POLITICAL HISTORIAN WARNS AGAINST FURTHER DELAY IN RESOLVING BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT
By Justina Matandiko
Political historian Professor Bizeck Phiri says Zambia can no longer afford to postpone resolving the Barotseland Agreement, warning that decades of unfulfilled political promises have only prolonged one of the country’s oldest national questions.
Professor Phiri explains that every administration since independence has inherited the Barotseland issue, with political parties repeatedly promising to resolve it during election campaigns but failing to act once in office.
He told Phoenix News that the continued failure to confront the matter has allowed it to persist for more than six decades, at times fueling tension between Western Province and the central government.
Professor Phiri has urged political leaders to confront the issue head-on and allow a lasting settlement to be reached and has warned that making promises without implementation only keeps the dispute alive.
Meanwhile, veteran politician Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika says the 1964 Barotseland Agreement has remained unresolved because the settlement reached before Zambia’s independence was later revoked.
Mr. Lewanika told Phoenix News that the issue does not resurface only during election periods but has remained unresolved ever since the agreement was abrogated.
The renewed debate follows remarks by Tonse Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile during his visit to Mongu where he committed that his administration, if elected, would engage the Barotse Royal Establishment through a mutually agreed framework to resolve the Barotseland Agreement with dignity and fairness.
PHOENIX NEWS
With all due respect, if Prof Bizeck Phiri has proposals on how the Barotseland question can be resolved, let him float those proposals. As a specialist in Modern History, he knows how many powerful kingdoms and empires have been swept away to make room for new ways of organising society. There are various voices on the Barotse issue and they all do not agree on what should be done. This is one issue that cannot be discussed fairly in the heat of an election campaign and it’s cheap opportunism for any politician to promise to deal with it if they’re elected as President as Brian Mundubile has done. If Mundubile is serious, let him sign a legally-enforceable agreement with the Barotse Royal Establishment so that they agree on what happens in case of failure to keep his word. Mundubile says he’s a lawyer after all.
That Kingdom stretched beyond Zambian boarders with other countries. It will be interesting to see how Bizeck Phiri addresses and works around that. A quick check of those countries are Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.