Kanyama is a compound of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and it is located at the West edge of the city. Like in other African cities born in the colonial era, Lusaka experienced high migration from rural areas a few years before Independence in response to the industrialisation and new job opportunities. The African migrants couldn’t though settle in the city itself because of the colonial rule, so at the borders of the centre new informal settlements grew, often on a fragile environment not suitable for building houses.
In 1948 and soon after Independence with the removal of the restrictions for migrants, more and more people moved in the capital, but the housing system couldn’t meet the capacity demand. As a result, the influx of workers created pressure on the few houses in the suburban areas like Kanyama and the unplanned settlements grew without local basic services like streets, electricity, drainage system, sanitary services, schools and police stations. With the fall of copper’s prices on the world market between ’70 and early ’80 and the following high loss of job, the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) between 1991 and 1998 and the natural increase of the population, Lusaka population increased rapidly. The low economic status of many migrants constricted them to find accommodation in the already degraded areas. In particular, since Kanyama is a heavy industrial activity area, a lot of workers decided to settle in it in order to be closer to their job place (Brenda Gwaba Habasonda 2012; Bill Freund 2007).
According to the research of Mulimba Yasini, “Kanyama was a name for a Luvale man called Mr Fosholo Chinyama who lived in the area. He worked as a farm supervisor for a white man called Mr Portketer. When the white man left the country, Kanyama was left in charge of the farm. He started allocating plots to friends and relatives from the village and other settlements. Soon many people started flocking to the area to settle. Eventually the population in the area had increased and the housing structures expanded” (Mulimba Yasini 2007, pp. 75-6).
In the census of 1963, Kanyama was still an unauthorised compound inhabited by 2,961 people, on a Lusaka district population of 195,757 (CSO, Republic of Zambia). Old Kanyama “was legalized on 16th February, 1999 by the MLGH under Statutory and Improvement Areas Act of 1999” (Mulimba Yasini 2007, p. 75) and from that moment, some public services have been implemented such as tarmacked roads and electricity, the Kanyama clinic (1st Level Hospital from 2013) and three other health posts (Kanyama West, Self Help Health Post and Makeni Clinic), seven public Primary Schools (as Kanyama Basic School and Twashuka Basic School), only one Secondary School and Shalom School (Grant-Aided since 2017), a police station and three police posts. Although, the services are still not enough to improve the degradation of the area and to meet the demand of the inhabitants. According to the 2010 census, the Kanyama Constituency has a population of about 364,655 while the Lusaka district has a population of 1,747,152 (CSO, Republic of Zambia). Poor drainage and water supply, waste disposal and no proper roads are still the main chronic problems of the area (► See Sanitation and cholera outbreaks). From its birth, the Kanyama Constituency has a Member of Parliament representing it (Wikipedia):
