home of the Mwanawasa Bridge, named after former presid ...
, Luapula with the
M5 Road at
Mufulira
Mufulira, is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District.
...
, Copperbelt. For thirty years, the Congo Pedicle road has been a major
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
* Photograph ...
issue in northern Zambia.
This article covers the road; for details of how the territory came into being, see
Congo Pedicle
The Congo Pedicle (at one time referred to as the Zaire Pedicle; in French ', meaning 'Katanga boot') is the southeast salient of the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which divides neighbouring Zambia into two lobes. In a ...
.
The need for a crossing of the Pedicle
From its inception, the Pedicle, then in the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leopo ...
, was crossed by those travelling between the
Luapula
The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...
,
Mweru and
Bangweulu areas and the south, especially after
Rhodesia Railways
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), formerly Rhodesia Railways, is a state-owned company in Zimbabwe that operates the country's national railway system.
It is headquartered in the city of Bulawayo. In addition to the headquarters, it has ...
constructed the railway to
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...
in 1906. But there were other routes. In the 19th Century the more travelled trade route from those areas had been to the south end of
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
, by boat up the lake to
Ujiji
Ujiji is a historic town located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The town is the oldest in western Tanzania. In 1900, the population was estimated at 10,000 and in 1967 about 41,000. The site is a registered National His ...
, overland to
Dar Es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
, and by boat to
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
. Completion of the Dar es Salaam railway to
Kigoma
Kigoma is a city and lake port in Kigoma-Ujiji District in Tanzania, on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. It serves as the capital for the surrounding Kigoma R ...
, near Ujiji, in
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
in 1914, coupled with a lake steamer service to
Mpulungu
Mpulungu is a town in the Northern Province of Zambia, at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia." Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996.
From Mpulungu, boats reach DR Congo, Tanzania and Burundi. Th ...
near
Abercorn
Abercorn (Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a p ...
, made it even more viable.
The Copperbelt
Development of the
Copperbelt
The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining.
Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...
from the late 1920s had a big impact on overland routes. Copperbelt towns including
Élisabethville (now 'Lubumbashi') in the province of
Katanga in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
became the markets and chief source of supplies and employment for the Luapula-Mweru-Bangweulu region, and in turn their large
fisheries
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
(the largest in
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...
) supplied the growing Copperbelt labour force.
[David Gordon: “Decentralized Despots or Contingent Chiefs: Comparing Colonial Chiefs in Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo.” KwaZulu-Natal History and African Studies Seminar, University of Natal, Durban, 2000.]
The Katanga route
However, it was
Élisabethville
Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katanga ...
and Katanga which benefited initially, via a road to the Congolese port of
Kasenga Kasenga is a town in Kasenga territory of Haut-Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in south of Lake Mweru, approximately north-east of Lubumbashi., near the border with Zambia
Zambia (), officially t ...
on the Luapula, and another to a ferry at Shiniama across the Luapula near Matanda and on to
Fort Rosebery (now known as Mansa). There was migration from
Luapula Province
Luapula Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces located in the northern part of the country. Luapula Province is named after the Luapula River and its capital is Mansa. As per the 2010 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 991,92 ...
to Katanga, and some of
Mwata Kazembe
Kazembe is a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia, Southeastern Congo. For more than 250 years, Kazembe has been an influential kingdom of the Kiluba- Chibemba, speaking the language of the Eastern Luba- Lunda people of south-central Africa ...
's people looked to Élisabethville for employment and advancement rather than Mufulira,
Kitwe
Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...
and Ndola. The Northern Rhodesian authorities and mines were slower to catch on, and when dried fish was bought for their workforce from Katanga, it may well have been caught in the Northern Rhodesian waters of Lake Mweru,
Lake Mweru Wantipa
Lake Mweru Wantipa or Mweru-wa-Ntipa meaning "muddy lake" (also called 'Mweru Marsh') is a lake and swamp system in the Northern Province of Zambia. It has been regarded in the past as something of mystery, displaying fluctuations in water level ...
, south-west
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
or even Lake Bangweulu.
There was a road from
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...
across the border to Sakania in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
, and a dirt road to a small ferry over the Luapula at Kapalala, but it was not a direct route, took at least a day to travel, and was not suitable for the heavier vehicles. Eventually, in the late 1940s, the Government of Northern Rhodesia realised the need for a larger, direct road from the Copperbelt to
Fort Rosebery with a higher-capacity ferry over the Luapula.
Construction of the Congo Pedicle
Negotiations with the Belgian colonial authorities in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
produced an agreement for
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...
to build and maintain a graded
laterite
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
road from Mokambo, which is from the Copperbelt town of
Mufulira
Mufulira, is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District.
...
, to
Chembe
Chembe is a border town in Chembe District in the Luapula Province of Zambia. It once had the Chembe Ferry as a means of crossing the Luapula River from DR Congo to Zambia; but now, it is the home of the Mwanawasa Bridge, named after former presid ...
. Although only used by Northern Rhodesia and with no Congolese settlements except Mokambo on its route, it had border control posts at both ends and traffic drove on the right. By the 1950s the
Chembe Ferry had two motorised pontoons able to take the largest trucks, the border posts worked smoothly and the drive from
Mufulira
Mufulira, is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District.
...
to Mansa could be completed in four or five hours. By comparison the same journey keeping to roads within the country was and took at least two days, going via
Kapiri Mposhi
Kapiri Mposhi is a Zambian town, seat of the Kapiri Mposhi District, Central Province. Located north of Lusaka, it stands on the Great North Road and is significant for the railway connection between Zambia Railways line from Kitwe to Lusaka ...
,
Mpika
Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the M1 Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Tanzam Highway ( Great North Road) to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the north-east and Lusaka in the south-west. It also has a ra ...
,
Kasama and
Luwingu.
In the past four decades the superiority of the Katangan roads has reversed, with the Lubumbashi-Kasenga road deteriorating to the extent that it may take several days to reach Kasenga. Congolese travellers and goods frequently cross into the Zambian Copperbelt from Lubumbashi and take the Pedicle or the Samfya-Serenje road to Kasenga.
Problems emerge
The Congo crisis
Apart from the Luapula occasionally bursting its banks at Chembe in the rainy season and halting the Chembe Ferry for a few days, this happy state of affairs continued until the
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...
of 1961 when travel on the pedicle stopped for security reasons and had to be routed by air or via Kasama. Although the interruption did not last long, it highlighted the vulnerability of the route.
Independence
The
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
became
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
in June 1960 as the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
and changed its name to
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
in 1971, and
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...
became independent in October 1964, as
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
. Any thought that two African neighbours with shared tribal, cultural and historical origins could cooperate even better than neighbouring colonial powers was dispelled not long after. The
colonial experience had broken down those connections which might have smoothed travel by Zambians through Zaire and replaced them with a bureaucracy and leadership whose allegiances had greatly changed and who saw how to exploit regulations and authority for their own gains.
Harassment of travelers
Under
Mobutu
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
,
governance
Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...
deteriorated and
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
flourished in Zaire, and he saw Katanga only as a
cash cow
Cash cow, in business jargon, is a venture that generates a steady return of profits that far exceed the outlay of cash required to acquire or start it. Many businesses attempt to create or acquire such ventures, since they can be used to boost ...
and punished it for its
separatist
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
tendencies by neglecting its development. Zairean border officials and police went for months without being paid and turned to petty corruption to survive.
[
Times of Zambia: “Honouring Pledges”: Accessed 6 February 2007. See comments on ''“Congo DR workers going without pay for months, sometimes years”'' and ''“security forces who went on the rampage harassing Zambians at will notably along the famous Pedicle road”''.] At first small bribes were taken from Zambians whose identity cards were not in order, but this escalated to arbitrary fines,
[
Austin Kaluba: “Tales from the treacherous” Times of Zambia. Accessed 6 February 2007] for example, a driver might be fined for wearing a hat while his passenger was fined for not wearing a hat.
The Pedicle became the major gripe for the people of Luapula Province and they assailed their leaders and officials when they toured the province,
such as in a meeting of
civil servants
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
in Mansa in 1975 with
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Kenneth Kaunda
Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Dissat ...
, when most of the questions were about harassment at the Pedicle.
The situation became more severe when any of Mobutu's security forces were in the Pedicle,
with robberies, violence and occasionally the complete disappearance of travellers and their vehicles.
Developing alternative routes
The route by-passing the Pedicle is made longer by Lake Bangweulu and its swamps which extend from its north-east tip for to the north, and the only route had to go east then north of this system. A route south of the lake was hampered by the fact that the Luapula and its swamps there are at least wide, and the floodplain is wide. However the complaints about the Pedicle were so many that the tarred
Samfya
Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula. It is the centre of Samfya District. The town is located on the south-western shore of Lake Bangweulu, on the longest stretch of well-defined shore of that lake (the northern, eastern ...
-
Serenje
Serenje is a town of Serenje District, Zambia, lying just off the Great North Road and TAZARA Railway. Serenje has a railway station on the TAZARA railway. Serenje is approximately 191 km from Kapiri Mposhi on the Great North Road. Mkus ...
road and
Luapula Bridge
The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...
, which is long with nearly of causeway, one of the biggest
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
projects in the country, were constructed and opened in 1983. The Mufulira-Mansa distance by this route is , still much longer than the Pedicle route but saving on the Kasama route. From Lusaka and southern Zambia to Mansa the route is very much more attractive.
The future of the Pedicle Road
In the meantime, the laterite Pedicle road has deteriorated but security in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
has improved. As the cost of fuel has soared and with the Pedicle saving more than on the Copperbelt-Serenje-Samfya-Mansa distance there is still the need to pave the Pedicle. Construction of the
Chembe Bridge (also known as the Mwanawasa Bridge) started in 2007 and was completed in October 2008, commissioned by
President Levy Mwanawasa. As of February 2016, the Pedicle Road is halfway tarred. Work is continuing in the area.
Transforming the Pedicle road
/ref>
References
{{see also, Congo Pedicle
Transport in Zambia
Roads in Zambia
Roads in the Democratic Republic of the Congo