BwinjiMfumu, Katima Mulilo are Soli names-Uncle Sam

BwinjiMfumu, Katima Mulilo are Soli names-Uncle Sam

Zambian history in a minute – things they don’t teach you in school

By Uncle Sam

Where Northmead stands today was a big Soli village called Bwinjimfumu derived from the phrase, ” Bwinjimfumu bwakashimisha mulilo”!

This community had its graveyard on the hill where Parliament building and Mandahill shopping centre are, today hence the name Manda hill. Today you hear people talk about Bwinjimfumu but do not know where the name came from.

There was a time when Lozis attacked Solis and went away with their women and daughters, and soli youths pursued the Lozis and caught up with them at Mwembeshi river and managed to get back their women after Lozi’s got tired and hungry.
Behind, a group of old head men who remained in the village waiting for the warriors to come back did not collect enough firewood to keep the fire burning, as you know those days there were no matches, fire was kept burning by adding firewood.
When the youths came back with their women and daughters, they found that the village had no fire. They realised that the reason why fire went off was due to the group of old headmen who could not go in the bush to fetch fire wood hence the place was named, “BWINJIMFUMU BWAKASHIMYA MULILO”, meaning too many leaders led to the extinguishing of fire. Years down the line different ethnic groups started to come and settled around this area.

Tongas from south discovered iron across one big river which was too wide to cross.

Fortunately, they discovered a skeleton of a big elephant which they used as a boat to cross this river and named this point Kafuwa meaning a bone. However, David Livingstone mispronounced it as Kafue.

However, it is also believed that the name Kafue derives from Ila term ” kafuwa” meaning pastoral farming. All the same Munali as David Livingstone, was called, mispronounced it.
Trying to have a better view of Kafue river Livingstone climbed hills which is called kunanalika in Ila, hence he was named Munali.

Later, one white settler by the name of Marapod settled around this Soli village specialising in gardening. However, he shifted northwards because the area where he had settled was rocky therefore named the place KAMWALA and where he went to settle as marapod and the area where he was doing his gardens and since most of his garden workers were easterners, their residential area was called Chipata compound.

With the increase in the number of white farmers and settlement, an area east of Garden was reserved for cattle grazing and later called Ng’ombe.

Then during the federal govt, a lot of south Rhodesians came to settle in this fast growing town near marapod and chipata in order to do business with these people. Due to their culture of keeping long beards, their area was called MANDEVU.
During that time, lenje natives were pushed far east and this is the area where Lenje was spoken the area was called Ulenje but later changed to Chilenge.

A number of prominent settlers from South Africa increased in number and a place west of the settlement was reserved for an abattoir and butcheries, this is where meat was sold and the place was called Kanyama.

Later a wife of one of the Boers established some business near Kamwala and employed a lot of natives wives and they named the place Misisi.

Matero derived it’s name from its sloppy landscape Matelo in Lenje.

Chaisa was an area for freedom fighters and militants who were beating up sellouts and puppets, chaisa means beat hard.

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