Thank God. This is a blessing in disguise. The country’s resources will be saved.Imagine the huge expenses that go with a presidential visit! What a waste!
Zambians are misusing democracy. Anyone who wants insults the head of state. These are threatening the president? Why did they not fight for independence during the PF era.
At least he can find time to attend to more important issues than going for a ceremony of proud for nothing people. HH please even just visit your farms instead of wasting time.
Those young men are being misled by some shameless politicians who don’t mean well for anybody. They ought to know that what they are doing can see them get arrested and charged for very serious offences.
Can someone please tell our Zambia compatriots the correct age range for youths. Izi nkote mu photo ati mayufi! Tizinkalako na nsoni. Bana 6 panyumba with some children aged 23 years ati batate bawo nibayufi?
It’s true that these young men are being misled by some selfish politician, if not, they are misleading themselves. The quick facts they should know about traditional ceremonies are that, they are purely traditional as the name implies, hence they are not a government programme. Traditional ceremonies have their own calendar and government programmes like Independence Day and others also have their own calendar. That being the case, the President cannot attend a traditional ceremony without being invited. So instead of issuing those baseless threats to the President, you can save yourselves time and energy by telling the him that you are not going to invite him for Kuomboka this year and it ends there. Do you think he can force matters by coming there un invited? no. You cannot try to hold the President at ransom because what he said was true and frank. The poster the young men are showing us in the video does not in anyway imply that there is nation or country called Barotseland. If it used to be there in the past, then it was there just the way Northern Rhodesia was but this time, it’s no longer there. As at there is no nation called Northern Rhodesia Barotseland. Let’s not runaway from facts. It can be very reckless and irresponsible if the President who is the head of the government for that matter, stood in front and started telling people that there is a nation called Barotseland just for the sake of gaining political mileage or popularity. If you walk to the Provincial Administration Offices, there are posters there also clearly written Office of the President, Provincial Administration, Western Province, Zambia. So which nation or country is Western Province a Province of? The answer is simple, the country is Zambia and not Barotseland and that’s what the President meant and he was right. As already alluded to, young men should not be misled by anyone or themselves because even the Barotseland they are fighting for is not the territory which was signed for in the BA. The original Barotseland was not Western Province, no, it was a much bigger territory which extended beyond the borders of Western Province. I know that most of us Africans have bad reading culture, we are naturally lazy to read and that is why in most cases, it’s very easy to cheat an African. And for the sake of such people I want to give a brief history of the original Barotseland and it’s tribes. Many people including some of the Lozis are misled by the name Barotseland thinking that the Barotseland only belonged to the Lozi people and not any other tribe and the boundaries only covered the present day Western Province. This notion is far from being true because the original Barotseland started from Livingstone and continued northward cutting through Kalomo, Choma, Monze, Mazabuka and covering the whole of Namwala District which included Ithezhi Tezhi. Then it crossed the Kafue river and continued up North through Lusaka, Chibombo, Kabwe, Kaprimposhi covering the whole of Mumbwa District. On the Copperbelt, Barotseland took Luanshya town, cut half way between Ndola and Kitwe up to the Congo DR border and then headed to the Northwest engulfing Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola and Chililabombwe through to Solwezi up to Mwinilunga-Ikelenge. It went beyond the Zambian border into Angola encircling Kazombo and other towns on the western side of the frontier of Eastern Angola. Then this long boundary went down to Shangombo and further south into South West Africa Namibia cutting three quarters if not the whole of Kaprivi Strip. Then it went eastward into the Northern Botswana covering most of the Okavango basin, Chobe river and Kasane. It continued eastward into Zimbabwe up to the Victoria falls and Victoria falls town. Then it made a corner to the North crossing the Zambezi river back into Livingstone covering the whole of Mukuni Chiefdom and Batoka gorge. The Zambian Government and the Litunga of Barotseland signed for this whole territory and not the present day Western Province which the Linyungandambo wants to separate from the rest of Zambia.
As already alluded to, when we look at this once a vast territory, we find that there were many none Lozi speaking tribes both inside and outside the present day Western Province. In Western Province, among others, we have Mbunda, Nkoya, Luchazi, Luvale and Lunda. Outside Western Province, we have Toka Leya, Tonga, Ila and the Lenje-Sala. On the Copperbelt which was known as Western Province that time, we have the Lamba and in the Northwestern Province, we have the Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale, Luchazi, Nkoya-Mbwela, Chokwe and the Mbunda. Outside Zambia, we also have many tribes in all the four countries, i.e. Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. So all these tribes I have mentioned had an equal stake in the territory of Barotseland and whatever belonged to the Lozi tribe, it also belonged to them. The only advantage Western Province and Mongu in particular had was that it was the headquarters of Barotseland where the Litunga lived. Apart from Chief Khama of the Bamangwato people of Botswana, the Lozi people were some of the few Bantu speaking tribes with an organized chiefdom and this is where the whites were getting mining rights to start mining on the Copperbelt. And because they did not want to lose any inch of this territory, they made it a British protectorate in order to block the Belgians in the North, the Portuguese in the West and the Germans who were gaining entry through Tanzania in the North East and through Namibia in the South West. When Zambia finally became independent in 1964, it became easy to sign the BA and became a unitary state of Zambia because the threats from all the directions mentioned above were no longer there. Even if the Zambian Government had unilaterally abrogated the BA in 1969, it is also wrong for the Lozi people to take it upon themselves and reclaim the Barotseland without involving the other tribes. The time the BA was signed, they already made that grave mistake and they should not make it again. It’s wrong, contrary to the Agreement and it’s a very serious breach of the Agreement when other stakeholders bound by the same Agreement are not involved.
What is the way forward? There are only two better options, either we continue as a unitary state or we resort to the Federal System of Government where we shall be semi-autonomous and free to set our own developmental priorities. Otherwise to fight for separation may sound good but it is not the best option as it will just benefit few people. That is why the President said that we are interdependent, you find that Copper comes from this Province, food from this Province, Electricity from this Province and so on, in the event of separation, we shall start importing these things from within our own country. Last year we were all encouraged when the Litunga of Western Province made a historical visit to Northern Province to attend the Ukusefya pa Ng’wena, I believe that visit went a long way in fostering unity in the country and we look forward to such visits in future. The Barotseland issue can be simple, complicated, sensitive or delicate, it just depends on how one perceives it. I remember at one time when ECL was in Western Province, he said that the issue of BA should be left to the Zambian Government and the Litunga. We should therefore avoid forming these emotional pressure groups can even make the issue more complicated. In my opinion, we are better off as a unitary State, if we have managed to live together the past 59 years, why should we fail now? However, Federal System of government remains a better option.
Thank God. This is a blessing in disguise. The country’s resources will be saved.Imagine the huge expenses that go with a presidential visit! What a waste!
Zambians are misusing democracy. Anyone who wants insults the head of state. These are threatening the president? Why did they not fight for independence during the PF era.
At least he can find time to attend to more important issues than going for a ceremony of proud for nothing people. HH please even just visit your farms instead of wasting time.
Those young men are being misled by some shameless politicians who don’t mean well for anybody. They ought to know that what they are doing can see them get arrested and charged for very serious offences.
Can someone please tell our Zambia compatriots the correct age range for youths. Izi nkote mu photo ati mayufi! Tizinkalako na nsoni. Bana 6 panyumba with some children aged 23 years ati batate bawo nibayufi?
It’s true that these young men are being misled by some selfish politician, if not, they are misleading themselves. The quick facts they should know about traditional ceremonies are that, they are purely traditional as the name implies, hence they are not a government programme. Traditional ceremonies have their own calendar and government programmes like Independence Day and others also have their own calendar. That being the case, the President cannot attend a traditional ceremony without being invited. So instead of issuing those baseless threats to the President, you can save yourselves time and energy by telling the him that you are not going to invite him for Kuomboka this year and it ends there. Do you think he can force matters by coming there un invited? no. You cannot try to hold the President at ransom because what he said was true and frank. The poster the young men are showing us in the video does not in anyway imply that there is nation or country called Barotseland. If it used to be there in the past, then it was there just the way Northern Rhodesia was but this time, it’s no longer there. As at there is no nation called Northern Rhodesia Barotseland. Let’s not runaway from facts. It can be very reckless and irresponsible if the President who is the head of the government for that matter, stood in front and started telling people that there is a nation called Barotseland just for the sake of gaining political mileage or popularity. If you walk to the Provincial Administration Offices, there are posters there also clearly written Office of the President, Provincial Administration, Western Province, Zambia. So which nation or country is Western Province a Province of? The answer is simple, the country is Zambia and not Barotseland and that’s what the President meant and he was right. As already alluded to, young men should not be misled by anyone or themselves because even the Barotseland they are fighting for is not the territory which was signed for in the BA. The original Barotseland was not Western Province, no, it was a much bigger territory which extended beyond the borders of Western Province. I know that most of us Africans have bad reading culture, we are naturally lazy to read and that is why in most cases, it’s very easy to cheat an African. And for the sake of such people I want to give a brief history of the original Barotseland and it’s tribes. Many people including some of the Lozis are misled by the name Barotseland thinking that the Barotseland only belonged to the Lozi people and not any other tribe and the boundaries only covered the present day Western Province. This notion is far from being true because the original Barotseland started from Livingstone and continued northward cutting through Kalomo, Choma, Monze, Mazabuka and covering the whole of Namwala District which included Ithezhi Tezhi. Then it crossed the Kafue river and continued up North through Lusaka, Chibombo, Kabwe, Kaprimposhi covering the whole of Mumbwa District. On the Copperbelt, Barotseland took Luanshya town, cut half way between Ndola and Kitwe up to the Congo DR border and then headed to the Northwest engulfing Kitwe, Mufulira, Chingola and Chililabombwe through to Solwezi up to Mwinilunga-Ikelenge. It went beyond the Zambian border into Angola encircling Kazombo and other towns on the western side of the frontier of Eastern Angola. Then this long boundary went down to Shangombo and further south into South West Africa Namibia cutting three quarters if not the whole of Kaprivi Strip. Then it went eastward into the Northern Botswana covering most of the Okavango basin, Chobe river and Kasane. It continued eastward into Zimbabwe up to the Victoria falls and Victoria falls town. Then it made a corner to the North crossing the Zambezi river back into Livingstone covering the whole of Mukuni Chiefdom and Batoka gorge. The Zambian Government and the Litunga of Barotseland signed for this whole territory and not the present day Western Province which the Linyungandambo wants to separate from the rest of Zambia.
As already alluded to, when we look at this once a vast territory, we find that there were many none Lozi speaking tribes both inside and outside the present day Western Province. In Western Province, among others, we have Mbunda, Nkoya, Luchazi, Luvale and Lunda. Outside Western Province, we have Toka Leya, Tonga, Ila and the Lenje-Sala. On the Copperbelt which was known as Western Province that time, we have the Lamba and in the Northwestern Province, we have the Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale, Luchazi, Nkoya-Mbwela, Chokwe and the Mbunda. Outside Zambia, we also have many tribes in all the four countries, i.e. Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. So all these tribes I have mentioned had an equal stake in the territory of Barotseland and whatever belonged to the Lozi tribe, it also belonged to them. The only advantage Western Province and Mongu in particular had was that it was the headquarters of Barotseland where the Litunga lived. Apart from Chief Khama of the Bamangwato people of Botswana, the Lozi people were some of the few Bantu speaking tribes with an organized chiefdom and this is where the whites were getting mining rights to start mining on the Copperbelt. And because they did not want to lose any inch of this territory, they made it a British protectorate in order to block the Belgians in the North, the Portuguese in the West and the Germans who were gaining entry through Tanzania in the North East and through Namibia in the South West. When Zambia finally became independent in 1964, it became easy to sign the BA and became a unitary state of Zambia because the threats from all the directions mentioned above were no longer there. Even if the Zambian Government had unilaterally abrogated the BA in 1969, it is also wrong for the Lozi people to take it upon themselves and reclaim the Barotseland without involving the other tribes. The time the BA was signed, they already made that grave mistake and they should not make it again. It’s wrong, contrary to the Agreement and it’s a very serious breach of the Agreement when other stakeholders bound by the same Agreement are not involved.
What is the way forward? There are only two better options, either we continue as a unitary state or we resort to the Federal System of Government where we shall be semi-autonomous and free to set our own developmental priorities. Otherwise to fight for separation may sound good but it is not the best option as it will just benefit few people. That is why the President said that we are interdependent, you find that Copper comes from this Province, food from this Province, Electricity from this Province and so on, in the event of separation, we shall start importing these things from within our own country. Last year we were all encouraged when the Litunga of Western Province made a historical visit to Northern Province to attend the Ukusefya pa Ng’wena, I believe that visit went a long way in fostering unity in the country and we look forward to such visits in future. The Barotseland issue can be simple, complicated, sensitive or delicate, it just depends on how one perceives it. I remember at one time when ECL was in Western Province, he said that the issue of BA should be left to the Zambian Government and the Litunga. We should therefore avoid forming these emotional pressure groups can even make the issue more complicated. In my opinion, we are better off as a unitary State, if we have managed to live together the past 59 years, why should we fail now? However, Federal System of government remains a better option.
Now you have told him not to come so he will definitely come. If you had just kept quiet he was not going to come.