Why is Shaka important?
By Brian Mulenga
I am shocked to learn Shaka has been removed from our history syllabus.
You see without Shaka there is no Zambia. Shaka is root cause for having for the creation of Lozi kingdom in the West of Zambia and for the presence of the Ngoni in Eastern Zambia.
And there would not have been a North Rhodesian Protectorate without the amalgamation of North Eastern and North Western Rhodesia.
Interestingly a voting pattern map for the 2016 elections is roughly the approximate borders of North Eastern and North Western Rhodesia.
However Shaka caused the Mfecane which caused the appearance of Kololo in Zambia, Ndebele in Zimbabwe and the Ngoni in Eastern Zambia.
it also caused the Boers and the British to finally break out of the Cape and head northwards. You see the fighting and confusion weakened the Xhosa and other tribes who had kept the British and Boers hemmed in to the Cape.
When the Boers were heading away in the Great Trek they found a land in turmoil and could easily move in. Something they would have had far more trouble doing before the Mfecane.
The Kololo brought new styles of warfare and government and a language to Western Zambia and this led to a well-run efficient kingdom in Western Zambia. Which 30 years later would culminate in Lewanika joining the British Empire.
Cecil Rhodes fought an expensive war creating his won country named after himself Rhodesia. His toughest opponents were the Ndebele. Refugees from Shaka, part of the Mfecane.
Lewanika signed away his kingdom for protection from the Boers and the Ndebele like Khama and in the East the British crushed the Ngoni and the end result was Zambia in 1964 created by Rhodes who found his way north partly due to the turmoil and confusion caused by the Mfecane..
No Shaka no Zambia. I really hope he has not been removed from our history education. knowing your past helps you know your future. But anyway what would you expect from a generation that wonders why we learn about insect bodies in biology?
Kalemba