Ghost School of Pundu: Kadedwa Primary abandoned as learners suffer and millions vanish

Malawi Exclusive 

Driving 15 kilometers east of Mitundu Trading Centre lies a scandal cast in burnt bricks.

Four classroom blocks stand frozen at window level.

A School which never exist on the ground 

A nursery school crumbles. Five toilets remain half-built. The school ground is usable. The woodlot is intact. The children are not.

This was meant to be Kadedwa Full Primary School in GVH Pundu, Senior Chief Chadza. On paper, it meets every Malawi Government standard for a full primary school. In reality, it is a monument to theft.

Bricks for nothing , complete nothing 

Ask the community who let this happen and no community member gives real answer referring our reporters to talk to Member of Parliament for the area name, Honourable Binton Kutsaira. Residents say he has been in office for years he might know the history.

Ask what happened to the money and the answer is instant and bitter.

“Someone chewed our money,” villagers told us, one after another.

“There is land. There are bricks. There is everything. But our children walk long distances to Nsabwe for classes because someone decided to eat the money meant for their future a long time ago.”

Unfinished toilets 

The irony is not lost on the community. They say the only time Kadedwa “exists” as a school is during elections. According to residents, the Malawi Electoral Commission MEC uses the same abandoned structures as a voting center. So the buildings are good enough for politicians to ask for votes, but not good enough for children to get an education.

Abandoned structure meant for ECD

When we checked the toilets, all five were dilapidated except one. When we asked why only one had a proper concrete slab, the answer was simple: it was rehabilitated by the community, specifically for MEC officials during the last elections.

Our Reporters sent a questionnaire to the Member of Parliament for the area, Binton Kutsaira, asking if he was aware of the situation at Kadedwa Primary School. At the time of going to press, there was no response.

Kadedwa is not just unfinished. It’s evidence. Evidence of promises broken, funds looted, and a generation forced to pay the price with their feet, walking kilometers daily while politicians do nothing.

The classrooms have no windows. The toilets have no roofs. But the questions are wide open: Where did the money go? Who signed off? And who will be held accountable?

Until then, Kadedwa remains what it is today a school that exists in bricks, but not for children.