MY POSITION ON THE BAROTSE AGREEMENT IS BASED ON REASON AND NOT ETHNIC AFFILIATIONS
Mr Jones Mupishi, a UPND cadre and praise singer’s attacks on me for my position on the Barotse Agreement of 1964 seriously lacks fact and reasoning.
To accuse me of being against Nkoyas and Mbundas can only be a product of not knowing my ethnic composition or simply outright malice, which is typical of UPND cadres.
Here are the facts about my ethnic composition:
My mother’s maternal grandmother, Nchenga Liyamine, was a granddaughter of Mwene Kahare, the Nkoya chief of Nkeyema. Nchenga’s paternal grandfather was a Toka-Leya man, Munalula, from Kalomo. Even the name Nchenga is Toka-Leya.
Nchenga’s father, Liyamine Mulemwa, was Kwangwa from Kakulo Village in Ikabako, Luena Constituency, Limulunga District.
My mother’s maternal paternal grandfather, Ndiyoyi Mubuyaeta, was the son of Ndiyoyi Nawa, a grandson of Mulambwa – the 10th Litunga. Ndiyoyi became Lewanika’s Mukulwakashiko. Ndiyoyi’s mother was Totela from Bwina, in Mulobezi.
My mother’s paternal paternal grandfather, Sishuwa cha Kabamba, was a son of Mwene Kandala, the Mbunda chief at Yuka, Mabumbu in Mongu ( the same family with Mwene Mundu at Liumba in Kalabo).
My mother’s paternal maternal grandmother, Lungowe Wainyae, was Kwamwenyi, mixed with Kwamashi, originating from Silayi Village in Liuwa, Kalabo but settled in Namboma Village in Namitome, Luena Constituency in Limulunga District and Samba Village in Tungi on the Barotse plains. This is where I get the Kwamwenyi name of Nyambe, and not Namakando. Although Namakando is a very important name in my mother’s family, I am not Namakando – I am Nyambe (named afternoon my grandfather).
Briefly, this is my mother’s side and she is still alive.
Given this background, how can one sensibly accuse me of being against Nkoyas, Mbundas and other ethnicities in Bulozi?
My father’s side is Bemba and Bisa.
My grandfather, Mukuka, was the son of Mwika Mukulu, the chief at Mwika RoyalVillage, Nkulungwe, Chinsali ( now part of Shiwang’andu District) – the brother to Mukuka Mfumu and Chanda Mukulu, the two main mothers of the key Bemba chiefs.
On her maternal maternal side, my grandmother, Mulenga Makumya, was the granddaughter of Kapota, from Kapota Village, Chambeshi, Malole Constituency in Mungwi District. Mulenga’s father, Makumya, was Bisa from kwa Makumya in Mpika.
On maternal paternal side is kuli ba Tembo, next to Ba Mama Ba Lenshina’s Kasomo Village, some eight kilometres from Chinsali Boma. And I carry my grandmother’s name of Mulenga.
In brief, this is my father’s side.
Like I said earlier, creating small Bantustans will take us nowhere at a time when we are seeking more and more integrations in the Pan- African spirit. This is what I truly believe in, and I don’t claim to have the monopoly of wisdom.
That said, I invite anyone with knowledge, fact and experience to join in and reason with us on this very important matter.
We leave malice, ethnic and emotional driven discourse to those without facts and knowledge about the matter.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party