The Lusaka–Mongu Road of

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 ...

runs 580 km from the capital,

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 ...

, to

Mongu Mongu is the capital of Western Province in Zambia and was the capital of the formerly-named province and historic state of Barotseland. Its population is 179,585 (2010 census), and it is also the headquarters of Mongu District. History Mon ...

, capital of the Western Province. It connects that province to the rest of the country, as well as being one of two routes to the south-west extremity of North-Western Province. It also serves as the main highway of the western half of Central Province. The entire route from Lusaka to Mongu is designated as the M9 Road. Road development was slower to start in the west of the country than in other parts. A

dirt road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitabl ...

was built from the Great North Road at Landless Corner to

Mumbwa Mumbwa is a town in the Central Province of Zambia, lying on the M9 Road. Its district covers the western part of the Central Province bordering Kaoma and Western Province to the west, Namwala and Southern Province to the south, Lusaka and Lus ...

in the early 1930s (today designated as the M20 and now known as the "Old Mumbwa Road"), but was not extended to

Kaoma Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed in 1988 by Loalwa Braz (lead vocals), Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky Arconte (guitar), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (keyboard), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion) and Fania (backing vocals). Dru is from Martini ...

and Mongu until 1937, about ten years after

road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ...

started in other provinces. This road to Mongu did not have the same recognition and maintenance as the better-known Great North Road and

Great East Road The Great East Road is a major road in Zambia and the main route linking its Eastern Province with the rest of the country. It is also the major link between Zambia and Malawi and between Zambia and northern Mozambique.Terracarta: ''Zambia, 2nd ...

, and was also for a time only the third most used route to the west. A route by ox wagon and boat up the

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

from

Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...

was the most used in the first decades of the 20th century. A road was made from Mululwe, the end of the Mulobezi Railway, along the banks of the Luampa River and then across the sandy plain to Mongu about the same time that this road was built and, thanks to the railway, was used more, until the 1950s.H C N Ridley
"Early History of Road Transport in Northern Rhodesia".
''

Northern Rhodesia Journal The ''Northern Rhodesia Journal'', often referred to simply as "NRJ", was produced between 1950 and 1965, by the Northern Rhodesian Government Printer, to record some of the early history of Northern Rhodesia. It is one of the most important sourc ...

'', Vol 2, No. 5 (1954), pp 16-23. The first Lusaka-Mongu Road was a dirt road with pontoon ferries across rivers such as the Kafue. It passed through only two towns: Mumbwa and Kaoma. The first 100 km passed through farmland and bush north of the

Kafue Flats The Kafue Flats (locally called Butwa) are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. They are a shallow flood plain 240 km long and abo ...

and like the middle section crossing the

Kafue National Park Kafue National Park is the largest national park in Zambia, covering an area of about 22,400 km² (similar in size to Wales or Massachusetts). It is one of the largest parks in Africa and is home to 152 different species of mammals. The park ...

, was constructed with

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 ...

gravel. Most of the last third passes through virtually uninhabited bush with no streams or rivers. It is completely dry except after rain in the wet season and is very sandy, which took its toll on trucks and their drivers, as vehicles could get bogged in sand in the dry season, in addition to the usual rainy season hazards of floods and washed-out sections. The fact that the road started at Landless Corner, 69 km north of Lusaka, suited traffic to and from 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 ...

. Lusaka did not become the capital of the country until about the time the road was built (1935) and it was not until the late 1940s that it became an important centre. A shortcut to Lusaka from Mumbwa via Nakachenje was built around this time. This Road was first paved around 1969, to a new alignment which, controversially for the residents of those towns, bypassed Mumbwa and Kaoma by a few kilometres. The Nakachenje branch was paved a little later. A lack of maintenance through the late 1970s and 1980s meant that by the 1990s the pavement of the road from Landless Corner was in bad condition and had lost in some sections. The Nakachenje branch was in better condition and became accepted as being the main road to the west while the Landless Corner to Mumbwa section was neglected, and by 2005, was a poor dirt road. In the last decade the Lusaka-Mongu Road has been rehabilitated and in 2005 was classed as being in good condition.

Route

M20 Road ("Old Mumbwa Road")

The older route, from the ''Landless Corner'' junction with the T2 Road ( Great North Road) in Chibombo District (70 kilometres north of

by the Wangwa Farm) to

is designated as the M20 Route on Zambia's road network. It is 120 kilometres in length up to Mumbwa Central and is in poor condition, with motorists having the impression that the road is really not being properly maintained.

M9 Road

The newer route from

(Capital City) is designated as the M9 Road. It begins north of Lusaka Central, at a roundabout junction with the T2 Road ( Great North Road; Cairo Road) and the T4 Road (

). It goes west as Kalambo Road up to the junction with Lumumba Road. It joins Lumumba Road southwards up to the next junction, where it becomes the road west as Mumbwa Road. It is one road for the remainder of its length. From Lumumba Road in Lusaka, it goes west for 150 kilometres, through the northern area of

Chilanga District Chilanga District is a district of Lusaka Province, Zambia. The capital of the district is Chilanga. It was separated from Kafue District Kafue District is a district of Zambia, located in Lusaka Province. The capital lies at Kafue. As of the 20 ...

(Mwembeshi), entering Central Province at Nakachenje and passing through Shibuyunji District, encountering the Mumbwa Toll Plaza, to bypass

to the south. South-west of Mumbwa, the M9 connects to the M20 Road (the old route from Landless Corner) via the D809. From Mumbwa, the M9 goes west for 130 kilometres as Mongu Road to cross the

Kafue River The Kafue River is the longest river lying wholly within Zambia at about long. Its water is used for irrigation and for hydroelectric power. It is the largest tributary of the Zambezi, and of Zambia's principal rivers, it is the most ce ...

as the Kafue Hook Bridge and enter the central area of the

north of the town of

Itezhi-Tezhi Itezhi-Tezhi is a small town in the Southern Province of Zambia. It is the seat of the Itezhi-Tezhi District. It lies west of the town of Namwala on the border of the Kafue National Park. On 6 February 2012, President Michael Sata issued a dir ...

. It continues for another 120 kilometres, leaving Central Province and entering Western Province, to the town of

, which it bypasses to the south. From Kaoma, the road goes west for 200 kilometres, through the Mweeke Toll Plaza, to the city of

(capital of the Western Province and

Barotseland Barotseland (Lozi: Mubuso Bulozi) is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of eastern and northern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the L ...

), where it ends at a roundabout intersection with the M10 Road from

Senanga Senanga is the capital of the Senanga District, which is located in the Western Province of Zambia. The town is situated on the eastern bank of the Zambezi River, at the southern end of the Barotse Floodplain. It lies on the main road running p ...

and the

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

Border adjacent to Barotse Shopping Mall.

Westwards extension

An ambitious project, the Barotse Floodplain causeway was started in 2002 to extend the road from Mongu to Kalabo on a 46-kilometre

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet ...

across the

Barotse Floodplain The Barotse Floodplain, also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain, is one of Africa's great wetlands, on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia. It is a designated Ramsar site, regarded as being of high conser ...

, via the ferry across the

's main channel at Sandaula, which would then be replaced by a 500-metre bridge. Originally intended to be completed in 2006, it has been delayed by technical problems of building on the floodplain, and consequent funding problems. The long term intention is to then continue the highway into

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and to connect with its road network as a new trade route for Zambia to

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

ports. This road to Angola is being created so that the road could finally rival the

and the Great North Road in Zambia's network. The road was constructed by AVIC International (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) and as of 2016, the road over the

has been completed. It consists of 26 bridges crossing the floodplain.

Route

While the M9 from

ends at the roundabout-junction with the M10 Road in

, the road continuing westwards over the Barotse Floodplain is designated as the D819 on the Zambian Road Network. It first goes westwards for 14 kilometres to the settlement named

Lealui Lealui or Lialui is the dry season residence on the Barotse Floodplain of the Litunga, king of the Lozi people of western Zambia. It is located about 14 km west of the town of Mongu and about 10 km east of the river's main channel. At th ...

. From Lealui, the road continues westwards as the Barotse Floodplain Causeway for 34 kilometres up until it reaches a junction with the RD319 road at the settlement of Lutwi. The RD319 road, which is coming from Kalongola (south of

) in the south, is the road which goes northwards to Kalabo from this junction (22 kilometres), with a tollgate on this section (Tapo Toll Plaza). The total distance from Mongu to Kalabo is 70 kilometres. The road is to proceed westwards as the D316 from Kalabo to Sikongo, where the border into

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

is situated.

References

:General references :*Camerapix (1996). "Spectrum Guide to Zambia." Nairobi: Camerapix International Publishing. . :*Terracarta/International Travel Maps, Vancouver Canada: "Zambia, 2nd edition", 2000. :*"955 Africa Central & South, Madagascar, 1:4 000 000, 23rd Edition 2000/2001". ''Michelin Motoring & Tourist Map''. Paris: Michelin Travel Publications.
Chris McIntyre (2004). ''Zambia: The Bradt Travel Guide'' online at www.zambia-travel-guide.com.
{{Roads in Zambia Main Roads in Zambia Roads in Zambia Transport in Zambia Road infrastructure in Zambia Western Province, Zambia Lusaka Province Central Province, Zambia

Route

M20 Road ("Old Mumbwa Road")

M9 Road

Westwards extension

Route

See also

References