House of Chiefs

A threat to public order or tradition?

2012-02-07T00:30:00.000Z

President Sata has threatened to remove the recognition of Chiefs Madzimawe and Nzamane (Eastern Province) and also possibly bar them from their chiefdoms in the interest of public order. In a letter to the two chiefs he noted :

I accordingly wish to warn your royal highness that should you continue to undermine his traditional authority or to issue threats to Paramount Chief Mpezeni or indeed any other citizen of Zambia, I will have no option but to withdraw the recognition accorded to you as a chief and consider whether your presence in the chiefdom would be prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and necessitate your removal from the chiefdom....

I have noted with great concern that your conduct in issuing threats against His Royal Highness Paramount Chief Mpezeni is in direct violation of your duty under section 11 of the Chiefs Act, Chapter 287 of the Laws of Zambia, which requires a chief to preserve the public peace in his area and to take reasonable measures to quell any riot, affray or similar disorder which may occur in that area. …I advise that you cease and refrain from issuing any further threats or derogatory remarks of any form against His Royal Highness Paramount Chief Mpezeni....

The President has apparently been infuriated at the two chiefs threats of violence on Mpezeni after the latter called for the removal of presidential immunity accorded to Rupiah Banda. The President of course has the power to remove state "recognition", though what practical import that has is debatable. Chiefs do not derive their power from the President. It is derived from the people. Presumably the only thing they would lose is their recently increased allowances. The threat to remove them from their chiefdoms is rather odd! Surely it is up to the Courts to determine such. I do not think the President has power to remove anyone from a specific village or province! May be there's a part of law buried somewhere that only applies to chiefs!

Ripe for development?

2012-02-06T00:30:00.000Z

Chief Mpepo (Bisa, Mpika) joins chief offering land to "investors because the chiefdom has the potential to develop and contribute to wealth creation and reduce poverty". Local and foreign investors alike are welcome to establish investment in the area. According to Chief Mpepo the area has the raw materials to support establishing an agriculture manufacturing plant : "We have small-scale farmers who produce cassava and maize which have no market, so putting up a processing plant can create wealth for the people...the area also has...mangoes, which [go] to waste because of lack of a juice producing company..".

Chief Mpepo's area would seem to be the ideal candidate for the creative rural industries that we have touched on here. It would be interesting to see how the natural resources audit that Government has commenced picks up on the potential in some of the chiefdoms.

Who should get priority for contracts?

2012-02-04T14:19:00.000Z

Chief Machiya (Lamba, Mpongwe) is asking Government to give his subjects priority when awarding road and other business contracts in the area. The chief believes that this is a key way for Government to empower the local people rather than business persons from allegedly far flung areas : "My subjects need to be empowered with more money in their pockets by making them top priority in awarding of contracts". The chief also believes that local contractors are more likely to be loyal to fellow subjects.

The only problem with the idea is that this may well lead to inefficient outcomes, if the locals are not properly equipped. But certainly if all the contractors fulfil the minimum criteria in terms of expertise and ability to deliver, "local first" is something that ought to be seriously considered. One wonders though whether the Chief can do more to coordinate the subjects so that they are better able to compete. In short moving from words to tangible actions!

The Triumph of Nkomenshya

2011-10-31T02:30:00.000Z

"I want to say to you Your Excellency [President Sata] that I think without this change maybe I would not be standing here.... As you are aware I was to be retired, but instead of me being retired, the person [Rupiah Banda] who wished me to be retired, I retired him Your Excellency and the people of Zambia and I thank you..."

Senior chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II mocking the 4th President Rupiah Banda following his defeat. Mr Banda has promised to deal with Her Royal Highness because she had refused to share his political posture.

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 7th Edition

2011-10-30T03:00:00.000Z

"A chief is always part and parcel of the government of the day, even if I supported Mr Banda, now I have to work with the government of the day to foster development"

Chief Mwanachingwala has finally reacted to the defeat of his candidate. This now appears to be the end of politicking for the most political of chiefs.

Related Posts

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 2nd Edition

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 3rd Edition

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 4th Edition

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 5th Edition

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 6th Edition

Chiefdom led capitalism, 2nd Edition

2011-10-29T20:42:00.000+01:00

Chiefs in Luapula province have formed a company called Bangweulu Investments Limited with the aim of opening up fish farms and restocking the water bodies whose resources are fast depleting :

Chief Mwansakombe said the company was formed by traditional rulers in Samfya and surrounding areas after carrying out a series of consultations with officials from the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), the department of fisheries. This was done through the Programme for Luapula Rural and Agriculture Development (PLRAD). Chiefteness Mulongwe of Mbabala Island, senior chief Mwewa, Chiefs Kalima Nkonde and Bwalya Mponda, are the board members of the company whose offices would be opened in Samfya district soon.

Chief Mwansakombe said the traditional rulers resolved to promote the fishing industry, employment creation and better fishing methods around Lake Bangweulu and other water bodies.

Chief Nsamba said Bwangweulu Investments intend will train all the locals who would be engaged in fish farming activities. This would include looking after the fish which would be placed in special cages and placed in the lake. “As a way of promoting a sense of ownership we intend to contract people working in community groups to manage the fish which would be placed in cages,” he said He observed that the use of cages stocked with fish placed in the lakes, was being used in Siavonga area in Southern province and it had proved to be a viable way of fish farming. He said once the business was fully established Bangweulu Investment intends to partner with some people living in fishing communities.

The firm would develop out-grower schemes whose fish farming projects it would be supported. The people from the out-grower schemes would be empowered with knowledge on the dangers of using bad fishing methods. Luapula fishermen use unorthodox means such as mosquito nets to catch fish.

Pushing for media ownership?

2011-10-20T00:30:00.000+01:00

Chief Simamba (Tonga , Siavonga) recently called on Government to consider granting a full radio operation licence to Kariba FM Radio Trust. The chief argues that allowing the radio station to commence operations would help create employment for the youth in the district. It would create jobs for the youth and also allow business enterprises in the district to advertise their products and services. Kariba FM Radio is currently on test transmission. More detail via Times of Zambia.

A new role for chiefs?

2011-10-19T00:30:00.000+01:00

The government plans to introduce traditional councils to "ensure a link in the public service governance system", according to the new Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Minister Inonge Wina. Mrs Wina believes the introduction of village, district and provincial chiefs' councils would ensure the active involvement of traditional authorities in the public governance system. In her words, "the PF government is, therefore, committed to establishing a system of local government which will promote local economic development, improved delivery of essential infrastructure and services through local self government".

Senior Chief Inshindi (Lunda, Zambezi) believes such developments provide a new opportunity for chiefs to assume "a new identity as agents of rural development" under the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, and "free themselves from the yoke of political manipulation by politicians in elections". The chief believes traditional leaders had lost their identity and were relegated to traditional ceremonies and as endorsement agents in election campaigns. In his words :

"Apart from the House of Chiefs, chiefs were seen to be irreverent in the system because their capacity was only limited to traditional culture. The only times chiefs were seen to participate in development issues were at traditional ceremonies and election campaigns....This is why chiefs were advocating more capacity in the draft constitution which included chiefs' powers over natural resources and administration of chiefdoms, participation at various levels in government and parastatal organisations and contribution to the economic performance of the country...In any situation where chieftainship is sidelined, there can never be a successful decentralised system. It's now important for chiefs to unite under the House of Chiefs and the provincial council of chiefs to come up with development plans that will work in an economic development process"

Against Kagem

2011-10-18T16:07:00.000+01:00

Lost in the post election milieu was the interesting revelation that Chief Nkana of the Lamba people (Lufwanyama) recently filed for an injunction restraining Kagem mining from conducting mining activities in his chiefdom. The chief has sued Kagem mining for allegedly entering Chapula area which was under his chiefdom and conducting mining activities which was against his duties as senior chief. He claims that Kagem mining had started exercising mining rights in an area that encompassed villagers and the palace without his written consent. The traditional leader claimed that the action by the mining company in entering his customary land or village without his consent was illegal. He claimed that he was mandated to have authority over the people of the land through statutory instrument number 59 of 2002. More detail via The Times.

Unleashing indigenous knowledge...

2011-09-06T20:40:00.001+01:00

Botswana is developing a policy to protect, preserve and promote its indigenous knowledge and mainstream it into the country's macro-economic framework. These efforts will involve identifying, documenting and gathering local traditional knowledge practices from areas including agriculture, health, culture and religious beliefs, and then feeding them into a legislative framework. According to the Gaborone government, "the initiative is intended to bring economic empowerment through benefit-sharing and [providing] royalties to communities rich in indigenous knowledge". In other words, Botswana has linked this policy not only to preservation of national heritage, but also to delivering positive economic outcomes (e.g. health, income generation).

The Mwanawasa administration initiated similar efforts in Zambia in 2005 only to abandon it for lack of money. After a partial audit of indigenous knowledge in the Northern and Eastern provinces very little was taken forward. The government was not committed enough to allocate sufficient funding, so in the end it run out of cash. This is unfortunate because a lot can be gained from harnessing indigenous knowledge. Since time immemorial, rural communities have depended on indigenous "scientific" knowledge for their survival. Communities have applied this knowledge in almost all sectors that pertain to their spiritual, social and economic development. Without such knowledge many of our communities would be extinct by now. It is that knowledge which we need to tap into. The benefit of doing that are huge, as a few examples would demonstrate. Take the chitemene (slash and burn) system. This is not just a scientific, but also a social process. The chitemene supports social institutions such as iciima (group work), a source of togetherness and collective responsibility. Understanding these issues would aid our development as a people.

Unfortunately, we continue to see traditional knowledge collected and appropriated without little benefit to our people. A typical example is the case of the maheu drink. The Zambian scientist (Bernard Chishya) who "invented" the drink actually got the idea of maheu from Magoye where the local people use a root called mahaabe. He then identified the type of enzymes it contains. To his surprise he found out that a similar root called chifumfula was being used in Chieftainess Nkomeshya’s (Chongwe District). Dr Chishya then engaged engaged an elderly woman from Chieftainess Nkomesha’s area who brewed the maheu drink. After the laboratory analysis of the brew, an alternative technological know-how was developed and the patent was sold to Trade Kings. In short, all Dr Chishya did was identify the type of fermentation that went on in the drink.

Other examples include mabisi by Parmalat, mosi larger by Zambian Breweries. All these are owned by the local people and it is common knowledge that both mabisi and mosi, for instance, are associated with the knowledge of the Tonga people of Southern Province. Similarly, Zambia is endowed with many wild fruits. We have the mpundu and masuku, for example, whose botanic names are the Parinari Curatellifolia and the Uapaka Kirkiana, respectively. Our ancestors lived on these fruits. They knew how to process them. This idea has been with Zambians ever since. This is the idea which was taken up by the National Council for Scientific Research then to come up with the masuku wine.

What is sad of course is that not only are these ideas not properly stored as part of our national knowledge system, often they are just stolen from local people and the knowledge goes abroad. Zambians usually only come to enjoy the end product (e.g Amarula). More pointedly, despite being custodians of such knowledge, in many instances local people and chiefs have not benefited. This knowledge has largely been exploited and our people’s knowledge is being appropriated without benefit. These problems largely stem from the failure of government to put in place a coherent policy on traditional knowledge. There’s significant poor coordination among major players involved in the process of realising this policy area.

The way forward must therefore begin with getting chiefs on board. Much of this knowledge is captured through local chiefdoms as basic repositories of traditional knowledge and experiences that link present Zambia with its historic past. This is one project which would give them something more meaningful to do rather than acting as party cadres. Government working with chiefs and the academic community should initiate a people driven comprehensive and deep-rooted inventory of indigenous knowledge.

This must be must be accompanied by increasing funding to science and technology and all sectors with responsibility over indigenous knowledge. The way to do is to follow South Africa’s lead in creating a national trust fund, into which royalties ought to be paid by commercial entities appropriating indigenous knowledge. As part of this there would be an explicit policy of patenting indigenous knowledge to ensure that all those commercial entities appropriating indigenous knowledge become socially responsible by ploughing back into the rural areas for the indigenous knowledge they use. Treating indigenous knowledge as intellectual property would ensure that it is rightly regarded as collective property of the indigenous people.

These ideas of course fit in with our existing position that what is missing currently at the local level is "market discovery". Until we know what we know or don't know, we wont much progress to empower our people. Someone is probably sitting on the next "maheu". Government has a role to subsidise that discovery process for wider benefit of society.

Chiefs and Partisan Politics, 3rd Edition

2011-06-04T17:21:00.000+01:00

An important editorial in The Post on chiefs and politics following the overt engagement by pro-MMD chiefs in electoral matters.

Non-partisan royal establishments, Editorial, The Post, Commentary :

IT is surprising that the people who banned our traditional rulers, our chiefs from actively taking part in the politics of our country are the ones today in the forefront of asking them for endorsement in this year’s elections.

If it is wrong for traditional rulers or chiefs to contest political office in an election, it should be equally unacceptable for them to be agents of those seeking elective political office.

All that this means is that our traditional rulers have to come to terms with what it means to live in a multiparty political dispensation. And in our view, the best option is for them to take a non-partisan approach to politics and governance issues in our country. There is need for our traditional rulers to put themselves above partisan politics.

This is not to say they should have nothing to do with politics, they should not speak for their people. They have a duty to remind the government, the politicians in power to pay attention to the human needs and sufferings of their subjects. This is their responsibility, a responsibility they have to fulfil if they are to continue being relevant to the lives of their subjects. They have the duty to speak for their subjects, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

This means that our traditional rulers will still be political, but not partisan. It is their duty to guide our politicians, especially those in government, in matters that affect the lives of their subjects. They have a duty to contribute toward the reign of justice and charity within the borders of their chiefdoms and between chiefdoms.
The choice of which political party or candidate to vote for is left to the free decision of the subjects.

Our traditional rulers have both the right and the duty to speak out on matters that affect their subjects. They have both the right and duty to participate fully in building a just and peaceful society with all the means at their disposal. A traditional authority is not fully rooted among its people if it is not concerned about their wellbeing.

Our traditional rulers should value the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of their subjects in making political choices, guaranteeing them the possibility of electing and holding accountable the politicians who govern them, and replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. However, this does not require them to be partisan, to be agents or supporters of any political party or candidate.

Taking a partisan position threatens the respect and integrity of our traditional rulers. What should stop a subject who does not support the same political party or candidate as their chief from criticising the chief and his political choice? And what happens if the chief happens to be supporting the most unpopular party or candidate?

The end result is that the chief will alienate himself from his people. And his survival will not be based on the prestige and support he enjoys from his people but from the protection he is given by the politicians he supports.

But what type of chief will that be? It is said a chief is a chief because of the respect and support he has from people, from his subjects. A chief without subjects is not a chief. A chief who has been deserted by his people ceases to be a chief; he is as good as a dethroned chief. It’s the support of subjects and their respect that makes a chief a chief.

Partisan politics threaten all this; it has the tendency to bring the chief into conflict with his subjects. Look at the situation in Southern Province where the chiefs had been supporting MMD and Rupiah Banda while their subjects have been voting for UPND. Where does this leave the chiefs? What influence can they claim to have on their people?

What leadership can they claim to be providing to their subjects? Can they even really claim to have subjects?
If what we hear about the Barotse Royal Establishment deciding to be non-partisan is true, then they are headed for better things, for better days and for more prestige and respect among their subjects.

This is what has helped the British Monarch, the Queen of England, to continue enjoying the respect of most of the British people and their politicians. It is believed that the British royal family is much more politically inclined towards the Conservatives.

But it’s difficult to see this in their daily actions and pronouncements. They don’t seem to have any influence on who is elected to form government. The commoners elect their own governments and those governments, in turn, work with the monarch to govern the country.

It will be better for our royal establishments in Zambia to keep away from becoming election agents or servants of politicians who come and go, who win and lose elections.

Moreover, their subjects are spread across the whole political spectrum. This being the case, where do they place those who don’t support the political party or candidate they support? What type of cooperation can be there between them and their subjects who are on the other end of the political spectrum?

We know that our royal establishments are facing a lot of financial hardships because their source of income, the royalties or taxes they used to receive have been taken away from them. But the solution is not partisan politics or political patronage.

The solution lies in the enactment of a good constitution and laws that recognise and respect the role they play in the governance of our country and accordingly supporting them financially and otherwise. Again, this should not be an act of benevolence on the part of any individual politician.

It should be a product of national consensus and decision to give to the chiefs what belongs to the chiefs – it is simply a question of giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and not making Caesar beg or play servitude over what belongs to him.

The decision we should make is whether or not we need all these royal establishments in our country. If we need them, they have to be supported financially and otherwise in a dignified manner. If we don’t need them, let’s say so and do away with them.

There are countries that have abolished monarchs. But we have also seen countries which are reinstating the monarchs they had abolished. The choice is ours. But there are always better ways of doing things and let’s do it the best way, whatever effort this demands or calls for.
We have to take responsibility as a people for the type of traditional rulers or chiefs we have.

Since we are the ones who make them chiefs, we should be responsible for what type of chiefs we have. We should take responsibility for the type of traditional leadership we are creating in this country. In the end, what we get is the type of traditional rulers or chiefs we deserve.

All that this means is that our traditional rulers have to come to terms with what it means to live in a multiparty political dispensation. And in our view, the best option is for them to take a non-partisan approach to politics and governance issues in our country. There is need for our traditional rulers to put themselves above partisan politics.

This is not to say they should have nothing to do with politics, they should not speak for their people. They have a duty to remind the government, the politicians in power to pay attention to the human needs and sufferings of their subjects. This is their responsibility, a responsibility they have to fulfil if they are to continue being relevant to the lives of their subjects. They have the duty to speak for their subjects, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

This means that our traditional rulers will still be political, but not partisan. It is their duty to guide our politicians, especially those in government, in matters that affect the lives of their subjects. They have a duty to contribute toward the reign of justice and charity within the borders of their chiefdoms and between chiefdoms.
The choice of which political party or candidate to vote for is left to the free decision of the subjects.

Our traditional rulers have both the right and the duty to speak out on matters that affect their subjects. They have both the right and duty to participate fully in building a just and peaceful society with all the means at their disposal. A traditional authority is not fully rooted among its people if it is not concerned about their wellbeing.

Our traditional rulers should value the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of their subjects in making political choices, guaranteeing them the possibility of electing and holding accountable the politicians who govern them, and replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. However, this does not require them to be partisan, to be agents or supporters of any political party or candidate.

Taking a partisan position threatens the respect and integrity of our traditional rulers. What should stop a subject who does not support the same political party or candidate as their chief from criticising the chief and his political choice? And what happens if the chief happens to be supporting the most unpopular party or candidate?

The end result is that the chief will alienate himself from his people. And his survival will not be based on the prestige and support he enjoys from his people but from the protection he is given by the politicians he supports.

But what type of chief will that be? It is said a chief is a chief because of the respect and support he has from people, from his subjects. A chief without subjects is not a chief. A chief who has been deserted by his people ceases to be a chief; he is as good as a dethroned chief. It’s the support of subjects and their respect that makes a chief a chief.

Partisan politics threaten all this; it has the tendency to bring the chief into conflict with his subjects. Look at the situation in Southern Province where the chiefs had been supporting MMD and Rupiah Banda while their subjects have been voting for UPND. Where does this leave the chiefs? What influence can they claim to have on their people?

What leadership can they claim to be providing to their subjects? Can they even really claim to have subjects?
If what we hear about the Barotse Royal Establishment deciding to be non-partisan is true, then they are headed for better things, for better days and for more prestige and respect among their subjects.

This is what has helped the British Monarch, the Queen of England, to continue enjoying the respect of most of the British people and their politicians. It is believed that the British royal family is much more politically inclined towards the Conservatives.

But it’s difficult to see this in their daily actions and pronouncements. They don’t seem to have any influence on who is elected to form government. The commoners elect their own governments and those governments, in turn, work with the monarch to govern the country.

It will be better for our royal establishments in Zambia to keep away from becoming election agents or servants of politicians who come and go, who win and lose elections.

Moreover, their subjects are spread across the whole political spectrum. This being the case, where do they place those who don’t support the political party or candidate they support? What type of cooperation can be there between them and their subjects who are on the other end of the political spectrum?

We know that our royal establishments are facing a lot of financial hardships because their source of income, the royalties or taxes they used to receive have been taken away from them. But the solution is not partisan politics or political patronage.

The solution lies in the enactment of a good constitution and laws that recognise and respect the role they play in the governance of our country and accordingly supporting them financially and otherwise. Again, this should not be an act of benevolence on the part of any individual politician.

It should be a product of national consensus and decision to give to the chiefs what belongs to the chiefs – it is simply a question of giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and not making Caesar beg or play servitude over what belongs to him.

The decision we should make is whether or not we need all these royal establishments in our country. If we need them, they have to be supported financially and otherwise in a dignified manner. If we don’t need them, let’s say so and do away with them.

There are countries that have abolished monarchs. But we have also seen countries which are reinstating the monarchs they had abolished. The choice is ours. But there are always better ways of doing things and let’s do it the best way, whatever effort this demands or calls for.
We have to take responsibility as a people for the type of traditional rulers or chiefs we have.

Since we are the ones who make them chiefs, we should be responsible for what type of chiefs we have. We should take responsibility for the type of traditional leadership we are creating in this country. In the end, what we get is the type of traditional rulers or chiefs we deserve.

Have Southern Chiefs Endorsed Banda? 2nd Edition

2011-05-03T16:48:00.003+01:00

More chiefs join the "no" camp (previous post here).

"The story in the Daily Mail of Saturday is very unfortunate because the meeting of the Royal Foundation of Zambia was a consultative meeting. There is no way the chairman chief Mukuni could issue a press statement in Livingstone over what was not resolved...We tried to call him on the 18th but it seems he was busy with other things. During the meeting, the permanent secretary invited chief Mukuni to give opening remarks and uttered words we were not in support of and on the agenda there was an item of a closed door meeting and as chiefs we had planned to question chief Mukuni in the presence of the President over what he had said, but that was not to be....My advice is that let chief Mukuni stop reducing the President in the eyes of the chiefs. Our meeting in Mazabuka was full of nonsense and we were not offered an opportunity to meet the President as stated on the agenda.."

- Chief Nalubamba

“At no time did we ever meet to discuss the endorsement of President Rupiah Banda. There were three or four chiefs who were coming up with suggestions but we said that we should wait until we all gathered so that we could agree or disagree, and that was never held..It was not a question of endorsement. Chief Mukuni is the man who got the documents typed in his capacity as chairperson of the Royal Foundation of Chiefs but we did not meet to discuss the issue...We were in a conference and chief Mwanachingwala said that in his vote of thanks. Because we were in his chiefdom and we could not start arguing, he said what he said in his personal capacity and not as a resolution. Chief Mukuni spoke and said what he said but who told him? I was there. And if you ask any other chief, you will be told that there was no meeting to discuss the endorsement of RB..It is very unfair to the other political parties. We are supposed to be non-partisan. So take it from me that at no time did the 41 chiefs meet to discuss the endorsement, those who spoke highlighted the developments that are taking place in their areas"

- Chief Macha

Electoral Endorsements (Luchazi Royal Establishment)

2011-04-25T17:42:00.000+01:00

The Daily Mail on another alleged traditional endorsement for MMD :

Luchazi Royal Establishment has resolved to support and campaign for President Banda in the 2011 Presidential and general elections. Senior Chiefs Sikufele, Kalunga and acting Chief Chengele of Kabompo have pledged to support the ruling MMD and Mr Banda in the general elections and to ensure that MMD candidates win the elections. The chiefs have said in a statement that President Banda has brought development to their chiefdoms and he deserves another term of office.

The statement says the chiefs’ subjects are also happy with Government, which has brought health centres and schools closer to them. The three chiefs and their subjects, who met to discuss development projects taking place in the chiefdoms, noted that since independence, they are, for the first time, witnessing massive development in their chiefdoms, the statement says. The chiefs also commended Government for constructing a high school in Chief Chengele’s chiefdom at a cost of K35 billion.

More detail via Daily Mail.

Have Southern Chiefs Endorsed President Banda?

2011-04-24T15:56:00.001+01:00

Yes, according to Chief Mukuni :

Chief Mukuni of the Toka Leya people has claimed that all Chiefs in Southern Province have unanimously endorsed and pledged to support President Rupiah Banda’s candidature in this year’s tripartite elections. Chief Mukuni told journalists in Livingstone on Friday that the resolution was passed at the recently held consultative meeting in Mazabuka....Chief Mukuni says chiefs in Southern Province have decided to uphold their 2008 resolutions to support President Banda due to the many developmental programmes he has brought to the province.

No, says Chief Chona :

“The statement was made and it doesn’t represent the will of the people, we just made that in our own capacity as chiefs not as chiefdoms because we firstly did not seat down with our people our subject to find out what they want, It is just a political statement...I know that am bound to what the foundation announced by an honest advise and declaration is important to enhance democracy, we did not all agree to the idea, we had a lot of issues raised on the matter, don’t forget that we gave Hichilema a three week ultimatum, so where and how do we resolve to help out?”.

The "ultimatum" Chief Chona is referring to is the one reported here.

Electoral Endorsements (Mwanachingwala), 2nd Edition

2011-04-24T15:48:00.001+01:00

"In 2008, we (Southern Province chiefs) met in Siavonga and resolved to support you (President Banda) during the elections held in that year. We later met at Kozo Lodge in Choma in the same year and resolved to support you. From that time, we have never sat as chiefs to go against what we resolved which means we are still supporting you. Come 2011 elections, we will be behind you"

Chief Mwanachingwala who has already endorsed President Banda leaving us in no doubt where he stands.

Electoral Endorsements (Mukuni)

2011-04-06T22:08:00.000+01:00

“There is every reason for President Banda to win this year’s elections because there is too much evidence as to what he has done and is capable of doing. I do not think there is anyone among the presidential candidates we have who can justify why we should vote for them this year....When President Banda says he is a President for all Zambians, he means it. Look at what we are witnessing today. Even those that oppose him will benefit from this infrastructure.....This hospital is a blessing to many, including mothers who most of the time shoulder the burden of the sick in the families. I am grateful to the President for answering the cry of the people of KapiriMposhi”

Chief Mukuni throwing his weight behind President Banda. I suppose the only consolation for the opposition is not just that His Royal Highness is already a well known MMD supporter. More detail via Daily Mail.

Traditional Counsel

2011-04-05T20:14:00.000+01:00

We need change, we need leaders who will not go in leadership for selfish reasons, the current crop of leaders are what the Tongas would term ‘Nchelelebula’ which means one who is selfish, one who wants to fill up their tummies while the majority of people wallowed in poverty..My desire, my wish as a villager is that we should not waste our votes anymore, let us vote for people who appreciate us...Let us bring about that change through the ballot and not through violence. Leaders should consult with the people on what they want and they should state if they were ready to meet those needs.”

Chief Bright Nalubamba looks to a new start. The results in 2011 will have big implications for His Royal Highness since he has invested heavily in the Opposition. A defeat for the Opposition may not bode so well for him. There's of course the little problem that UPND will not be forming government, yet he is the chief for a UPND stronghold. Interesting times ahead indeed.

Wising Up (Chisunka)

2011-02-14T00:20:00.000Z

"This is an election year and it is very important for the whole country. We, as traditional leaders, are encouraging the people to think carefully before the elections...Our subjects will not be cheated just because you buy them 'tujilijili' and Shake Shake. We will insist that politicians come up with good manifestos on which they will deliver"

Chief Chisunka on his determination to ensure that people in Luapula Province will not be deceived by politicians who will try to entice them with money to win their votes during the elections.

Chiefs and Mining Licenses

2011-02-13T00:01:00.014Z

Chief Chisunka (Ushi , Luapula ) recently asked government again to consulting traditional leaders on land before issuing licenses to investors to carry out mining exploration in rural areas. The chief is concerned about repeated incidences of investors showing up with papers for exploration works without the knowledge of chiefs. It appears the exploration activity has left subjects with no land to cultivate because their fields have been taken away. (See previous discussion on this via Zambia Economist)

The Case for Political Chiefs

2011-02-12T00:51:00.000Z

Chief Nalubamba on the impossibility / impracticality of stopping chiefs from participating in politics:

Who told you that chiefs and the Church should not participate in the politics of the nation? Why do you want to stop chiefs and the Church from talking about poverty, poor education standards, bad roads, hunger, human rights, health and other issues that concern our people?...It is unwise to do so (to bar chiefs from politics). Let me take this opportunity to commend Dr. Kenneth Kaunda for allowing chiefs to participate in politics and governance of this nation; chiefs participated in the liberation of this country, they fought for the independence of this nation. The Litunga of the Lozi-speaking people was one of the people that went to negotiate for the independence of this nation in Britain; was that not politics? So why do you want to stop us from politics?

I have previous touched on this here. It is both an issue of fairness and practicality.

Fairness because chiefs are not civil servants and their position does not have a properly recognised role in development that can be demonstrated to be in conflict with political involvement. Until that changes it does not make sense to argue against political involvement.

Practicality because chiefs are inherently political. Its the very nature of the institution. Until we precisely define what non-political involvement is, it does not make sense to argue for it.

On Political Violence, 2nd Edition

2011-02-11T00:46:00.000Z

"Zambia is a peaceful country, you cannot win an election simply because you are violent. Winning elections is about convincing people with issues. Tell them that you will improve their livelihood than the current government…tell them why they should vote for you not violence...There is internal violence that is obtaining in these political parties in Lusaka. MMD is one of them; there is William Banda and his colleagues. From now onwards, we shall denounce any form of violence, be it political or any form of violence. We shall de-campaign any individual and his political party, we shall organise our people not to vote for that particular party and its leaders. This is a timely warning. Political leaders should not cry foul that they were not warned, Zambia is a peaceful nation and would want to remain like that, "

Chief Chikanta weighing in on political violence ahead of the 2011 elections.

Succession Disputes (Jumbe)

2011-02-10T00:38:00.000Z

It appears the succession dispute for Jumbe throne has become serious, with police recently arresting some people from Mambwe district for allegedly threatening violence against chief Jumbe (Kunda people). According to Chief Jumbe, the suspects “were threatening my life. They text me saying they have failed to oust me from the throne now they will just kill me”. Others have a different version. They claim Chief Jumbe is a "caretaker chief" and simply stalling for time. Apparently, the Mchacha clan had decided to enthrone someone because they were ready to rule and they drafted minutes which they sent to the provincial permanent secretary but nothing had been done on the matter.

Corruption and Chiefs

2011-02-09T00:25:00.007Z

A recent post editorial argues that chiefs are colluding with politicians to keep our people poorer.

Corruption and our chiefs, Editorial, The Post, Commentary :

The prosperity of chiefs has always been tied to that of their subjects. And since chiefs were traditionally not fending for themselves, what they ate, what they wore and all their glory emanated from what their subjects were able to bring or do for them. Today, a great majority of our people, especially those in the rural areas where most of our chiefs reside, are impoverished. This means that they have very little to give to their chiefs because one can only give that which one has. If a chief’s subjects have nothing, the chief will get nothing. And this is the case today.

Our chiefs are getting very little, if not nothing, from their subjects. The only ones who have something to give are those in control of government resources. And today, both the chiefs and their subjects are looking up to those in control of government resources to survive. This in itself is weakening the bond between the chiefs and their subjects. We say this because the chiefs today don’t seem to be dependent on the contributions of their subjects. As such, their loyalty, faith and commitment lies elsewhere. And if chiefs have lost that commitment, that loyalty to their subjects, there is no way their subjects can also continue to be loyal to them. People have faith in those who have faith in them; people are loyal to those who are loyal to them. Today, the chiefs are more preoccupied with their own survival while their subjects also have to fend for themselves and worry about their own survival. Situations of this nature create other problems. Greed and vanity set in. When people have to think only about themselves, serious problems start because values, standards, ethics, traditions and cultural norms suffer. Things that were simply never done become acceptable and normal day-to-day occurrences in society.

Senior chief Bright Nalubamba of the Ila people of Namwala in Southern Province is right when he observes that there is too much poverty in our nation, especially in the rural areas. He is also correct when he laments about how painful it is to see some chiefs defending wrong things instead of helping their people. Chiefs are supposed to ensure that the voices of the voiceless poor that they preside over are heard and their needs met.

But we need to continue to ask the question: what has gone wrong? Why are the people’s representatives in the forefront of defending wrong things? One would expect that chiefs who in most cases live among their people would keenly understand the struggles of their subjects and strive to improve their lives. But from what chief Nalubamba is saying, this is not the case. Some chiefs seem to be finding it easier to defend the wrongdoing of those in power than to speak out on the misery and suffering of their poor subjects. The question is: why?

When corruption grips a nation, no institution is spared. There are not many of our people who would sincerely say that corruption is not a big problem for our country. Everybody knows that our country is suffering the consequences of the corruption epidemic. Any institution that can be used to advance the corrupt interests of those who today control state power is under attack. Chiefs are no exception. In the name of recognising the institution of chieftaincy, a system of corrupt patronage has become a normal part of our politics. Some chiefs, especially those who are viewed as being favourably disposed towards the political party in power, are given all sorts of gifts and inducements to maintain their support. What this does is that these chiefs are now forced to toe the ruling party line and support whatever those in government want. When this happens, an important voice which would have served the needs of the voiceless is shut up and our people continue to wallow in poverty. This might sound very simplistic but unfortunately, it is true. This is how the powerful office that chiefs occupy has been emasculated and left to serve the interests of the ruling party and its corrupt leaders.

Chief Nalubamba is right also by observing that Frederick Chiluba’s behaviour is an insult to our people because of the corruption that he presided over. Today, Chiluba tries to parade himself as an innocent victim of Levy Mwanawasa’s vindictiveness and yet most of our people know that Chiluba was nothing but a petty-minded and shameless thief who attacked every institution that the country needs to run properly. Our people have not forgotten that Chiluba used to parade chiefs to support his evil schemes, including his ill-conceived third term bid. Chiluba’s student, Rupiah Banda, has picked up the same habit of abusing chiefs in this shameless way. Chiefs are paraded to support this or that government scheme in return for very small favours that can never compare with their responsibility to the people, which they abdicate by this behaviour. The poverty of our people, which has resulted in the poverty of their chiefs, is being manipulated to turn chiefs against their own people. We say this because when a chief supports schemes that are going to condemn generations of his subjects to a life of poverty and deprivation, such a chief has become an enemy of his own people. And this is what Rupiah continues to do with many of our chiefs. There are not many chiefs in our country today who speak candidly and fearlessly in defence of the interests of their people. Most of them, when they speak, it is only about their own welfare – their allowances, automobiles, palaces, personal medical attention and so on and so forth. The interests of their people are only talked about in passing if ever they happen to be talked about.

The corruption of this important institution has left our people poorer, helpless and in despair. For many of our poor people, their chiefs are nothing but an extension of self-seeking opportunists who do nothing for public good. This is an unfortunate development that needs to be arrested. What they are forgetting is that none of our great chiefs are remembered for how much personal wealth and luxury they had accumulated for themselves. King Lewanika had the opportunity to make a personal fortune for himself and live a very comfortable life full of luxuries. Lewanika did not indulge in that type of thing. There were no personal mansions built for him. Instead, Lewanika selflessly concentrated on building schools, constructing canals and other economic and social infrastructure for the benefit of his people. This is what made his kingdom attractive to the 21 tribes he presided over. No piece of his people’s land was given away or concessioned to anyone for personal benefit to himself. His entire foreign and economic policy was premised on serving and preserving the interests of his people. This is what made Lewanika loved, admired and respected by his people. And his commitment to the welfare of his people made him a great visionary. We want our chiefs to be like Lewanika in the service of their people. We want our chiefs to emulate Lewanika’s spirit of honesty, incorruptibility as the essence of their self-respect.

Captured Chiefs?

2011-02-08T00:33:00.000Z

"There is too much poverty in this nation especially in rural areas. It is painful to see some chiefs defend wrong things instead of helping the voices of their subjects..I am not against chiefs speaking on various issues of governance because it is their right to do so. However, it will be foolish for a chief to ignore the fact that poverty is rife on the ground. It will be foolish of a chief to choose to ignore the fact that his subjects are living in abject poverty"

Chief Nalubamba on the apparent failure of chiefs to "defend" their people. The upcoming election will surely pit chief against chief, as various political lines realign. You can read the rest of the piece here.

Connected Chiefdoms

2011-02-07T00:20:00.007Z

"We were unable to reach the world, outside Chikanta, outside the district even outside Zambia," he says. Since the internet came we are able now to connect to any part of the world and in Zambia through these machines here. We have our teachers who are now able to communicate with agricultural officers. Government officers who come to work here will be reporting directly from here to district headquarters which we were not able to do before. Every chief in Zambia wants this."

Chief Chikanta on the impact of growing internet access in his area. More detail via BBC Online.

Electoral Endorsements (Mwanachingwala)

2011-02-06T00:11:00.000Z

Chief Mwanachingwala (Tonga , Mazabuka) recently openly endorsed President Banda in the 2011 elections. Although we have had a few chiefs already throw their weight behind President Banda none has been more explicitly, almost cadre like in his endorsement than Chief Mwanachingwala :

This is a crucial year because Zambia will once again go to the polls, and some politicians will start cheating our people that they will deliver if given a chance to run the affairs of the nation. The truth of the matter is that they should not be cheated or entertained by these politicians of doom because some of them failed to deliver when they served as Cabinet ministers in the previous governments. So, as a traditional leader, I’m asking Zambians to vote for President Banda because he has done a lot for this country and Zambians must reject politicians like Mr Sata and Hakainde Hichilema (United Party for National Development president),” Chief Mwanachingwala said.

More detail via Daily Mail.

Chief Muyombe (RIP)

2011-02-05T17:08:00.000Z

Chief Muyombe (Tumbuka, Isoka) recently passed away. We remember him for his strong agitation for better help facilities for his people.

To Endorse or Not Endorse?

2011-01-16T00:38:00.001Z

That is the question which has put chiefs in quandary, according Chief Mwamba. But he believes that instead of being mere political party cadres, chiefs should provide a powerful argument as civil libertarians and become champions of the most disinherited, oppressed, wretched and physically the most ailing class in the nation :

"As the hot race to the 2011 general elections has begun to gain momentum, the chiefs have again found themselves in a political quandary between the ruling party and the opposition as their ancestors experienced during the struggle for our independence since the nationalists regarded them as sell-outs to the imperialists...We as traditional rulers are always and permanently living with the people in villages, while politicians disappear immediately after the elections into the credit-card and chauffeur-driven world of abundance....I keep wondering with dismay at those chiefs who are too critical and are also contributing to the wild, unrealistic and unattainable promises being proclaimed by politicians on both sides..."

The Politics of Chief Nalubamba, 15th Edition

2011-01-15T00:55:00.012Z

"The legacy has been lost in terms of fighting corruption. It does not matter what development you put. If you can't fight corruption then it’s nothing...How does the President find life comfortable with known crooks? He does not expect these people to advise and correct him accordingly because service is not of paramount to them. They are more concerned about their survival and stomachs...Of all these issues, I find it difficult to rate the President's performance any better. You can put up new schools and hospitals but you will be surprised that there are no drugs and desks because that is what the corrupt have taken."

Chief Nalubamba, a strong critic of President Banda, signalling that nothing has changed from his perspective as he enters the election year.

Land disputes (Macha vs BICC)

2011-01-14T00:48:00.021Z

An historic land dispute between the Tonga people of Choma district and the Brethren In Christ Church. The only problem is that the land under dispute was given to BICC by the colonial government.

Chief Macha of the Tonga people in Choma district has vowed to ensure that his displaced subjects are given back the over 3,000 acres of land occupied by the Brethren-In-Christ Church (BICC) mission in Macha. Chief Macha says he will dedicate 2011 to a relentless struggle to get back the land which he said rightfully belongs to his subjects but is currently under the title of the BICC.

More than 3,000 villagers in Chiefs Macha and Mapanza this year had their homes burnt when BICC, obtained a court order to evict them from the titled land. But chief Macha says he has been patient enough because he thought government would do something to help his subjects that were forcefully evicted and left homeless after their homesteads were burnt down.

He says government should not be blamed for the current predicament which his subjects are facing but the church. He argued that the church was granted title deeds for the disputed 3,000 acres of land by the colonial government which he accused of not having had respect for the rights of the indigenous people. Chief Macha says the BICC should now negotiate with the local people for the piece of land. He says the Zambian government had no role to play in the issuance of the title deeds to the church as the documents were acquired during the colonial era.

Among institutions based in the piece of land in question under the BICC are the Macha Mission Hospital, the Enrolled Nurses Training School, Macha Girls High School and the Macha Malaria Research Centre. But efforts to get a comment from the Brethren in Christ Church Bishop, Thuma Hamukang'andu have failed.

Standing against corruption, 2nd Edition

2011-01-13T00:31:00.021Z

Chief Mwamba attacks corruption in local offices. This is yet another way in which local chiefs help constrain predatory elites :

Senior Chief Mwamba of the Bemba speaking people in Kasama district in Northern Province has bemoaned the alleged rampant theft of public funds at Kasama Municipal Council. And the Chief has accused some councillors of shielding officers involved in the embezzlement of funds at the Council.

Commenting on the Ministry of Local Government and Housing Audit report on Kasama Municipal Council for the period January to December 2009, Senior Chief Mwamba said it was unacceptable for Council workers to abuse public resources meant for development, with impunity. The Audit report highlighted numerous financial irregularities at Kasama Municipal Council. The traditional ruler said it was annoying and disappointing that a council, which was supposed to be spearheading development in the district, is engaged in fraudulent activities.
Senior Chief Mwamba has since questioned the legality of the decision by senior officers at the Kasama Municipal Council to allegedly award themselves salary increments three times in one year.

He also wondered why Council management decided to award itself rural retention allowance when they all live in urban settings. Senior Chief Mwamba also charged that it was immoral for these officers to award themselves hefty responsibility allowances without following the correct procedure.

The traditional ruler has accused some Councillors of being party to the embezzlement of public funds at the municipality by failing to take appropriate action against the erring council officers. Senior Chief Mwamba wondered how Councillors could allow Council officers to continue collecting revenue from taxpayers without receipting for the money. He has since urged the Councillors to show leadership by stopping the willful abuse of public funds by Council workers. He said what was happening at Kasama Municipal Council was a clear indication that the financial system had completely collapsed.

Senior Chief Mwamba has since appealed to law enforcement agencies to immediately institute investigations into the theft of public funds at the Council and take appropriate action against the erring officers. Efforts to get a comment from Kasama Mayor Abraham Mulenga on the alleged financial irregularities at the Kasama Municipal Council proved futile.

Land for development? 2nd Edition

2011-01-12T00:23:00.018Z

A report towards the back-end of last year regarding the decision by North Western chiefs to allocate land to the Copperbelt Energy Corporation. The report is silent on the framework under which this "acquisition" is being made. No surprise that among those giving land is Chief Ntambu, a strong ally of the current administration :

Three chiefs in North-western Province have agreed to allocate fifteen thousand hectares of land to the Copperblt Energy Corporation -CEC- for the construction of a hydro-power station at Kabompo Gorge. The three are Senior Chief Sailunga, Chief Ntambu and Senior Chief Musele. The chiefs have however, not signed the land acquisition consent, pending the determination of the size of land each traditional leader would give up. This came to light during a One-day Consultative meeting for Kabompo Gorge power station organized by the Zambia Development Agency -ZDA)-and CEC. According to the development plan, the hydro- power project is scheduled to commerce in March next year. The multi billion Kwacha project is scheduled to be completed in the year 2015.

Mukuni Big Five Project? 2nd Edition

2011-01-11T00:16:00.017Z

It appears the story initially discussed here is a real one. Chief Mukuni will have an hotel named after him. Its not clear what the chiefdom will get in form of financial reward. Perhaps we will find out once he has given away all the 80,000 hectares?

American based Capital Corp Merchant Banking group has signed a US$15.4 million project with Zambian corporation Playland Limited to create the Cresta Mukuni Safari Lodge near the Victoria Falls. The aim of the project is to build an internationally recognized 4-star Safari Lodge with modern facilities: amenities and conveniences which will cater for incentive groups from Europe and America with facilities that can also be used for local and regional markets in the European off-season.

Apart from hotel accommodations, the project would offer other timeshare facilities that will cater for both local and foreign clientèle. “The business concept of the project is strong, given the significant gap in the market for Safari and wilderness type high-end hotels in the Victoria Falls area where only 70 hotel rooms exist on the Zimbabwean side, and with limited conference facilities,” says Capital Corp Merchant.

In order to have a quick impact on the market and to enhance its position, Playland Limited has signed a management contract with Cresta Hospitality which is one of the biggest hospitality groups in southern Africa managing and operating 13 properties in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Nigeria, to manage its property. This will provide the development with the key personnel, marketing strategies, and implementation strategy needed to insure a smooth and efficient development. Cresta Mukuni will be twinned with the famous Cresta Mowana Safari Lodge situated in the Botswana National Park, which has won major international awards.

The Barotse Threat

2011-01-10T21:02:00.001Z

I was forwarded this scan of the threat circulating again non-Lozi's in Barotse land. It has been much referenced in the media, but I did not take it seriously until I saw this. One hopes the authorities will quickly move eliminate this problem and ensure the viability of Zambia as unitary and peaceful state is preserved.
The Barotse Threat

Early marriages, 12th Edition

2011-01-10T00:44:00.016Z

An IRIN report on early marriages flags up the links to high maternal mortality. It also notes the good leadership of Chief Kasoma Lwela (previously noted here) :

Marrying off young girls is a tradition here, IRIN, Commentary :

The minimum legal age for marriage in Zambia is 18, and parental consent is required if a girl or boy is 16-17. Anyone under 16 is a minor, and defilement of a minor is a serious offence, punishable by imprisonment of up to 25 years.

Patricia was 12 when she married John, four years her senior.

"My parents said they needed to benefit [from my dowry] before they die, and that's how they ordered me to stop going to school and get married to him... They charged him 500,000 kwacha [US$110] as bride price; he paid half and they gave him a field of maize [Zambia's staple food] to cultivate for them," she told IRIN.
After six years of marriage, Patricia has three children, has not returned to school, and is having a torrid married life.

"He beats me up very much and insults me saying my parents did not teach me properly, that I am very dirty and childish. He also has girlfriends, which I don't like, but when I tell my parents about it, they say he will stop; they tell me that all men are like that," Patricia said.

Early and forced marriages are common in Luapula Province, northern Zambia, where the incidence of early pregnancy and under-age marriage is estimated at about 70 percent among teenage girls, according to the UN population agency (UNFPA), which also pegs school drop-out levels at around 60 percent for girls aged 13 or 14.

Pascal Salimu, an UNFPA gender officer in Luapula Province, which has a population of 800,000, said poverty and tradition were behind child marriages, with the remote rural areas worst affected.

"Marrying off young girls is a tradition here... People [in rural areas] perceive a girl child as a source of wealth, and would rather give the girl into marriage to raise funds for educating the boy child," Salimu told IRIN.

High maternal mortality

Zambia's maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 591 per 100,000 live births is one of the highest in the world, according to the 2008 Demographic Health Survey, the most recent. No study has been done at national level to determine the contribution of early marriages to the country's high MMR, but Salimu said regional research had shown a high correlation between the two.

Women who die in childbirth are mostly young; either there is prolonged labour, or there are other complications. Our recent study in Luapula's Mwense District found that about 30 percent of all maternal deaths involved young children," he said.

Luapula has one of the country's gloomiest social indicators: the poverty level in some towns is as high as 78 percent, against the national average of 64 percent. HIV prevalence is also higher in the province, compared to the national average of 14.3 percent of sexually active adults aged 15-49. HIV infection among pregnant women in Luapula is 18 percent, with mother-to-child transmission at 40 percent.

One parent in Mansa, the provincial capital of Luapula, who gave his name only as Mwewa, told IRIN early marriages were an effective tool for safeguarding the health of children and upholding family honour. "I would rather my daughter is married early before she 'knows' the world. I don't want her to become pregnant or end up contracting HIV because these children of nowadays know a lot of things, and whether you like it or not they already practice these things."

Grace Mwendapole, a programme unit manager in Mansa for Plan International, a child rights organization, said early marriages were a violation of the children's basic rights to a safe childhood, education, good health, and being able to make decisions about their own lives, and perpetuated gender-based violence.

“Because most girls are married off to older men, they have to live in abusive relationships [and] the poverty cycle continues. Some of them suffer from various complications [while giving birth] and some of them even end up dying," she told IRIN.

Marriages in Zambia can be customary, legal or religious, but religious unions are not recognized by the state. Experts blame customary marriages for fuelling child unions, as they often disregard the law in that they are arranged without the bride's consent.

"What is sad is that despite all the conventions we have signed [the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women], Zambian law does not even have any definition of early marriage. What we are talking about is, in fact, not even early marriage but child defilement - that is what it should be called," Mwendapole said.

"If we bring in [the] term of 'early marriage' it complicates the whole thing.”

Traditional leaders taking the lead

Some traditional leaders in Luapula Province have begun acting against child marriages. Chief Kasoma Lwela, a traditional ruler in Mansa, dissolved 15 child marriages in 2010 alone, and in the process sent about 12 girls back to school.

"Under-age marriages are rife in my area, and are affecting the education of girl children and exposing them to HIV and AIDS at a tender age. Early marriages are exposing young girls to complications when giving birth, resulting in increased maternal and infant mortality," he told IRIN. He intends to dissolve all child marriages in his jurisdiction through the traditional courts.

Elicho Bwalya, the provincial medical officer, said government had intensified awareness-raising campaigns to curb teenage pregnancies and child marriages in Luapula.

With support from UNFPA, the government has so far trained 56 health staff in long-term family planning methods, a further 49 in emergency obstetric and neo-natal care, and 1,010 community workers in family planning promotion and distribution of materials across the province, he said.

"This situation of having children carrying their fellow children [in pregnancies] is making our healthcare programmes very difficult to implement, because we are talking to immature people," Bwalya said.

"We end up with a lot of diseases in the community, affecting mothers, affecting children, and this will consequently translate to more poverty at national level."

Electoral Endorsements (Chitanda, Chizela, Mujimanzovu)

2011-01-09T18:24:00.000Z

Recent electoral endorsements for President Rupiah Banda from traditional leaders.

"[I] never thought that one day there would be a leader who would be committed to take development to his chiefdom...It is for this reason that President Banda should be allowed to carry on the vision of moving the country forward, which he can only do if given another chance to rule in 2011..."

Chief Chitanda [Source: Times of Zambia]

Chief Chizela of the Kaonde people of Mufumbwe District has pledged to support President Banda in this year's elections. The traditional leader says President Banda has performed well and managed to initiate a number of projects in his chiefdom.

As reported by ZNBC

Senior Chief Mujimanzovu of the Kaonde people in Solwezi district has pledged to support President Rupiah Banda’s administration. The Chief says this is because of the sound developmental programmes being undertaken by Mr. Banda's government. He says Government under the leadership of President Banda has put in place good polices to promote development which were visibly yielding positive results in different sectors of the economy.

As reported by ZNBC.

In all three cases the report is by a government controlled medium and it follows a visit by a member of the MMD. Chiefs tend to misquoted and usually speak endorsements to every political party they speak to. Caution is therefore always advised. Its therefore worth coming back to these regularly to see which are maintain a consistent endorsement as we approach the elections.

Has MMD promised Mwata a VP?

2011-01-09T17:48:00.000Z

Apparently, Yes. According to this quote from the Post:

Earlier this year, President Banda promised the traditional leadership in Luapula Province that he would appoint Mwansa as Republican vice-president if they delivered the province to MMD in the 2011 presidential and general elections. “During his last visit to Luapula Province, the President had a closed-door meeting with Mwata Kazembe and we are told Chriticles was also there although he kept on going in and out of the meeting. What you need to understand is that President Banda is so desperate and if there is a province that worries him most, it's Luapula because he knows that it's a serious PF stronghold,” a source revealed. “That's why he has promised the traditional leadership that he will make Chriticles vice-president once they assist him and deliver Luapula Province to the MMD and himself in particular.

On the Barotse Question

2011-01-09T16:37:00.000Z

A Nkoya perspective on the Barotse debate :

Mankoya not part of Barotseland, Rober Litungu, Times of Zambia, Commentary :

THE agitation for the restoration of the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 has raised great concern among the various tribes in Western Province, particularly the Mankoya and their chieftaincies. The issue needs careful handling as cries for Kaondeland, Bembaland, Lambaland and others would engulf the nation because there is nothing special about the so-called Marotse or them signing an agreement with the British.
If the Government accedes to the demands of these agitators, the Nkoya will also demand that they be excised from the present Western Province. A separate polity could be created for them or they could even be made part of an existing province such as the North-Western Province where they naturally belong.

The Nkoyas and other non-Marotse tribes are extremely indebted to the efforts of gallant freedom fighters and nationalists such as the late Munukayumbwa Sipalo, Arthur Wina and Sikota Wina, among others, who freed Zambia and Barotseland in particular from the shackles of colonialism and feudalism.

Without their efforts, surely, the people of this area would still be languishing under the shackles of a feudalistic and oppressive clique.

In Western Province, unlike in the other provinces of Zambia, where there are several senior chiefs from different ethnic groups superintending over their tribes, the Marotse have entrenched themselves as the ruling class and continue to install Lozi Indunas as “chiefs” over the Nkoya chieftaincies.

How can a chieftaincy created in 1968 claim suzerainty over a chieftaincy that predates modern society? This tribal hegemony has now even been extended to Government civil service positions.
Here is a brief history of the Mankoya people.

Classification

Contrary to Marotse propaganda, Nkoya is not part of the Barotse-speaking people. The Nkoya are a different ethnic group and do not speak Silozi, the resultant language that arose after the assimilation of the Aaluyi (conquered) tribe and the Makololo–Sotho (conqueror) tribe from South Africa.

It is not right, therefore, to force Nkoyas and other tribes to belong to an artificial tribe created for the sole purpose of subjugating them. The Mankoya people speak their own language, Shinkoya, (www.ethnologue.com) and classified as belonging to Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid and Southern Narrow Bantu. Clay classifies them as Luba-speaking.

Apparently, as part of the assimilado policy of the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE), Nkoya books used in Mankoya district were in 1966 collected and burnt by the then district manager of schools at the behest of the BRE.

Dialects

The major dialects are Nkoya, Mashasha, Mbowela (Mbwela, Mbwera), Lushange, Lukolwe, Shikalu, and Lubanda.

Area

The Nkoya live in the Mankoya area of Central-Western Zambia. This area spans the Lyambai (Zambezi) River in the west, the Machile in the south and the Luenge (Kafue) River in the east and the Congo watershed in the north.

Consequently, the Nkoya have praise names for their rivers like Kabombo Mukunga mato, Dongwe Malala, Mufumbwe Maziba to mention but a few.

Slavery

The Nkoya were once a populous people, hence the Luvale expression, “Mushilinjinji nge ka Mbwela”, loosely translated as “As numerous as the Mbwelas”.

Their numbers were, however, reduced considerably with the onset of slavery in the 17th century when large numbers of the tribe, especially women and children, were carted away into slavery by the Mambari from the west coast and the Yeke of Msidi from the north-east of Africa.
These marauding groups made the Nkoya land a fertile hunting ground for slaves as the Nkoya were ill-equipped, possessing only bows and arrows. They could not match the muzzle guns that the traders and raiders came with.

Neighbours

The tribes adjoining the Nkoya are the Mambowe and the Kwangwa on the west, the Matotela and Subiya in the south, the Ila in the east, and Kaonde and Lunda in the north.
Recent immigrant tribes from Angola such as the Luchazi and Chokwe have since settled amongst them.

Lozi indunas

After the creation of Barotseland Protectorate in 1905, the BRE set up parallel administrative structures in Mankoya district and sent indunas to live amidst them.

This notwithstanding the fact they had their own tribal chiefs. In present-day Lukulu, the Nkoya have their own chiefs like Mwene Nyati, Mwene Njungu, Mwene Pumpola, Mwene Yaboka and Mwene Kangombe.

All these have since been made tributary to the Lozi chietancy at Namayula created in 1968. Surely, this is a gross violation of basic human rights. It is not fair and just.

Chiefs

The Nkoya refer to their chief as Mwene. Originally, Nkoyas were matrilineal and their founding female ruler was Mwene Libupe who ruled at Tumba in an area encompassing present-day Mwinilunga District and Kolwezi in the DRC.

It is from her that the various Nkoya chiefs that are settled in various parts of central-western Zambia, including Mwene Mutondo, Mwene Kahare, Mwene Mungambwa, Mwene Shakalongo, Mwene Momba, Mwene Yuvwenu, Mwene Nyati, Mwene Kangombe, Mwene Mutinginyi, Mwene Kabulwebulwe, Mwene Kaingu, Mwene Lilanda, among others. These chiefs rule over various clans such as Shungu, Mbunze, Ntabi.

Conclusion

In view of the foregoing, the Mankoya people do not want to belong to a feudalistic and tribal grouping that does not provide them with the right to exercise their right to self-governance and reinforces the colonial legacy of tribal subjugation of weaker tribes.
They want to be part of a democratic society, that is, the Republic of Zambia, which espouses the freedom of speech and association.

The argument that the Nkoya had invited the Lozi to protect them against the Kaonde and thus should continue to accept Lozi hegemony does not hold water in this day and era.
Surely, can the Marotse accept to be ruled by the British since they offered them protection from the Ndebele and Portuguese?

The Government should set up a commission of enquiry to examine the Lozi claims of hegemony over the Mankoya just like the government of Northern Rhodesia did in 1938 when they freed the Lunda and Luvale.

The Nkoya were denied educational opportunities as part of the scheme to subjugate them.
In this regard, the Government should not be seen to be giving privileges to one tribal chief whose establishment has subjugated other tribes.

If the worst comes to the worst, the Government should call for a referendum in Western Province on whether the people of that region should be granted the right to govern themselves.
Having been victims of the autocratic Barotse system of governance, the Nkoyas and many other tribes in the province will certainly vote against such self-governance and elect to continue being part of a democratic and unitary Zambia. (The author is a Nkoya traditionalist)

Electoral Endorsements

2011-01-01T00:27:00.001Z

The Government media has been in an overdrive of reporting traditional leadership "endorsement" of President Banda in the last month or so. We are likely to see more of this in the future.

As always has been at the forefront. First it reported reported that Chieftainess Mulongwe and Kanyesha (Lala, Mkushi)have allegedly thrown their weight behind President Banda for another mandate "because of the unprecedented developments taking place in their chiefdoms". The endorsement came after meetings with the Central Province Deputy Minister. Among the development cited included "ongoing construction of clinics in the area and the good agricultural policies that are being implemented...the timely delivery of inputs has empowered the local people".

Then we were informed that Chief Katuta (Luwingu) has also pledged to support President Banda and the MMD in the 2011 elections, due to "the economic performance it has achieved in the last two years". Thanks to the agricultural policies of President Banda, we are told, "people in his area are no longer ravaged by hunger".

Not to be out done, the Daily Mail has also been reporting similar endorsements, with slightly larger numbers. First, we had the ZNBC sourced report that four traditional rulers in Mwinilunga district have pledged to support President Rupiah Banda in the 2011 general elections. The named chiefs are Kapoma, Chibwika, Kanyama and Ntambu who have "all appreciated what the MMD government has done under the leadership of President Banda". This praise of course came during President Banda's visit.

We are likely to see more of this in the future. However, in interpreting them we should of course keep two issues in mind.

First, the extent to which endorsements are genuine. We have seen in the past that chiefs have been either coerced to issue statements or the government controlled media has largely developed its own narrative without checking the facts. To be fair this can also be true for the private but to a smaller extent given the incentives for peddling lies are somewhat limited.

Secondly, whether these "endorsements", if genuine, will have a lasting impact. That in itself is a complex question and though history can help us test the question, it remains the case that Zambian culture and distribution of power continue to evolve. Some chiefs who were powerful are now apparently chased from palaces. Others whose reputation had been lost in the past, appear to have been rehabilitated. Its therefore hard to tell prior to elections just how significant individual endorsements will be. Chiefs together are certainly an important bloc, but debate remains on how meaningful they can be in isolation.

Merry Xmas and Happy 2011

2010-12-01T00:03:00.003Z

Dear Friends,

Every economist needs a break to recharge the batteries.

In that vein, in line with previous practice, I will be taking the next four weeks off writing and will resume on 1 January 2011.

Huge thanks for all your support this year. Your encouragement and many website visits has kept me coming back to write more.

During period, I trust you will take time to visit all the three websites I have maintained throughout the year:

House of Chiefs - Political, social and economic perspectives on traditional authorities in Zambia
Zambian Economist - Economic perspectives on Zambia
Zambia Elections - Political, social and economic perspectives on traditional authorities in Zambia

Special thanks to those who have signed up via Facebook and Twitter pages. It has been encouraging to see these mediums become a central part of the websites.

I trust its not too early to wish you a wonderful Xmas and fantastic 2011!!

May the Lord keep you safe and secure during the festive period.

Chola Mukanga
Founder, Zambian Economist
http://www.zambian-economist.com
Email : cho@zambian-economist.com
Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/cholamukanga

Why child marriages should be discouraged

2010-11-30T00:38:00.014Z

Doreen Nawa on the problem of child marriages :

Why child marriages should be discouraged, Doreen Nawa, Times of Zambia, Commentary :

At 13, Nchimunya has already experienced the pain of labour in child-bearing, although she never saw the intended results as she had delivered a still-born baby. A year ago, this girl, who likes to fiddle with her elaborately braided hair, was married to a 35-year-old man in her village in Namwala District of Southern Province. She was then just 12 years old, with a dream of becoming a teacher one day.
The marriage was fully consummated, and Nchimunya was given her five-year-old younger sister to keep. The new wife was just in grade seven when her guardians decided to marry her off to a wealthy man, three times her age.

At the end of her first pregnancy, Nchimunya’s anatomy proved not ready for the task of delivering a baby. After an unbearable three-day labour, the foetus was ‘cut’ out of her, still-born.

The horrific labour left the girl with what gynaecologists call an obstetric fistula- a tearing of the tissue that develops when blood supply to the tissues of the vagina, bladder and rectum is cut off during prolonged obstructed labour. This condition mostly affects child victims of under-age marriages.

The ministry of Health and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimate that there could be well over 500 victims of obstetric fistula in Zambia at the moment, though a comprehensive study on the disease is yet to be conducted.

In the few months that followed, Nchimunya continuously discharged urine as the condition could not enable her control its flow. This forced many people to shun her. She was ostracised by her husband and his family because of her failure to give birth to a live baby. She was then forced to seclude herself away from the prying eyes and laughter of her former school mates.
In many districts and provinces of Zambia, what happened to Nchimunya is just one of the numerous events that sometimes go unnoticed. Even in cases where one reports to the police, it would be rare that the culprits would be arrested and imprisoned.

“Here, we only talk about such kind of things when sex happens outside marriage. But as the case is, such things can happen to anyone and the age does not matter. “Besides, a girl matures faster than a boy and so, questions of her not being unfit should not arise at all,” said one of Nchimunya’s relatives who did not want to be named.

But if looked at from the biological or physiological point of view, it is clear that at nine, 10, and even 11 or 12 years old, a girl simply is not ready for sex and child-bearing. But authorities are still struggling to make most communities understand and appreciate such a fact in the midst of high levels of poverty and illiteracy.

Nchimunya’s case is not an exception at all in this context. The problem affects all the villages in Zambia.

Cases of early marriages are rife not only in Southern Province. Recently, it was reported that more than 400 school girls in Mumbwa District dropped out of school after either getting pregnant or being married off and about 200 others left on account of economic reasons in the last two years.

According to a recent survey by the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) about 461 girls either got pregnant or went into early marriages and 206 dropped out of school due to lack of resources. CCF national director, Victor Koyi, revealed that 443 boys dropped out of school during the same period in the 28 schools, which were on the CCF catchment area.

Mr Koyi, who is also president of the Zambia National Education Coalition, an umbrella of civic organisations involved in education, was speaking in Mumbwa recently during the hand-over of the rehabilitated Butinti Basic School to the ministry of Education.

He noted that a lot of girls were dropping out of school on account of teen marriages and pregnancies and that the situation could be reversed if all stakeholders such as traditional leaders, parents and teachers worked together to stop the vice.
According to the UNFPA, at least a third of girls in rural areas are married off by the age of 15, and 75 per cent before the age of 18 in Africa as a whole. Despite international agreements and national laws, marriages of girls under 18 years of age are common worldwide and affect millions.

UNFPA wants the 18 years stipulation as minimum for marriage to be fully enforced to give girls
no longer in school enough time for their bodies to develop and allow them to reach adulthood. It would also help curb Zambia’s runaway demographic growth by reducing a girls’ reproductive lifespan.

Nchimunya’s story does at least have a somewhat happy ending. She underwent two operations for the fistula and spent three months at Zimba Hospital, and is ready to go back to school. Nchimunya’s husband abandoned her. Her uncle, a peasant farmer, insists that even if he were still around, she would not be going back to him.

“No more husband,” the uncle insisted. “I was ignorant before but now I know what we did was very wrong.”

Chiefs and Elections (Ila Chiefs)

2010-11-29T00:27:00.000Z

ZNBC News on the recent Ila endorsement of President Banda :

Five traditional leaders in Itezhi-Itezhi district want Zambians to give President Rupiah Banda another five year mandate as republican president. The traditional leaders want Zambians to vote for Mr Banda in next years elections so that he can continue as Republican President. The Chiefs are happy that President Banda has performed well and managed to deliver on many projects in the short period he has been in office.

The traditional leaders are Chiefs Kaingu, Chilyabufu, Sezhono Shimbizhi and Musungwa. The Chiefs said this when Southern Province Permanent Secretary GladysKristafor called on them at their places over the weekend. The chiefs are happy with the performance of the livestock industry; health and education sectors which they say are receiving a major facelift. And Mrs. Kristaor said government will continue working with Chiefs in bringing development closer to the people.

A traditional lament

2010-11-28T00:25:00.012Z

The Post editorial on the failure of government to listen to chiefs and the inability of some chiefs to pursue "justice and truth" :

Listen to the complaints of chiefs, Editorial, The Post, Commentary :

It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. And there is a great danger that government policies, if not combined with clear social concern, will bring socio-economic deprivation.

Living conditions must be improved, especially for the poor, the rural dwellers.
It is comforting to hear strong voices from our royal palaces concerning the plight of the rural poor. And we can only hope those in government will listen to these critical voices respectfully and give them favourable consideration.

We urge them to listen to the voices of critical traditional rulers like senior chief Luembe of the Nsenga people of Eastern Province. We know that those in government don’t like criticism, they only welcome praises. When they are praised, they want it to be done publicly. Even chiefs should praise them publicly. And when it comes to criticism, it shouldn’t as far as possible be done.

If it is done, it should be private or secret. And this is much more so if it is coming from chiefs. But chiefs have got an open duty to their subjects, and their royal establishments are the instruments by which their subjects should co-operate together in order to achieve the common good.

In most of our rural areas, this royal authority is needed and is sometimes the only authority available to guide the energies of all towards the common good. For this reason, our traditional rulers must be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community. We say this because our traditional rulers have subjects who each day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life.

It is therefore their duty to advocate just government policies and be more involved in the provision of life's basic material needs like food, education, healthcare and housing. They also have a duty to ensure their subjects have a standard of living worth of human dignity that includes enough food, clothing and adequate housing.

It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. We need more and more chiefs who are willing to speak for their subjects; chiefs who are not only concerned about their own welfare, about their transport and the state of their palaces. If the community is successful, the chiefs will also be successful and their personal problems will reduce.

A chief who presides over a poor community is a poor chief. We say this because we find it difficult to understand how a chief who heads a poor community can be rich and prosperous. The comfort and prosperity of a chief should be in direct proportion to that of his people.

Therefore, the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of every subject, especially of one who is poor and afflicted in any way, should be the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of every traditional ruler. We want the best for our chiefs.

But they can only get what we their subjects are able to give. If we have nothing, we will give them nothing. There is no sensible subject who would take pleasure in seeing his chief suffering in poverty, living in a dilapidated palace with no proper transport and even adequate food for himself and his family.

Chiefs with a vision pay more attention to the needs of their people than to enriching themselves because ultimately, the prestige of a chief lies in the quality of subjects he reigns over. For this reason, there is need for us to fight for the empowerment of our chiefs so that in turn, they can empower us.

And likewise, there is need for our chiefs to fight for the empowerment of their subjects so that in turn, they can also empower them. Every subject of theirs should have the chance to enjoy the wellbeing necessary for their full human development. Each of our chiefs should help prepare their subjects for political, economic and social tasks through their cultural heritage.

For instance, if the policies and practices of King Lewanika were to be followed, every subject would be cared for and made to make a positive contribution to the general wellbeing of the community. King Lewanika ensured that every subject of his had access to food and provided every family with land needed for their survival.

There were no landless people in King Lewanika’s kingdom. King Lewanika also paid great attention to education. He was actually impatient about this matter and wanted to see quick progress in education. This visionary king also paid great attention to the development of transport and agricultural infrastructure. He dug canals all over his territory as a way of improving transport and irrigation.

This was a caring king, and as his Mbunda name “Lewanika” suggests, he was a unifier of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. King Lewanika presided over a kingdom of 17 diverse tribes but managed to care for all.

And because of this, his subjects also cared for him. This is the care we want to see from our chiefs today. In Lewanika’s policies and practices, they should look for guidance and inspiration. And this is what we see in chief Luembe’s approach to issues affecting his subjects.

Aided by our rich traditions and cultural heritage, we believe that sustainable and integral human development can be promoted in ways that truly serve our people. For we know that true development in our country means true justice where there is fair sharing of resources and the benefits from economic development to improve the lives of all our people, especially the most vulnerable in our communities.

And we believe that adherence to tradition and culture can help make our traditional leadership relevant and credible amidst a situation of many problems but also many potentials. We shouldn’t forget that the poor deserve preferential attention. And the poverty that they are enduring is impoverishment caused by unjust political, economic and social structures.

Our traditional rulers have both the right and duty to participate fully in building a just, fair and humane society with all the means at their disposal. A traditional leadership is not fully rooted among its people if it does not try to establish justice and fairness and ensure that the subjects get what they deserve.

Traditional rulers need to be listened to. And as chief Luembe has correctly observed, the government should think of the poorest people in remote areas. This should be at all times, not only during election times when they are seeking their votes.

Wising up?

2010-11-27T00:18:00.016Z

"We have problems with roads and a number of issues. We have a maternity ward at the clinic just here [near the palace], it was built four years ago but it is still very dormant. It has not been handed over. Now what are we waiting for to do these things? All these are some of the projects that we have been complaining about but it’s falling on the deaf ear...We have our member of parliament here who can tell them the truth about the problems in the constituency but he has been ignored in most cases...Now this is bad because an MP cannot be government to do things on his own. Now because of this a rural person like me will accuse an MP that he is not doing anything to help the people but it’s not true. If truly things starts from the grass root level as they say, they should be listening to our complaints. As we are nearing elections you will find that so many bicycles are coming in. Vote for me! Vote for what!"

Chief Luembe bemoaning the lack of attention during non-electoral period. It also appears that the chief has recognised what few people fail to comprehend that MPs are not there for development. That is the job for the Executive. I have previously touched on this on - Myth of A Development Parliamentarian.

The Lozi Litungaship

2010-11-26T00:12:00.002Z

Barotse Patriots has an interesting full list of the Litunga Kingship.

Lessons from Malawi on "maternal health"

2010-11-25T00:39:00.020Z

Traditional leaders in Malawi are leading the fight to eradicate high maternal mortality through a cultural re-education campaign :

Village Chief Leads Fight For Maternal Health, Charles Mpaka, IPS, News Report :

In Ntcheu, a rural district in central Malawi, villagers have taken the fight against the country's high maternal mortality rate into their own hands. They have almost eradicated maternal deaths in the area by urging pregnant women to give birth in hospitals, under medical supervision.

Chief Kwataine, who has 89 villages in Ntcheu under his traditional authority, launched a maternal health campaign that first addressed common cultural beliefs associated with pregnancy, for example that a woman’s first child should be born at home or that the men of the family decide when women need medical attention. Kwataine also banned all traditional birth attendants in his villages, compelling women to give birth in hospital.

These measures have gone hand in hand with a widespread maternal health education campaign. In each of the 89 villages, between two and five skilled maternal counsellors register every pregnancy and advise mothers on best practices for achieving maternal health. Bright messages sprayed on the walls of villagers’ houses are bold reminders of important health messages.

"We also monitor their hospital visits. Every time they go for an antenatal check-up, they bring their medical passports to us so that we can record what’s been entered by the hospital," explains Pilirani Nkhoma, who is one of the maternal counsellors.

Tangible results

The results have been tangible. Between 2000 and 2005, before the chief started the maternal health initiative, the area recorded 52 maternal deaths. But not a single woman in the 89 villages under Chief Kwataine's authority has died during childbirth in the past three years.

This is unheard of in Malawi, where 510 women die per 100,000 live births, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Even though this number is down from 807 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006, Malawi will not achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 of improving maternal health.

To meet MDG 5, the country would have to bring the number down to 155 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015, which the country’s government admits will be impossible to achieve.

Kwataine’s maternal health initiative faces a number of hurdles, however, since the measures can only be successful in the long-term if they are accompanied by sufficient human and financial resources in the public health sector. The hospital closest to Kwataine’s area of traditional authority, for example, now receives almost twice as many pregnant women than the maternity ward has capacity to admit and struggles to assist all women in need.

"By all accounts, the campaign in Kwataine’s area is a brilliant approach. But we are almost buckling here now because we do not have corresponding resources," a health official who preferred to remain anonymous told IPS.

Lack of capacity

Experts fear that gains made in reducing maternal mortality could be reversed because of lack of skilled health workers and hospital capacity.

The national health department hasn’t been able to get a grip on the problem. In 2005, it promised to recruit more midwives and upgrade health facilities, with a view to boosting maternal health, but five years down the line, skilled health workers are still too few and health facilities remain poorly equipped.

The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), a Lilongwe-based independent alliance of organisations and individuals promoting equity and quality in health, faults government specifically on budget distribution. A report in which it analyses the national health budget shows that in the past four years, the health department has allocated between 50 and 60 percent of its annual budget towards activities at the health ministry headquarters, instead of using those funds for the improvement of health facilities throughout the country.

"This is money spent on allowances and four-wheel drive vehicles that race in the streets of the capital, yet 80 percent of Malawians are in the rural areas where health problems are forever acute," complains MHEN executive director Martha Kwataine.

Showing initiative

Well aware of the questionable spending priorities of the national health department, chief Kwataine and his people decided not to wait for government to provide all services.

Malawi’s rural population, even though largely poor, has the power to find its own solutions to the country’s maternal health woes, the chief believes. On the back of a successful community-driven safe motherhood initiative, he managed to mobilise his people to donate money to construct their own clinic, which will be offering basic emergency obstetric services.

"We believe that the clinic will ease pressure at the main hospital, therefore allowing more women to access better services there and also ensuring faster attention here," he explains.

Kwataine also hopes that government will become aware of the successes he achieved in his villages and will make funds available for other communities to replicate the approach: "If communities around the country committed themselves into doing programmes of this nature, and if government came in to support such initiatives, Malawi would have a better story to tell in 2015."

Electrical palaces, 2nd Edition

2010-11-24T00:31:00.009Z

The Government recently tit up three chiefs' palaces in Mwense using solar energy while the Ministry of Energy is working to connect the chiefdoms to the national electricity grid. The solar power to Mwenda, Mutipula and Katuta Kampemba's palaces was apparently at a meagre cost of K21 million (under US $5000) - someone needs to check the figures or the power is more like a candle! More detail via The Times.

A disappointed chief, 2nd

2010-11-23T00:23:00.025Z

Chief Kopa (Bisa, Northern Province) is still disappointed with President Banda’s performance, especially with the failure to deliver on schools : “As community members, we mobilised blocks and sand until rainy season came and destroyed our materials. We are saddened because we wasted our time, strength and effort. There’s nothing here, I can assure you. Some teachers are even renting in chicken runs in this village..We need more school structures, pupils are there but no structures, can you call that a school?”. More detail via The Post.

Still promising!

2010-11-22T00:15:00.008Z

"The Department of Cultural Affairs (in the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services) has been tasked with the work of constructing a cultural village at the provincial centre, which is Mansa, and eventually the programme will spread to all the districts....

This will facilitate the preservation of our traditions, norms and cultural values. I therefore, request the Ministry of Finance to release the funds for the cultural/ tourism infrastructure for Luapula Province so that the project can commence before the onset of the rainy season.."

President Banda on the much promised "cultural centres" policy, which has yet to materialise. We have previously touched on this here.

Regulating local markets, 7th Edition

2010-11-21T00:12:00.010Z

"It’s difficult to control some buyers. I normally summon outgrower companies every year but they don’t change. Even Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia (EFAZ) is not helping the farmers. It’s just stealing from the people, they don’t pay back. We have been crying for some time so I have blocked bailiffs that were supposed to be there for certain reasons.."

Chief Chanje (Chewa, Chipata) on why he has stopped bailiffs that were engaged by outgrower companies from pouncing on defaulters in his area. More detail via The Post.

The two faces of Chisunka

2010-11-20T00:04:00.015Z

A good suggestion on investment:

"You see one time in future we might have selfish leaders who may come and just grab our land for minerals and water to their business friends at the expense of a chief and his subjects. We need a law that will make chiefs to be signatories to investment agreements that involve use of land in form of minerals and water, we are the owners of these things.."

A poor suggestion on foreign trips :

“Many of my fellow royal highnesses have been given an opportunity to travel outside the country. Chiefs have been to Libya, China and now there is a trip to Korea, I appreciate what this government is doing as it is giving us exposure...”

More detail via Lusaka Times

The Kazanga Makonda Ceremony

2010-11-19T00:51:00.047Z

Another interesting piece on an interesting ceremony. Depending on your perspective the Kazanga Makonda of the Nkoya people is either the "beer ceremony" or one of the most religious. This year though it appeared to have taken on a "political tone". Read on :

Kazanga Makonda Ceremony - Potential for Tourism, Brian Hatyoka, The Times, Commentary :

It is a well known fact that traditional ceremonies play an important role in preserving heritage and culture. The ceremonies offer a great opportunity for subjects as well as national leaders, tourists and other guests to learn from the wise counsel of chiefs about tradition and heritage. Knowledge about tradition and culture is important particularly for children and youths who, as a result of such ceremonies are able to assimilate the norms, values and cultural practices of the ancestors.

It is against this background that the Nkoya people of Kazungula District in Southern Province held their Kazanga Makonda traditional ceremony from September 25 to 26, 2010 at Chief Moomba's palace located after Mulobezi. The significance of the Kazanga Makonda ceremony is to thank God for His guidance, provision and protection. The ceremony is an occasion when Nkoya people come together to cerebrate the harvest through feasting and cultural dancing as well as, to pray for God's blessings during the impending farming season. During the ceremony, various traditional dances are performed while, the chief drinks a traditional beverage called Kazanga made out of sorghum.

Notable Government and traditional leaders who attended this year's ceremony included Southern Province Minister Elijah Muchima, Southern Province Permanent Secretary Gladys Kristafor, Kazungula District Commissioner Albert Chifita as well as, Chiefs Mukuni and Sekute of Kazungula District among many others.

While many people may not be aware of the Kazanga Makonda traditional ceremony, the organisers say the ceremony had been cerebrated hundreds of years ago but the publicity about the event only started around the 1990s.

Elvis Malumo, Chief Moomba's secretary, said the Kazanga Makonda traditional ceremony started as far back as 1417. "This is an old traditional ceremony which has been cerebrated by our forefathers but unfortunately its publicity only started around the 1990s. We used to hold it without Government involvement until in the 1990s when it was publicised and Government started supporting us," Mr Malumo said. He said the 2010 ceremony was the 18th since the 1990s. "That is why when you look at old women and men, they know how to dance and sing well because they have been associated with this ceremony for a long time," he said. According to Mr Malumo, the ceremony was also meant to thank the chief for his brave character. "To be a Nkoya Chief, you must be a brave man who is able to kill a lion, elephant and a leopard. Our chief killed all these animals before. We thank the chief for his bravery hence the songs and dances highly praise the Chief," he said.

The ceremony is not only for the Nkoya peopbe but other tribes are also welcome to witness and participate. Reverend Voster Nalishiwa, who is chairperson of the Kazanga Makonda Nkoya Cultural Services, says the ceremony was meant to appreciate ancestors and thank God for the good harvest. "We celebrate the bumper harvest which assures us that hunger is no longer going to occur in our land. We appreciate and cerebrate in remembrance of other great people who worked hard to sustain tradition to date," Reverend Nalishiwa said.

In 2010, the Nkoya people produced plenty of maize and other crops such as sorghum as well as millet. "We are asking the Government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to introduce more satellite depots so that more maize could be bought in the area. FRA is buying maize in the area but we need more satellite depots," he said.

In 2011, Reverend Nalishiwa said the people would exhibit their agricultural produce such as maize, sorghum, millet and honey among others at the ceremony to showcase the area's potential.

Reverend Nalishiwa said the 2010 event recorded an improvement compared to the 2009 ceremony especially in terms of attendance. "We had many people attending this year's ceremony compared to the people who came last year. This year's ceremony also emphasised unity. The ceremony also had stakeholders coming on board to sponsor the event and these include Zambia Sugar and National Milling Company. "We would like to thank these companies for supporting us and we urge other companies to emulate this gesture as we develop the ceremony," he said.

Reverend Nalishiwa also said the area had plenty of land saying local people wanted investors to set up their operations to create jobs in the area. He said the land was very fertile in that the people did not need to apply fertiliser to their crops.

On the challenges, Reverend Nalishiwa said the road from Mulobezi to Chief Moomba's area was very poor. "This road should be gravelled for easy transportation of food and other produce to the rail station in Mulobezi," he said. During the next ceremony in 2011, the organisers would like President Rupiah Banda to be the guest of honour. "We appreciate the gracing of the event by Mr Muchima but we would like the head of State to officiate at next year's event. We want the local people here to see President Banda and they really want to see him one day," Reverend Nalishiwa said.

And speaking when he officially opened the ceremony, Mr Muchima urged both commercial and peasant farmers to store enough food to feed their families and for sale to the FRA for national security. "In the same vein, let me caution our farmers here in Kazungula not to entertain briefcase business men and women from Lusaka and other urban areas who are offering prices far below the Government recommended prices. These people have no interest in the food security of our nation and may in fact sell the same product to neighbouring countries at inflated prices," he said.

The minister said the Government of President Banda was a caring one in that no corner of Zambia was being neglected in terms of development projects. He said Kazungula district was one of the international entries to Zambia that is why Government had priotised the construction of the bridge at Kazungula border on the Zambezi River. The bridge would link Botswana as well as Namibia to Zambia and it would also accommodate a rail line bridge which would link the Mulobezi railway line saying the construction of the infrastructure would start next year. Apart from the usual construction and rehabilitation of schools, Government has included the construction of a high school in Kazungula District.

Mr Muchima said work was progressing well at Kazungula boarding school which was expected to open in January 2011. He said the bumper harvest which had been recorded in Zambia this year was because of Government's good policies and expressed hope that the country would record another bumper harvest next year.

Mr Muchima also said the practice of sexual cleansing should be discouraged because it was a negative cultural practice that had contributed to HIV/AIDS infections.

On the national census exercise which commences this month, Mr Muchima urged people of Southern Province to co operate with the census officials saying the programme was aimed at helping plan successfully developmental programmes.

And Chief Moomba, who hosted the ceremony, urged national leaders to jealously guard the peace which the country has enjoyed since independence.

Chief Moomba, who spoke in Nkoya through an interpreter, challenged leaders to promote peace and prayed to God that there should be no war in Zambia. He also asked Government that the current Government should govern the country in a peaceful way so that the citizens continue enjoying peace. "We should consider every person as a person and all Zambians should always enjoy peace," Chief Moomba said.

Tracing the origins of Ukusefya Pang'wena

2010-11-18T00:47:00.001Z

An interesting piece on this year's Ukusefya Pang'wena :

Tracing the Origins of Ukusefya Pang'wena, Catherine Nyirenda, The Times, Commentary :

Hundreds of Bemba traditionalists, tourists and many Zambians from other parts of the country were in Kasama recently to witness this year's traditional ceremony - Ukusefya Pang'wena - of the Bembas.

Like last year, the 40-kilometre journey from Kasama to Mungwi, the venue of the ceremony, was not any smoother this year. Adventurers once again had to endure the dusty and bumpy gravel to witness their paramount chief perform the once in a year event. The ceremony, which takes places in August had to be postponed to September following Chief Chitimukulu's ill- health and subsequent hospitalisation.

It is meant to commemorate the Bemba people's migration from Kola and the Luba-Lunda Kindgom in DRC) to their present Ulubemba in Northern Province. The ceremony is characterised by songs and dances in praise of the chief who brought them this far, with both women and men performing their distinctive Bemba dances.

It starts a day before the actual performance with the paramount chief and other chiefs of the province paying homage to ancestral shrines. Once at the shrines, Chief Chitimukulu in the company of other Bemba chiefs pray to the spirits of ancestors for protection, peace and good rains which ensure a good yield.

In all, there are 37 shrines in the whole of Ulubemba created by previous Bemba chiefs long dead. The shrines are where the dead chiefs had their houses and the place where embalming of a dead chief was done, according to the Bemba Royal Establishment (BRE) national chairperson, Bwalya Chiti.

Paying homage to ancestral spirits is an important aspect of the Bemba tradition. It is actually believed that the practice is responsible for the peace and good rains the province is enjoying, resulting in sufficient food for the people. This belief is supported by the fact that there used to be widespread hunger and droughts in the Bembaland, which are no longer experienced right from the time that traditionalists started paying homage to the spirits of their ancestors.

On the second and final day of the ceremony, Chief Mporokoso is the first on the line-up of events and pays tribute to the paramount chief in appreciation of his chieftaincy. He danced and sang Bemba traditional songs before presenting his token of appreciation to the paramount chief who attentively followed proceedings and visibly looked impressed.

Different women groups then followed in wriggling their waists in front of Chief Chitimukulu who, a little while later, retired into his makeshift palace usually mounted on the sight in Mungwi for purposes of the ceremony.

There he sat to wait for the guest of honour - President Banda. Most men, women and children were noticeably clad in Chitenge materials of all sorts. This, to some people, meant a deliberate attempt to dilute the meaning of the ceremony but wait a minute! It is all out of a strong sense of belonging that engulfs the area during the period of the ceremony.

The Bemba-speaking people are among tribes in Zambia with a rich traditional culture some tribes have loved to emulate. Once at the main arena, the best traditional cousins Zambia has ever known were at it again, giving chance to Ngonis who travelled all the way from the Eastern Province to join in celebrations and even performed a song which teased the Bembas.

In other nations, there would have been continued rivalry between the two tribes considering that they twice fought centuries ago and each registered a loss and a win in the battles. For the two tribes, however, their wars of centuries ago are the firm foundation on which their admirable traditional cousinship is built. They are always quick to embrace one another whenever and wherever they meet.

The peak of the ceremony was premiered by a play portraying the journey of the Bemba people from Ubuluba (Lubaland) across Luapula River to Isandulula. The play, performed by a group of traditionalists from Mutale Mukulu Village in Mungwi District opens with Katongo , Mukulumpe's eldest son enticing villagers during a drinking spree that they need to fortify their village in order to thwart enemies' attacks.

This fortification was a failure and killed a lot of people. The move angered Mukulumpe, a fierce ruler who ordered that Katongo's eyes be plucked out as punishment for his miscalculation action. Mukulumpe as a way of exerting his authority and instilling fear in his irate sons also tried to kill his two other sons Chiti and Nkole but failed because their blind brother Katongo warned them using a small drum called Umondo or talking drum.

Nkole and his younger brother Chiti fled from their father, taking with them their sister Chilufya Mulenga and trekked for many years from the Luba Kingdom to save their lives from the wrath of their father. Along the way, their only sister was made pregnant by Kapasa of the Bulombwa area and gave birth to a son who was named after her mother.

Upon the death of Chiti Muluba and Nkole after an encounter and eventual fight with Mwase, a Ngoni chief, Chilufya Mulenga's son succeeded both his uncles and named himself Chiti Mukulu Chilufya Cha Mata Yabili. It was Chiti Mukulu Chilufya who established Ng'wena Villiage at the confluence of Kalungu wa Lubemba and Milando rivers.

The decision to settle at the site was arrived at after two of the chief's counsellors, Kayayi and Kabwe found a dead crocodile on the banks of the river and believed that it was a message from ancestors that the Bembas should not keep wandering about. Katongo, Nkole, Chiti and Chilufya Mulenga's mother Mumbi 'Lyulu' Mukasa were all of the crocodile totem. This, therefore, means the Bembas are from the Crocodile clan and the finding of the dead crocodile was strongly believed as a message from their ancestors.

After the reign of Chitimukulu Chilufya Cha Mata Yabili, 43 chiefs have so far ruled the Bemba people with the incumbent Chitimukulu Chilufya Muluba III being the 44th. President Rupiah Banda, who graced the ceremony was glad to see the chief in good health and restated the importance of preserving cultural values for the sake of future generations.

The president , who paid tribute to the chief, was also taken round to see the hut which Bana Chimbusa (female counsellors) use to initiate women who are about to get married. Mr Banda later made a speech in which he pledged Government's support towards all traditional ceremonies in the country before presenting the chief with a gift.

But Chief Chitimukulu was disappointed at the failure by other chiefs to attend the ceremony despite invitations being sent through the House of Chiefs. Until next August

A new Kapijimpanga

2010-11-17T00:41:00.000Z

Kilolo Ng’ambi was recently installed as Chief Kapijimpanga of the Kaonde people of Solwezi. The installation continues the trend of having more educated chief. Chief Kapijimpanga is only 32 years and medical doctor. He was "selected" from among six families that were claiming the chieftainship. More detail via The Post.

Enforcing rule of law ? 5th Edition

2010-11-16T14:41:00.000Z

Chief Chanje (Chewa, Chipata) recently intervened to prevent a certain police officer from allegedly attempting to protect a suspect who is alleged to have defiled a 14-year-old epileptic child while she was having a seizure:

“I was saddened with what happened, but it’s good that I reported to the deputy permanent secretary (Nicholas Banda) and he intervened...You know, doctors signed the medical report and all the evidence was clear but I don’t know what happened and someone wanted the suspect to be released because of certain things. I will not allow such things in my area...

“What happened is that when the suspect was apprehended, he admitted and everything was done but if we are police officers or any government officer or any other officer, we should avoid corrupt activities. If these government officers are sent to my area we should work together so that we protect our people. I have the powers to report to government that such and such an officer you have brought to my area has no justice..”

The case once again demonstrates how a more supported cadre of chiefs can make a genuine difference to some of the most pressing issues in remote areas.

Are women losing out in customary marriages?

2010-11-06T00:46:00.001Z

Gesthsemane Mwizabi on the complexities of customary marriages :

Are Women Losing Out in Customary Marriages?, Gethsemane Mwizabi, Times of Zambia, Commentary :

Mrs Mutinta Hantobolo was married to a wealthy polygamous man in Mazabuka. Her husband had several heads of cattle, goats, sheep and a huge agricultural land.

Being the youngest of the three wives, Mutinta was the favourite of Mr Hantobolo; with whom she bore six children.

However, when Mr Hantobolo passed on few years later, Mutinta did not inherit anything from his estate.His relatives took over and grabbed the property.

In the name of custom, their plans were also to inherit her, but her brother from Kitwe forcefully pulled her out of the troubled situation.

After withdrawing her from her late husband's relatives, he helped her to start life all over again in Kitwe.

He bought a little shop and gave her capital to start business so she could support her five children, who did not inherit anything from their late father's estate.

She has managed to educate her children, three of whom are now married.

What happened to the other two widows still remains unknown.

Mrs Hantobolo's story is a common challenge for several Zambian women married under the customary law.

These are women who are often times victims of all manner of abuse, done in the name of so called "sacred" tradition and customs. Despite the shifts in times, hardcore traditionalists still insist on the need to preserve customs and tradition in all aspects of Zambian life.

Due to increased Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Zambia, there has been a lot of debate surrounding marriages, inheritance and divorce settlements.

In an event of a divorce or death, women, especially those married under customary laws, women often lose out when it comes to divorce settlements and inheritance. This happens irrespective of whether they had contributed to the acquisition of property in a home or not. Zambia has a dual legal system, and although statutory law takes precedence over customary law the reality is that many people live in rural and traditional settings and has given customary law dominance in large parts of the country.

The subordination of women and the indulgence of men has been a feature of marriage under customary law, which stipulates that marriage is a union of a man who may or may not already be married and a woman who must be unmarried at the time of entering into matrimony.

In the event of a divorce, most tribes do not recognise a woman's right to a share of marital property - she gets whatever her ex-husband or his family decides she can have.

Local courts have to be guided by the traditions and customs of Zambia's seven main tribes, but because the practices and procedures remain unwritten and subjective, local court justices often use their own discretion when deciding on such cases.

Situation in town

The situation is exacerbated in towns, where local court justices have had to deal with several customs or tribes simultaneously.

The couple does not sign any legal document to prove that they are married to show the contract is mutually conceded.

It is precisely for this reason that men prefer customary unions, because the legal bindings are somehow loose.

However, the Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC) is in the process of working on legislation to regulate marriages contracted under customary law.

The commission, empowered among other things to revise and reform the law, codify unwritten laws, review and consider for law reform to the commission by the minister of Justice or members of the public.

Last year, the commission in its quest to regulate Customary Law Marriages, undertook a research country-wide.

On Registration of Marriage, it was established that it is not a customary requirement among the ethnic groups in Zambia to register marriages.

However, it was found out that many couples married under customary law do obtain marriage certificates from local courts as proof of marriage to their employers and for various other reasons.

When it comes to maintenance after dissolution of a marriage, the research established that there is no concept of post marriage maintenance of a divorced spouse among ethnic groups in Zambia.

Most respondents from chiefdoms submitted that maintenance of a divorced spouse should not be provided for in the proposed legislation, in line with their customs and traditions.

On property settlement, the research established that, upon divorce in a customary marriage, most ethnic groups do not recognise the sharing of matrimonial property equitably between the man and the wife. Unlike in a statutory marriage, the matrimonial property is perceived as belonging to the man. The former wife may be given her personal effects and kitchen utensils alone.

The ZLDC believes that women who marry under customary law should have a right to inherit property, receive support in form of maintenance and to be compensated if ever they get divorced or their spouses die.

ZLDC director Annette Nhekairo says current efforts to develop a piece of legislation to regulate marriages contracted under customary law were receiving positive response from stakeholders.

"The commission has adopted a consultative and participatory approach in the process, hence we undertook desk and field research in selected districts of all the nine provinces of Zambia," she says.

Government, through the Ministry of Justice, had tasked ZLDC to lead the process of developing legislation to regulate marriages contracted under customary law.

Many believe customary laws regarding women's ownership to resources need to be revisited to protect vulnerable women who are disadvantaged by some cruel traditions and customs.

"This can only be accomplished by working hand in hand with traditional leaders who are the custodians of our tradition and culture," says Women for Change Programmes Officer-Community Salome Nakazwe

Ms Nakazwe says a lot of abuse exists under customary laws since women do not have space. The practice of bride price has not helped ease this scenario.

There is no doubt that marriages under customary law are common in rural areas because cultural teachings are more entrenched there and people look to the traditional teachings to define their lives.

At the same time, rural areas especially villages do not have access to offices, which would provide this service. They rely on traditional structures.

However people still prefer to marry under customary laws because they acknowledge the important role culture plays in their lives.

"To think that abuse comes about because of tradition is a fallacy. It has to do more with human relations. If the systems binding that relation are weak it leaves a lot of room for abuse," she says.

This sad state of affairs has even spread to rural communities where women, who still believe they cannot own land, are left to be vulnerable after the death of their spouse or after being divorced.

There is now an increasing number of female headed house-holds in Zambia living under extreme poverty simply because they do not have land where they can grow their own food.

They have been forced to live off their brothers or male relatives' land after being chased from their deceased or divorced husband's home.

As in Mrs Hantobolo's case customary marriage presuppose that women do nothing in terms of contributing to the wealth of the family. It is for this reason that many women lose out in an event of a divorce.

The Intestate Succession Act (1996 amendment) provides that a widow should receive 20 percent of her deceased husband's estate, and that it is illegal to evict a surviving spouse from a matrimonial home.

Under the customary laws widely used in rural areas, however, the right to inherit property usually rests with the deceased man's family. In-laws sometimes threaten to punish widows who insist on keeping the property.

The Gender Analysis of 2008 Zambia Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) progress report, showed that extreme poverty was more prevalent among female-headed households than among male-headed households.

There is need for a strategy to address special circumstances of female-headed households that are particularly vulnerable to extreme poverty.

Former director of the Copperbelt Museum Stanford Siachoongo says people marry twice in Zambia.

He says even those marrying under statutory marriage, still follow existing customs and traditions like paying of a bride price and other ceremonies.

Despite going for a modern marriage system, some couples consolidate their union by getting married according to the teachings of tradition.

"When the colonisers came to Africa, they found people already marrying according to their traditions and customs. They introduced their statutes on the local people, and most of which were in conflict with the local traditions," he says.

Mr Siachoongo, a law graduate from Zambia Open University advises upcoming couples to marry under the Statutory Marriage system, saying unlike in a customary marriage, there was social security in an event of death or divorce.

Further, customary marriages are potentially polygamous, as a man is free to marry as many wives as he wishes.

Paradoxically, under statutory marriage, polygamy is illegal. As a matter of fact, one can be charged for bigamy, should it be proved that he has a second wife.

Some prefer to marry under customary law because of the loose arrangement of the union.

Chief among them, it is easy to get into it and it is also easy to get out of the marriage as opposed to the statute Act governing the marriage.

Some still want to abide by the traditions as a way of preserving them.

Because customary marriages are founded on customs and traditions, some traditions are detrimental to women.

Although the Marriage Act recognises equality in property division and inheritance, and establishes a legal age for marriage, and the Penal Code makes sex with a girl under 16 an offence, these provisions rarely apply in customary law.

Under traditional law, marriage can take place at puberty, and it is common for girls to be married or have sexual relations under the age of 16.

For example, if a husband dies in some local tradition, a wife can be inherited and sexually cleansed by a relative to a late husband.

Further, in the customary marriages a woman can be divorced on flimsy grounds, like lack of hygiene or if she struggles with cooking at home.

In a statutory marriage however, the reasons for divorce have to be proved.

When marrying, under statute, it is a 50/50 affair. In the event of death or divorce, there is a just and equal share of the family estate.

"I would encourage those who are intending to marry now, to marry under statute. There is a lot of security in terms of divorce settlements and inheritance," says Mr Siachoongo.

Women are subject to Gender Based Violence more in customary marriages as they have little say when it comes to decision making..

It is for this reason some people are getting off the hook with issues of defilement, as they resort to customary law as an escape route from justice.

For example, if a man defiles a minor, he would negotiate with her parents to marry her so he could escape justice.

Once Lobola (bride price) has been paid, the bride essentially becomes the property of the man and his family, and would be entitled to little or nothing if the marriage breaks down.

Under statutory marriage however, early marriages are illegal, which is why terms like defilement and having sex with a minor are major offences.

The legal age for marriage under statute is 18 for females and 21 for males. Under customary marriages, age is not a factor. It is for these reasons, that girls especially in rural areas and poor communities around the country, have been denied the opportunity to grow and be educated as they are forced to enter marriage.

Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) says a lot needs to be done when it comes to implementation of the law even under statutory marriage.

"We have these laws but people have continued to live according to traditions. That's where the challenge is. I have never heard anyone being charged for bigamy.

Men have not stopped having extra-marital affairs even when they are married under statutory law," says WLSA co-coordinator Matrine Chulu.

Indeed it is one thing to have laws and it is another thing to implement them.

She argues despite laws governing marriage, there was still rampant property grabbing in the country.

True, all marriage settings could be potentially abusive.

"In as much as we are working to legislate customary marriages, we need to work on issues of implementation," she says.

Regulating human behavior remains a daunting task and is largely a matter of personal responsibility, as humans are creatures of free will, to choose between right and wrong. Laws can only go so far in regulating how people live.

Perception of marriage

As longs as some people's mindset were flawed regarding their perception of marriage, it would still be business as usual. Lots of people would continue to hide in the name of traditions and customs to advance their barbaric acts.

Ultimately, there is a huge contradiction with laws governing Zambian marriages.

A lot needs to be done to protect and secure the life of women in an event of a divorce or death of a spouse.

While, traditions and customs project the country's identity to the outside world, some values and customs belong to the dark ages. There is need to review stiff cultural norms which seem to subject women to second-class status.

It is said, if customary law takes precedence, the worst victims are women and girls, stemming from the social and cultural factors, which degrade their status.

On uniform fuel prices..

2010-11-05T00:37:00.010Z

“You see we are very excited with the turn of events regarding fuel prices in rural areas because this trend has been very unfair in light of the fact that most people in rural areas are vulnerable and this burden was worsened with the high cost of fuel. So the move to reduce fuel prices is a wise decision and President Banda has really shown that he cares about people in rural areas. In fact, the President has shamed the prophets of doom because the man means well for this country,”

House of Chiefs chairperson Chief Madzimawe praising the recent inititive by government to reduce the prices of fuel in rural areas at the expense of higher prices in urban areas. The government move is better intepreted as an attempt to reinforce its "rural vote", given there's little mileage in appeasing pro-opposition urban dwellers. The extent to which it actually helps villagers is subject to debate, but it does allow pro-MMD chiefs to point to the development as demonstrating a "listening government" as demonstrated by Chief Madzimawe.

Land disputes (Nkoyas)

2010-11-04T00:30:00.012Z

The Nkoya pleads for help in another land dispute :

The Nkoya Royal Establishment has appealed to President Rupiah Banda to help resolve conflicts between the former Barotse Representative in Kabompo and the Nkoya Chiefs Kangombe and Mutinginyi. Nkoya Royal Establishment representative Bulaya Kangombe says Kabompo District is a land for the Nkoyas under Senior Chief Kangombe .

Speaking to ZNBC news in Lusaka Wednesday, Mr. kangombe alleged that the Nkoya Chiefs have remained suppressed and without authority in their own land. Mr Kangombe said the Baroste colonial rule in Kabompo was imposed on the people by the Barotse Paramount Chief against the wishes of the people. He said the President must resolve the conflict for the sake of peace and development.

The Makishi and Mize

2010-11-03T00:21:00.001Z

A piece from The Post on the recently held Makishi and Mize of the Luvale people :

The Makishi and Mize - the pinnacle of Luvale culture, David Chongo, The Post, Commentary :

When Lunda princess, Luweeji fell for the charm of adventurer hunter Tshibinda Ilunga from the Luba establishment, about the 1600s, she had no idea her romantic escapades would result in dynastic discontent that would drive two of her brothers away in fits of rage.

Eventually, Chinguli cha Konde and Chinyama cha Mukwamai would settle in Namibia and Angola respectively.

Why?

She is living with the enemy!

Centuries later though, its Luweeji's promiscuity, as folklored in a Luvale song, that preserves one hallmark of the now non-existent empire.

Welcome to Likumbi lya Mize, which means day of the Mize; Mize as the capital of Luvales at senior chief Ndungu’s palace-the Mbongi ya Makishi, or home of the Makishi.

Though it’s the main attraction during the Likumbi lya Mize, the Makishi parade is actually a public display of the end of the Mukanda ceremony.

Before that though, senior chief Ndungu makes a grand entry on a 3-wheel purple carriage known here as Kalikoki, accompanied by his Lisano, wife. His emergence into the arena is spiced with all the accessories of praise and worship from his subjects.

The Kalikoki, complete with a flag that bearing four knives, semi painted in red pointing into two rings in the centre, makes its way near the stands for a full lap of recognition, the cheering subjects create an animation that reverberates as far as the river bank on the east.

The scene is lighted. The Mize has come alive!

After Chieftainess Nyakatolo, the queen mother of all Luvale chiefs hailing from Kazombo in Angola is comfortably royally received there is no doubt it’s the Makishi appearance that many have travelled for that remains and many wait with baited breath for the pinnacle of Luvale culture. But who are Makishi? But let’s go back three days before.

On a Wednesday, the Makishi traditionally emerge from the graveyard across town on the east of the Zambezi River in what is known as Kuvumbuka (literally sprouting out of the ground.

And why the grave?

“They are representatives of supernatural beings that act as the link between the living and the ancestral sprits. You cannot have Makishi masquerades without Mukanda,” says Edward Chivunda Kamboyi, national executive secretary of the Likumbi lya Mize cultural association.

This emergence is a culmination of the Mukanda ceremony during which the boys between the ages 8-12 are secluded from public life at a traditional school and taught various attributes of male adulthood and later are circumcised. Back at Mize there is rising commotion from the main entry. It’s the main attraction of the day itself!

The Makishi are on their promenade toward the main arena. And leading the procession with an imposingly large arch-like shield of systematic red and white square box designs on a black backdrop is Kayibu, chief or king of Makishi. In tandem is Kapalu, the son, spokesman assistant to Kayibu. Adorned in knitted feathered headdress, Kapalu and his fellow Katotola thrive as they impose their presence. People scamper out of sight because Kapalu has to make sure the king of the Makishi make a dignified entry.

This is a moment to savor; but ultimately, a moment of cultural definitive climax. But what defines the Makishi?

It’s their character and role in the community. As representatives of ancestors, their roles are suited to societal wellbeing and survival of the Luvale people.

They are closely related to the Mukanda traditional school because some of the boys trained there would eventually assume leadership roles in the community. There is no Thomas-ing, the Makishi are a phenomenon. When viewed as a whole cast, they can be very intimidating and most definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Maybe that’s the way they are supposed to be viewed. They take on forms of different animal and human figures because as Kamboyi explains, in Luvale culture, all forms of life are respected and can be a source of support to the rest of the community: “A village cannot be complete without insects, animals.

It means in society we live with all sorts of things”. It’s the Lion King’s philosophy of ‘the circle of life’.

Take for instance, Kawuyawuya, the butterfly. His form and appearance is pinpoint that of a butterfly but stakes his claim to the circle. Then there is Utenu, the one character endowed with the unenviable art of cruelty. He punishes like a correctional officer; he maintains discipline in the village.

Ndondo portrays a boy who is mischievously notorious with women. And then you also have Likishi lya mwana pwevo, a teenage girl.

Kalelwa is a leader, teacher and protective spirit for Tundanji, the boy initiates from Mukanda. He is aggressive and chases women but interestingly assists them to prepare alcohol for Mukanda. Chikuza, with a curving conical apparatus that forms part of the headdress, teaches and is associated with fertility and success in hunting. Mupala is father of the Makishi and captain of the Mukanda.

But save the best for last: Lindeho! This one moves with fire inside his head kit from which smoke can be seen billowing and thus used to scare children with punishment of fire if they misbehave. The list goes on with Lindumbi lya mwana nyawino, Chikishikishi, Sakashivi but also Kambulo.

The rearguard of moral direction is Chizaluke. He is the elder, the wise man through whom wisdom is generated and he passes it on.

For its magnificent cultural presence and artistry, the Makishi masquerades and Mukanda were in 2005 conferred with a diploma by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage thus safeguarding the two practices.

Chiefs vs. Donors?

2010-11-02T00:11:00.001Z

"These people should stop interfering in our local affairs. This is not their country. Even Britain is no longer our colonial master, so why should it continue interfering in our issues?"

- Chief Mwanachingwala

"We may be poor as a country but we are a sovereign State and therefore deserve respect from other countries including Britain"

- Chief Nzamane

The pro-MMD chiefs calling the foreign dignitaries in Zambia to refrain from "political commentary". These two chiefs are likely to prove very prominent as the country moves towards the elections. More detail via The Times.

Land disputes (Lunda-Luvale)

2010-11-01T00:05:00.002Z

Chief Ndungu recently accused the government of contributing to the conflict between the Luvale and Lunda people of the district by "deliberately remaining quiet on the status of Zambezi Boma, whether it is customary or state land". The chief believes the government’s silence on the status of Zambezi Boma is deliberately designed to "allow chief Ishindi to continue controlling and authorising activities in the township which was declared state land in 1907".

The Barotse Question (Guest Blog)

2010-10-31T21:03:00.000Z

The recent demand by the Barotse Freedom Movement (BFM) and the Movement for the Restoration of the Barotse Agreement (MOREBA) for the secession of Weste rn Province from Zambia is a thorny and complex issue. But like all other serious national issues facing us, we need to summon our wisdom in find ing a lasting and peaceful solution to it. In this article, I wish to make a few observa tions about the issue.

We Are One People!
Although the majority of Zambian citi zens to day can identify themselves as belong ing to one or two of our country’s seventy-three (73) tribes, we are all essentially one and the same people. In short, we are all members of the Zambian family. And recogni tion of our oneness has, no doubt, been the linchpin of the enhanced and unmat ched national unity which our coun try has enjoyed since inde pen dence. I, therefore, do not suppor t my cousins in the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE), BFM and MOREBA who wish to secede from the Zambian nation.

An Era of Integration
Integration of sovereign states has been one of the leading aspirations of socio-economic policy over the last sixty or so years, so much so that we can appro priately describe our era as an era of integ ration. There are numerous motivations for such integration, inclu ding the need to create larger financial and goods markets, and the need to assume greater bargaining power in interna tional affairs. In general, societal members worldwide have become true beli evers in the concepts of “strength in numbers” and “in unity, there is greater strength.” Secession in an era of integration is, therefore, counter produc tive at best!

Commission of Inquiry
Nevertheless, it would be fool hardy for us not to lend a receptive ear to the demand by the BRE, BFM and MOREBA for Western province’s autonomy. There is, therefore, a need for President Rupiah Banda to cons titute a “Baro tse Commission of Inquiry,” whose terms of reference should be to conduct an intensive study of the issues involved, the general feelings of the Lozi people about the agitation for secession from Zambia, the general feelings of the Mbunda and Mankoya people about the secession issue, and, among other things, the options for resol ving the issues surrou nding the 1964 Barot seland Agreement.

Meanwhile, it is important for government leaders to refrain from making statements which have the potential to fuel secessionist sentiments during election campaigns. Among other things, they should recognize citizens’ right to vote for candidates of their choice without being threatened that their communities will be excluded from the development process if they do not vote for candidates fielded by the ruling political party.

Moreover, there is a need to make room for genuine and full participation of the various segments of society in making decisions concerning political and development matters that are of national importance, and serious consideration of ethnic interests in the distribution of power, educational facilities, health services, infrastructure, and so forth.

Henry Kyambalesa
(Guest Blogger)

Ukusefya Pangwena

2010-09-30T00:25:00.013+01:00

The Bemba people recently celebrated Ukusefya Pangwena, which re-enacts the journey from the Luba-Lunda Kingdom into Bembaland. The photo above depicts Chitimukulu being carried on a hammock by a group of men at the ceremony.

And another thing...

2010-09-29T00:30:00.013+01:00

Gawa Undi at the Kulamba ceremony registered his disappointment with the short period given to the public to comment on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) draft constitution : "on the political front, we wish to register our disappointment over the few days allocated to the public to submit on the draft constitution. We feel that the period was too short for many people to make submissions..More time, say 90 days could have been allocated to the process so that more people participate". More detail via The Post.

Kulamba Ceremony 2010 (Photos)

2010-09-28T00:09:00.046+01:00

A collection of photos from the recent Kulumba Ceremony (Source : fotoaccount blog). The Undi is in white :

Cleansing customs, 2nd Edition

2010-09-27T00:04:00.012+01:00

Chief Madzimawe recently announced that traditional practices that "expose women to the risk of contracting the HIV/AIDS pandemic" have been banned in his chiefdom. Among the banned practices includes sexual cleansing which is believed by many to contribute towards the spread of the pandemic. Traditional healers are also being discouraged from advising their patients to defile children as a means of curing HIV - a very common practice in some of the remote parts of our country.

Banda vs Donors

2010-09-26T00:47:00.035+01:00

Politicians must consider the poverty levels Zambians are experiencing before they can attack donors in a manner which is embarrassing and dehumanising, Africa has a problem of high levels of poverty and we need donors to help us, we have not yet reached their level of economic development....

....these people need to address the problems they think they have with donors. It is not good because we need their money; we have always told the President that we are ready to work with him but how do we work with him if finances for development are not there? How do we work with him if people with funds and other resources are being chased? Government and politicians need to change their mindset towards donors.

Chief Hanjalika (Tonga, Mazabuka) questioning President Banda's approach towards donors. The chief believes the Banda government to be both confusing and unreasonable. In his view rural areas in Zambia were "the worst hit with poverty and under-development", a negative attitude towards donors "and pretending that things were well was a serious misconception" which needs "urgent change"

A presidential gift for Undi

2010-09-25T00:38:00.020+01:00

President Rupiah Banda going to present gifts to paramount Chief Gawa Undi during the Kulamba traditional ceremony last month (Source : The Post).

Early marriages, 11th Edition

2010-09-24T00:20:00.001+01:00

Chief Kasoma Lwela (Ushi , Mansa) has started dissolving child marriages in his chiefdom and called for strengthening of legislation on child-related affairs. The chief is among the more progressive wing of the traditional establishment who have now come to recognise that under-age marriages are counter-productive to the development of the country :

"I have decided to dissolve all marriages involving under-age girls in my chiefdom and so far I have dissolved eight this year....Parents who promote or even encourage teenage marriages upon conviction can be taken to Umulima Chipuba (the chief's communal field) for severe punishment or expel them from my chiefdom..."

The Chief would like to see Government do more to strengthen laws on child protection. More detail via The Times of Zambia.

Mwanawasa two years on..

2010-09-23T00:12:00.029+01:00

We are today commemorating the second anniversary of the death of our beloved late president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa who died two years ago. There is a lot we should learn especially those in authority our political leaders... They must look at how Mwanawasa managed to uphold the rule of law, how he detested corruption and corrupt elements and how he fought hard to ensure that economic developments were achieved today, it was because of the strong foundation he laid.

Mwanawasa was a gallant fighter of corruption. He was the kind of person who had few words for corruption and corrupt elements and hated corruption, no wonder that man’s legacy is still talked about today by so many people.

Even those who criticised him and did not agree with him today are talking about him. This is a challenge to those in power because they need to look at the issues people are talking about and why they are talking, but if they want to be stubborn by failing to listen to the outcry of the people, then they should expect difficult times in governance..

Chief Chikanta reflecting on Mwanawasa's legacy - two years since he passed away on August 19 in Paris after suffering a stroke during an African Union (AU) summit in Egypt. We have previously touched on similar issues - see Traditional Authorities & Levy's Legacy.

Chisunka on the PACT

2010-09-22T00:04:00.014+01:00

Chief Chisunka (Ushi , Samfya) was recently quoted suggesting that his subjects are worried about the ethnic and regional support bases among the Bemba and the Tonga that support the Patriotic Front (PF)-United Party for National Development (UPND) Pact because that has the "potential create civil strife". The chief believes that "it could not be argued that the UPND-PF pact was founded on tribal lines, and that the UPND and PF did not have capacity to unite the 72 tribes of Zambia".

The Politics of Chief Nalubamba, 14th Edition

2010-09-21T00:59:00.000+01:00

"Zambia needs very strong men in the judiciary to stand up against selective application of justice. Zambia needs very strong men to redeem the judiciary. The country’s judiciary needs redemption....If Mwanawasa was alive today he will be very sad that he was dealing with dishonest fellows in running this country. For my part, there is no way I can support Chiluba no matter what our judiciary says. I must save my dignity and integrity here."

Chief Nalubamba on the Chiluba judgement.

Traditional healers and HIV/AIDs

2010-09-20T00:38:00.001+01:00

An interesting piece in the Times of Zambia on the potential role of traditional healers in fighting medicine. The question of traditional healers has largely been neglected in national policy development due to the absence of an adequate indigenous knowledge policy framework.

Traditional healers and HIV/AIDS, Jessie Ngoma-Simengwa, Times of Zambia, Commentary :

The inclusion of traditional healers in the Copperbelt Province AIDS Task Force (PATF) signifies the important role they play in health care services. It is a big shift from the days when traditional healers were simply dismissed as ‘black magicians’ who could only be consulted in matters of witchcraft. They also carried an unfortunate tag of being called ignorant ,uncivilised people. Not any more.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has acknowledged the crucial role traditional healers play in many countries. The WHO illustrates in a report how countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America use traditional medicine to help meet some of their primary health care needs. It states that in Africa, 80 per cent of the population uses traditional medicine for primary health care.

In Uganda, for example, 67 per cent of the population resides in rural areas where modern health care services for HIV/ AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and malaria are scarce and far beyond their financial reach. The majority of the people are subsistence farmers earning less than $1 daily. Against such challenges, traditional medicine has given an alternative to millions of underprivileged individuals.

Traditional healers far outnumber biomedical workers in the rural areas. They are consulted, not only because they are closer and more affordable than their Western-trained counterparts, but also because they are embedded, extensively and firmly, within Ugandan culture.

Traditional healers are highly respected and widely consulted by communities. In spite of their low levels of education and training, the burden of providing care and support in rural areas has been left largely to traditional health practitioners.

A similar situation applies to Zambia where, according to a publication by the Zambia AIDS Law Research and Advocacy Network (ZARAN), 60 per cent of the country’ population are receiving some or all of their medical care from traditional practitioners. These include educated people living in urban areas where information on HIV/AIDS treatment is higher. Government, through the National AIDS council, has stepped up its efforts in HIV/AIDS intervention programmes and has sought to bring many players on board. Zambia is one of the sub-Saharan African countries worst affected by the pandemic, with a prevalence rate of about 14.3 per cent, according to the latest Ministry of Health estimates.

The 2008 Zambia Demographic Health Survey states that 16 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men of sexually active age are HIV positive, with young people aged between 15 and 24 accounting for 6.5 per cent of the HIV statistics.

The formation of AIDS task forces in all the provinces has helped in scaling up the fight against the disease. The composition of the task forces which is expected to represent all sectors has not left out traditional healers. Ndola District Traditional Healers Association chairperson, Milatu Mulenga says traditional healers can no longer be ignored in the provision of health care in the country. After recognising their influence, some organisations have gone a step further to build capacity in traditional healers.

It is now acknowledged that support and the provision of appropriate knowledge and skills to traditional healers is urgently required so that they can fully play their role in availing primary health care to their patients.

It is also worth noting that, like in the case of Uganda, which is renowned for its good HIV/AIDS interventions efforts, traditional healers, whom the communities consult for information and treatment, are well organised to deliver the most wanted health services.

Mr Milatu, who sits on the Copperbelt PATF committee representing traditional healers, said an organisation called Alliance Zambia engaged them in a programme to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the community as they had observed that most patients pass through traditional healers before they could seek treatment in hospitals.

Mr Milatu said he mobilised his fellow traditional healers and traditional birth attendants to attend the awareness talk on HIV/AIDS. Some organisations invited included the Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS (NZP+) and the Catholic Diocese of Ndola. They were educated on the proper use of razor blades and gloves when treating patients.

Traditional healers were advised not to prescribe traditional medicines to patients who were already on anti-retroviral treatment as that compromised their treatment. “We have become counselors, we encourage our patients to go for VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) and we advise them on what steps to take if they are found to be HIV-positive,” Mr Milatu said in an interview in Ndola.

Copperbelt Province medical officer, Chandwa Ng’ambi says HIV/AIDS is a problem that requires an urgent response. Dr Ng’ambi, who is the chairperson of the Copperbelt PATF, said HIV has affected the whole strata of society and has a significant impact on socio-economic development of Zambia. The response should, therefore, be more focused and sustained. Addressing PATF members in Ndola recently, Dr Ng’ambi said people should take ownership of HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. PATF is responsible for coordinating activities and providing recommendations to the relevant bodies and authorities.

As a study commissioned by the KwaZulu-Natal department of health in 2006 showed, traditional healers can play an important role in the prevention, care and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS, and Zambia is now alive to that fact.

Chiefs and Elections (Lungu Chiefs), 2nd Edition

2010-09-19T16:47:00.001+01:00

"This [construction of a hospital and a five-star hotel at Kasaba Bay] shows that the MMD government is working. I would like to assure President Rupiah Banda through you, madam First Lady, that we are ready to support his government in the 2011 general elections"..

Chief Tafuna reiterating his support for President Banda in a meeting with First Lady Thandiwe Banda who had "come to give financial support to women clubs here in Mpulungu". For her part Mrs Banda appreciated support for her husband from a chief who ascended to the throne in 1949 and remains one of the longest serving chiefs in Africa. Mpulungu has a small matter of a parliamentary by-election coming up, so the visit to the chief and "financial aid" is not unexpected.

Chiefs and Elections (Chizera), 3rd Edition

2010-08-26T00:54:00.002+01:00

In the same court, a witness said Chief Chizela intimidated more than 20 headmen in his chiefdom and asked them to vote for the MMD candidate after he gave them new suits and shirts. Luckson Ndonyo said the traditional leader was seen going round his chiefdom telling people to vote for Mr Muzungu and discouraging them from voting for Mr Kamondo, claiming he was not Zambian.

Another witness, Joseph Sembele said Chief Chizela chased him from the palace after being accused of voting for the UPND.

Evidence from the Mufumbwe by-election trial.

Captured in China?

2010-08-25T00:46:00.029+01:00

Chief Madzimawe, chairperson of the House of Chiefs on his mission to China. There has been a growing trend of chiefs landing in Beijing. Sometime it is quite embarrasing resulting in promises of free land - see When China met Zambia.

Recovering chiefs loans....

2010-08-24T00:39:00.019+01:00

"We made a decision as a Government to buy vehicles for our chiefs because we realise that they need to be mobile. Government is carefully analysing the issue before a decision can be made. We know that some of these cars have broken down and we are alive to the fact that their royal highnesses do not have salaries"

Local Government Deputy Minister Elijah Muchima explaining that Government was under pressure from some people to start recovering money from traditional rulers with regard to the car loans. The only problem is how to do it. It appears that the government has only just realised that chiefs do not really have collateral and do not have gainful employment. One would have thought they have sorted this out before they gave the money out.

New Chief Mununga

2010-08-23T00:36:00.011+01:00

The Government recently recognised Chief Mununga :

Government has recognized the election of senior chief Mununga of the Shile area of Chienge district in Luapula province.

President Rupiah Banda announced yesterday in Chienge that he has signed the recognition of senior chief Mununga, after the courts disposed of his case in which his election was disputed.
The President was in Chienge to officiate at the Bwilile ceremony of the Bwile people of senior chief Puta’s area.

Mr. Banda said government knows that chieftainship has become a source of conflict in the country because there are people who claim the chieftainship which is not theirs.

He said if government had been slow in recognizing senior chief Mununga it was due to consultation process involved so that it could not make a mistake in its final decision.

The President promised that government would also attend to other problems raised by senior chief Puta concerning chiefs in the due course.

He said to address these issues government was going to do things properly according to the system that is in place.

Earlier senior chief Puta appealed to President Banda to prevail so that government would restore and recognize the chieftainship of four traditional rulers in his area.

The senior chief said four of his subordinate chiefs lost their recognition in 1953 due to individual inabilities.

He named the affected chiefs as Kalembwe, Chikwame, Chipungu and Mwabu.

He said the recognition of the four chiefs is important to Chienge area as to will easy his burden discharging traditional responsibilities single handed involving a large area.

Regulating local markets, 7th Edition

2010-08-22T00:31:00.015+01:00

Samfya chiefs act to save local fisheries reserves :

Traditional rulers in Samfya have imposed a fine of K300,000 on fishermen who use small nets and mosquito nets to catch fish.

Senior Chief Mwewa announced the fish ban during a meeting with Zambia National Marketeers Association (ZANAMA) chairman-general Elvis Nkandu at his palace.

He said people who catch endangered fish species will be arrested and fined K300,000.
Chief Mwewa appealed to Mr Nkandu to sensitise his members on the punitive measurers to help enforce them.

Senior Chief Mwewa said it has also been decided that traders and villagers who buy small or endangered fish species will be arrested.

He said all the chiefs in the district met with Zambia Police Service officials and resolved not to wait for the council to pass a by-law, but use their powers because of the gravity of the matter.

To make the fish ban more effective, the sale of one-inch fishing nets in the district has been banned.

Senior Chief Mwewa said in an interview that chiefs and other stakeholders have been worried about the depletion of fish stocks as a result of illegal methods of fishing.

Mr Nkandu promised that ZANAMA members will be sensitised on the matter, and commended the traditional rulers for their conservation crusade.

Meanwhile, Senior Chief Mwewa has bemoaned the influx of illegal miners of manganese in his chiefdom.

Senior Chief Mwewa complained that some unscrupulous people obtained prospecting licences in Lusaka and went into mining without following procedure.

He said although his chiefdom is endowed with deposits of manganese, poverty levels are high.
Senior Chief Mwewa said a petition will soon be submitted to Government to ensure that the local people benefit from natural resources in the area.

He appealed to Government to construct a tarred road to link Luapula and Northern provinces through Luwingu.

Senior Chief Mwewa said villagers in Kasaba area are willing to erect a self-help bridge between Kasaba and Luwingu if Government helps them with culverts. He said a good road will bring development to the area

The Politics of Chief Chikanta, 2nd Edition

2010-08-21T00:26:00.012+01:00

"The pact will not work and its better for them to separate..If HH feels he cannot face the elections alone, its better to go into a pact with the MMD who will not cheat him the way Sata is doing.."

Chief Chikanta (Tonga, Kalomo) continues his latest push to the political centre this time suggesting that the UPND-PF pact has failed to work. He has advised the leaders of the two political parties to disband the alliance "in the interest of serving their members".

Mwata on mining...

2010-08-20T00:20:00.025+01:00

Mwata Kazembe recently expressed displeasure at the indiscriminate mining of manganese going on in the province. We have touched on this issue extensive over at Zambian Economist.

The Mwata appealed to government to counter-check the uncoordinated and rampant illegal mining in Luapula province. Mwata Kazembe said this during this year’s Umutomboko Traditional Ceremony for the Lunda people in Mwansabombwe yesterday.

He said a number of investors in the mining sector are going to the province with exploration licenses but instead end up carrying out full scale mining activities. He said the mining companies and individuals are flouting the exploration mining facility and government should look into the issue and intervene immediately.

The traditional ruler said there is need to devise a legal framework to regulate and formalise mining activities for the government and its people to reap from the mineral. The Mwata noted that as a result government was losing out on revenue because of the haphazard mining going on in the province as it does not collect any returns for the benefit of the people in the province and country as a whole. He said the people of Luapula want investors in the mining industry to invest in long term and large scale mining that could create employment for them.

The Mwata also observed that large scale mining could only take place in the province if the area was provided with adequate power supply for mining companies to set up processing plants.

He said once provided with adequate power supply the province can attract big companies to venture in mineral processing for value. “ There is need to improve power supply in the province in order to support creation of large scale mining in the province because at present the power supply is so low and it is affecting the improvement of infrastructure needed for value addition to the minerals being mined,” The Mwata said.

The traditional ruler, therefore, called on government to utilize water falls, such as the Kabwelume, to generate electricity as this will attract large scale mining companies to the province.

Cleansing the chiefdom, 2nd Edition

2010-08-19T00:16:00.019+01:00

Distressing developments in Chilubi. Five people have been killed in the last four months at the island over suspicions of witchcraft.The five-all men, have either been stoned or burnt to death in separate incidents. The local area MP allegedly confirmed the killings attributing it "to lack of police presence in the area". I have previously noted the poor rule of law that exists in our remote villages. The reach of the state is severely limited and this is a clear demonstration.

A law on customary marriages?

2010-08-18T00:11:00.015+01:00

The government is planning to take forward new legislation relation to marriages contracted under customary law to "address the shortcomings of judicial reliance on undefined customs which are unwritten". According to Deputy Justice Minister Chilembo the envisaged legislation would embrace customary marriages under a protective statutory framework that extends to related matrimonial causes. More detail via The Post.

Is customary law harmful?

2010-08-17T00:05:00.003+01:00

Yes. According to the Zambia Law Development Commission's Annette Nhekairo :

Ms Nhekairo said during the stakeholders consultative workshop in Lusaka on the review of the Intestate Succession Act, Chapter 59 that customary law usually regulated and allied relations while statutory law regulated other aspects of life. She said the competing values of these plural legal systems more often resulted in the denial of rights and ultimately access to justice was adversely affected.

She said in the past, there existed certain sound underlying assumptions for what now seems to be lack of protection for surviving spouses. Ms Nhekairo said by custom, it was the legal, responsibility of the customary successor to maintain the surviving widow and children out of the estate of the deceased. Ms Nhekairo said this obligation was discharged with all seriousness by customary successors but in this present individualist and modern age, the interests of the surviving spouses and children were more often subjugated to personal interests of the customary successors.

She said it was not uncommon to find widows who had been thrown out of their matrimonial homes upon the intestate death of a husband. "Roles that were historically played by the customary family in the lives of the surviving spouse and children, such as bearing all the funeral expenses for the deceased are in some communities now foisted on the surviving spouse and children. In the face of these realities, it became unconscionable to still insist on the pre-eminence of the customary family in matters of inheritance," she said.

On cleansing customs...

2010-08-09T00:06:00.000+01:00

A video of Chief Liteta (Chibombo) calling on his subjects to end the rampant cleansing among widows and widowers in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the chiefdom.

A flawed constitutional process...?

2010-08-08T00:42:00.013+01:00

Yes. According to Chief Ishindi the entire process has been against traditional leaders and important issues have not been addressed :

"The problem is that the NCC was looking at how many people were speaking and you know most chiefs are ignorant. Most issues chiefs wanted were rejected by the technocrats and politicians. Politicians in Zambia want chiefs to remain beggars and tools for their campaign...

For example the draft does not say what royalties a chief is entitled to when an investor comes in the chiefdom. Also powers of a chief are not enshrined in the draft constitution it is like we are only agents for giving out title deeds... But we are going to write to them. If they throw out our petition like what has happened on all those issues, then that is how they want it.

I feel our participation in governance issues is limited. There is no chief in cabinet, parliament, provincial committees, boards....Some people want to write us off but are only ashamed because every one of them comes from villages. They want to restrict chiefs to the museum. Surely you want to restrict us to culture and tradition…we should be seen to be dynamic."

Succession Disputes (Kalindawalo), 6th Edition

2010-08-07T00:36:00.000+01:00

"I want to clarify one issue because someone was quoted as chief Sandwe in your paper last week during the Caritas Forum here in Petauke district. As far as I am concerned, there is no chief Sandwe because someone has petitioned".

Chief Kalindawalo (Nsenga, Petauke) making it clear that no one is supposed to perform the activities of Chief Sandwe.

The Politics of Chief Nalubamba, 13th Edition

2010-08-06T00:29:00.017+01:00

Another political contribution from Chief Nalubamba :

"You know some of the confusion may be tribal, some of the confusion may be provincial, and some of the confusion may be partisan. You see then we will be in trouble as a country. They Sata and Hichilema understand their role to the community. Both are in Lusaka, I don’t know what stops them meeting each other to resolve such an issue. And they choose to go to the press like their party members. In fact, it is both Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema who must stop party members from commenting against the Pact. Someone says that ‘if you don’t allow so and so to become the presidential candidate, then I will vote for MMD’. It shows that that person is already MMD. On the outside, he may appear that he is supporting and yet he is actually MMD. Because I am sure that you can’t go to that extent."

This appears to aimed at Mukuni, Mwanachingwala who have tended to argue largely on tribal lines. I suspect come 2011 there will be a lot of discord among southern chiefs.

The Politics of Chief Mukuni

2010-08-05T00:21:00.017+01:00

"The PF-UPND pact is gone. In fact, it has never been there and this is what we stated in the beginning. They formed the pact and quickly announced it to the nation with the hope of sending the MMD into panic. Now they are the ones who are panicking…they have gone back to their original acts of insulting each other...As traditional leaders in Southern Province, we advised Mr Hichilema but he trashed our counsel. They are our subjects and when we told them that they were taking a dangerous political route, they did not listen and thought they were wiser than we are...You can outsprint a chief but you cannot outwit him in wisdom".

Chief Mukuni revealing the extent to which he has thrust himself in political dealings. It appears that he was strongly pushing against the UPND-PF pact.

Traditional prisons for witches? 2nd Edition

2010-08-04T00:12:00.001+01:00

A response from Chitimukulu regarding an earlier story :

Chitimukulu denies having secret detention cells at palace, Willie Sitali, The Post, News Report:

Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba-speaking people in Northern Province has dismissed as false, media reports alleging that he has established detention cells for wrongdoers at his palace.

And Chitimukulu has threatened to take legal action against the people spreading lies against him.

Speaking when officers from the provincial Human Rights Commission in Kasama called on him at his palace on last week to verify reports of alleged existence of detention cells, Chitimukulu said it was totally wrong for anyone to claim that he detained suspects at his palace.

He charged that reports of the illegal cells at his palace were highly malicious and baseless.

Chitimukulu has since vowed to expose people behind a scheme to scandalise his name and that of the Bemba Royal Establishment.

He said he was a strong believer in human rights and as such, he would not want to abuse other people’s rights by detaining them against their will.

Chitimukulu said it was unfortunate that some people with ill motives wanted to tarnish his image by fabricating lies against him in the media.

He said he would seek legal redress against the accusations that he was detaining wrongdoers at his palace.

Chitimukulu said he would not rest until the sources of the false information were known to the public.

Earlier, provincial Human Rights Commission coordinator Kebby Malila told Chitimukulu that his team’s impromptu visit to his palace was meant to verify reports of alleged existence of illegal cells at his residence.

Malila, who was accompanied by Chanda Musonda and Grace Sibanda, said his team wanted to establish the truth regarding the allegations against Chitimukulu before coming up with a conclusion on the matter.

He said the Human Rights Commission was mandated by law to carry out inspections of all police cells and prisons in the country, adding that any detention facilities created outside the law were regarded as illegal.

Malila also said the Commission had an obligation to make sure that people’s rights were protected at all cost.

Recently, there were media reports alleging that Chitimukulu had set-up detention cells at his palace for wrongdoers in his chiefdom.

Cleansing the chiefdom..

2010-08-03T00:04:00.011+01:00

"This chiefdom does not belong to you. It belongs to God. I have a list of sorcerers and witches and I will chase you from my chiefdom if you do not cleanse yourselves of the dirty acts. I will send you off my chiefdom with an introductory letter stating that you are a witch so that you will have no place to settle".

Chief Chipepo warning his village headmen and communities that he would ensure that in six months no witchcraft is practised in his chiefdom.

Insights from Chief Mwamba

2010-08-02T00:53:00.001+01:00

Another round of great quotes in this article from Chief Mwamba on the current political problems.

On political violence :

"In the first place, we harvested terrible misconceptions about the party in government and the opposition since the colonialists equated opposition with subversion, while on the other hand the government was considered as the oppressor. Consequently in the African context, opposition is regarded as treasonable and the party in government as the oppressor. We shall only free ourselves from the notion that everyone should think alike when the idea of the party in government and the opposition have been institutionalised in our minds".

On lack of political vision:

"Our leaders do not have a clear philosophical orientation of where we should be tomorrow since they are in philosophical chasm or mental servitude of the neo-liberal agenda that charts Zambia’s destiny, and hence there is a conflict between rhetoric and reality".

On bad political language :

"And the once respected and dignified office of the President has been diluted to nothingness because all sorts of lavatory language can be poured upon the chief executive and head of state by any cadre without any restraint whatsoever from the political leadership".

Chiefs and Elections (Lungu chiefs)

2010-08-01T00:06:00.003+01:00

“All the Lungu chiefs have endorsed President Banda and the MMD for the 2011 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections"

Chief Tafuna of the Lungu people declaring an early endorsement from the Lungu chiefs for President Banda ahead of the 2011 elections. This clearly is chiefs engaging in politics, perhaps signalling more of what to come for 2011.

Chieftainess Malembeka

2010-07-31T09:44:00.000+01:00

Source: The Post

Chieftainess Malembeka of the Lamba people of Mpongwe and her husband Christopher Mutembo during the 2010 Kwilimuna Traditional Ceremony.

Traditional prisons for witches?

2010-07-23T00:38:00.006+01:00

It appears His Royal Higness Chitimukulu has taken traditional justice to another level, if this report is to be believed :

Chitimukulu sets up own prison, locks up witches, Ernest Mwape, Zambian Watchdog, News Report:

Paramount Chief Chitimukulu of the Bemba speaking people in Northern Province has allegedly established an illegal prison at his palace to confine people being suspected of practicing witchcraft in his Chiefdom. And the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Kasama has threatened to ban the Paramount Chief from Holy Communion because of promoting witch finding in his area.

High placed sources confirmed today in a telephone interview about the creation of an illegal prison at the Chief’s palace in Mungwi district which is said to have been in existence since last February. The sources disclosed that the illegal prison which is built within the palace premises has no toilet facility and suspected sorcerers are detained overnight. “Yes I can confirm to you that our Paramount Chief has established an illegal prison at his palace where people being accused of practicing witchcraft are being detained overnight and this has been going on for quite sometime now,” said the sources.

The sources explained that Chief Chitimukulu has himself allowed youths aged between 21 and 23 to conduct witch finding in his territory so as to get rid of sorcerers. The sources revealed that witch finders were persecuting suspected wizards, mainly elderly people before dragging them to Chief retainers, who in turn put them in detention until the following morning when further witch hunting is conducted by a team of quack doctors appointed by the paramount Chief.

The sources added that whilst at the palace, those accused of practicing witch craft are brought before a huge crowd that includes the Paramount Chief and a team of witch finders for further divination. “When you see the crowd, you may think it is the Republican President addressing a rally, but people have come to see witch hunting being conducted at the Chief’s palace,” remarked the sources. Once a team of quack doctors endorses that the accused truly practice witch craft, they were being ill treated and fined two cows before chasing them away from their villages, added the sources. The sources added that items being grabbed from the accused people were allegedly being shared between the Paramount Chief himself and the witch finders.

The sources observed that although the Bemba Chief was dividing part of the Northern Province by bringing quack doctors, he was unwell because he uses wheelchair and his sight is very bad because of the sugar disease. The sources said several villagers including one headman Mwalapata have been tortured and driven away form their respective homes and their whereabouts have remained unknown. The sources disclosed that Malole Member of Parliament Emmanuel Munaile was informed about the obtaining situation in Mungwi, but failed to travel to the area with the Police due to lack of transport.

The sources said the situation was very worrying because it might result in the deaths particularly the elderly people who were being accused of practicing witch craft because of their age. The sources further said during the Parish Council meeting held at Malole Catholic Church on June 22nd 2010, it was resolved that Chief Chitimukulu be banned from receiving Eucharist because he was dividing his subjects by allowing Quack doctors to conduct witch hunting in his area. The meeting also resolved to write to Northern Province permanent Secretary Mwalimu Simfukwe, Minister John Chinyanta and Mungwi district commissioner about Chief Chitimukulu’s ungodly behaviour. The sources said the Council meeting was attended by Malole Parish Priest Father Edward Chimbuleni. The Sources said the Catholic Church was very much worried with the traditional ruler involvement in the witch hunting because the practice was not only unchristian, but would bring divisions among the accused families. Efforts to get comments from area MP Munaile, Northern Province Police Chief Charles Lungu failed.

The Politics of Chief Mwanachingwala, 6th Edition

2010-07-22T00:31:00.020+01:00

Never far away from political controversy, Chief Mwanachingwala (Tonga, Mazabuka)has once again thrust himself into political discussions over the UPND-PF pact. This time claiming that "he he has been vindicated by his earlier statement that the Patriotic Front (PF)-United Party for National Development (UPND) Pact was headed nowhere as the two leaders rushed into an arrangement which was not supported by the majority".

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Funding traditional ceremonies

2010-07-21T00:25:00.019+01:00

The Umutomboko and Likumbi Lyamize ceremonies recently received K50m each from ZAIN Zambia. According to ZAIN MD David Holliday cultural heritage has potential to contribute to the country’s greater trade, economy, tourism and foreign currency reserves at a national level. Zain has apparently committed to spending three quarters of a billion kwacha in sponsoring ceremonies on the 2010 calendar : "I must commend the people of Zambia through the government, for inspiring job in preserving the country’s cultural heritage...On average we have over 20 traditional ceremonies celebrated by different ethnic groups. In Zambia this in itself is a rare feat and help to reignite the flame of these ceremonies, we shall endeavor to commit whatever resources we are able”. More detail via The Post.

The Politics of Chief Mumena, 3rd Edition

2010-07-20T00:18:00.017+01:00

Another political intervenion from Chief Mumena :

Chief Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi....advised United Party for National Development (UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema not to continue politicising President Rupiah Banda’s apology to him.

Chief Mumena said President Banda had shown statesmanship by publicly saying sorry and that Mr Hichilema should exhibit humility in the manner the republican president did. He said it was unfortunate that the UPND leader had decided to give conditions to the apology and was attempting to gain political mileage out of it. The traditional leader was reacting to Mr Hichilema who questioned the genuineness of Mr Banda’s apology over a statement he made referring to the opposition leader’s spouse.

The Lwindi Gonde Report

2010-07-19T21:18:00.000+01:00

A piece from Times on the recently held Lwiindi Gonde festival of the Tonga people :

2010 Lwiindi ceremony embraces peace, unity, Brian Hatyoka, The Times, Commentary :

The Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony has continued to be a source of joy in preserving culture not only among the Tonga people of Southern Province but also among the other tribes of Zambia. This is always evident by the number of people who attend the Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony annually from all parts of the country.

The ceremony hosted by paramount chief Monze drawing participation of all chiefs in Southern Province started way before the 1800. In fact the organisers say the initiator, 2nd chief Monze Mayaba who inherited the spirit of the first chief Monze-Mukulu Wakaenda a-Maulu, was already celebrating the original Lwiindi when he met missionary and explorer David Livingstone

It is widely held that a rain spirit prompted the chief to prophecy, warning the subjects of the fate that would befall them if they did not follow or take heed to his revelations.

After the chief gave these instructions, the subjects arranged a day or days when to gather at Gonde bringing their “NONGO ZYA LWIINDI” calabashes of beer and Maamba-metre hand hoes and other thanksgiving gifts.

The presentation of the “Nongozya Lwiindi” to the Lwiindi Gonde was a compulsory requirement for every village in the chiefdom. By so doing, the village chiefdom used to say Talwiindi Ng’anda hence the introduction of the name Lwiindi.

The ceremony was also an occasion to celebrate the harvest hence its timing in the first week of July. It is also cerebrated at the time of planting or start of rain season to bless the seed to be planted but this is a small Lwiindi.

This year’s Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony, the 15 to be held so far, started off with conflicting statements issued in the media. One announcement said the event had been cancelled due to political interferences while another indicated that the event would proceed as planned. The Tonga Traditional Association (TTA) specifically announced that the ceremony had been called off due to political influence and attempts to remove UPND president Hakainde Hichilema from the position of patron.

Later, paramount chief Monze of the Tonga people in Southern Province said this year’s Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony would go ahead despite the TTA leadership pulling out. Chief Monze said the confusion that had arisen between the TTA leadership and the committee appointed to organise this year’s ceremony had nothing to do with the ceremony. “Chiefs in the province feel let down by the unwarranted attacks on the ceremony and the purported cancellation of the ceremony by the Tonga Traditional Association. I have to categorically express my displeasure over what has been reported by the association that it has cancelled the ceremony,” Chief Monze said.

Thus the Lwiindi Gonde ceremony was successfully held from July 3 to July 6 2010 without the anticipated political interference. Many speakers were happy that the ceremony was peaceful despite the negative publicity which preceded the event.

Local Government and Housing Minister Eustarckio Kazonga, who represented President Rupiah Banda, said he was happy with the peaceful atmosphere. In his speech Mr Banda said he was greatly honored to be invited by chief Monze to be the guest of honour at the 2010 Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony and stressed the need to uphold peace and unity at such ceremonies. “I wish to express my sincere gratitude to be part of this year’s Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony. The ceremony is an important occasion which brings together people of various backgrounds in cerebrating this season’s harvest and to praise and seek God’s guidance and blessing during the coming season,” President Banda said.

He said traditional ceremonies such as Lwiindi were a great opportunity for subjects as well as traditional and other leaders, tourists and visitors to interact and learn from each other’s cultural experiences and from the wise counsel of chief Monze. The occasion further serves to uphold Government policy to facilitate participation by all in the creation and enjoyment of our country’s rich cultural heritage while preserving and promoting it to achieve sustainable national development.

Mr Banda said traditional ceremonies like this are an important occasion where Government highlights key policies and programmes in the area. “In this regard, Government is committed to its promises of delivering meaningful development to better livelihood of our people,” he said.

The Lwiindi ceremony was full of traditional dances to celebrate the Tonga culture and heritage. Alongside the ceremony, people from all districts of Southern Province and outside the province were exhibiting various foods such as sugarcane and pumpkins, and non food items, clothes and literature among many others.

Southern Province permanent secretary Gladys Kristafor, Local Government and Housing Permanent Secretary Timothy Hakuyu, District Commissioners and other senior Government officials as well as members of Parliament were among the guests. Various chiefs from Southern Province and Central Province attended the ceremony except for a few. Notably absent were chiefs Mukuni of the Toka-Leya in Livingstone, Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka and Bright Nalubamba of Namwala.

In the evening, most people especially youths under the age of 15 are often found dancing and drinking beer within the premises of the ceremony where alcohol was sold from. In terms of crime, this year’s Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony was generally peaceful and crime free as confirmed by Southern Province police chief Lemmy Kajoba.

Lwiindi Gonde Ceremony Royal Establishment organising committee chairperson Rex Natala urged the various chiefs in Southern Province to unite their people. Mr Natala failed to understand why some chiefs in the province shunned the ceremony. He also said the Lwiindi Gonde ceremony patron Hakainde Hichilema was a nephew of chief Monze and urged people not to bring politics at the ceremony.

Mr Natala urged Government to recognise chief Monze as a paramount chief of the Tonga people of Southern Province. He said Chief Monze was recognised and gazetted in 1929 as a paramount chief by the British Government. Paramount chief Monze, who hosted the event, paid tribute to the Zambian Government for supporting the Lwiindi Gonde ceremony. He was also happy that there was peace and serenity.

Chief Monze trditional rulers critics of Lwiindi Gonde ceremony to ‘tame’ their tongues which were divisive. “This year’s Lwiindi Gonde ceremony is the best compared to the past ceremonies because there is peace that we have never seen before. May be the controversy which arose prior to the ceremony has made the event to be more peaceful,” he said.

The chief, who wears a garment made out of a leopard skin, said the different spots on his garment represented unity in diversity. Chief Monze said chiefs die but their legacy lives on. “Lwiindi Gonde is an old ceremony. Some people have died but the ceremony is still alive,” he said.

Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe was happy that there was unity at this year’s Lwiindi Gonde ceremony. “I am happy that there is dignity at this year’s ceremony. This befits the ceremony and it should continue. The atmosphere is so peaceful and embracing compared to the previous ceremonies,” he said. Mr Munkombwe urged political parties to remove political tags at such important ceremonies. “We don’t need the chanting of political slogans at such ceremonies,” he said.

Lwiindi Gonde traditional ceremony patron Mr Hichilema called for unity among traditional leaders. He urged all chiefs in Zambia to unite their people. He commended the late president Levy Mwanawasa and President Rupiah Banda for officiating at the ceremony before. “President Banda is very much welcome to officiate here at the ceremony. Nobody should be banned from Lwiindi,” he said. Mr Hichilema urged Zambians to continue respecting and supporting traditional ceremonies. He urged people to desist from bringing political arguments whenever there was a traditional ceremony because doing so could divide different tribes.

Various chiefs from Central Province, who attended the ceremony, were impressed with the way the ceremony was conducted. Senior chief Mukuni of Kapiri and Chibombo urged people not to bring what was not fit for traditional ceremonies. Chieftainess Serenje thanked God that there was peace at this year’s ceremony and said there should be no divisions at such events.

Is Zambia, a nation without a vision ?

2010-07-16T00:29:00.000+01:00

Yes, according to Senior Chief Mwamba (Kasama, Bemba) is the following insightful article on what is fundamentally wrong with the country :

Zambia, a nation without vision, Senior Chief Mwamba Kanyanta-Manga II, The Post, Commentary :

A vision stands for ‘intelligent ability to foresee the future; an insight to imagine the future; Doorway to the future; determines destiny and marks and distinguishes intellectual capacities of different people. And this was why King Solomon declared: 'Where there is no vision, people perish.'

Chairman Mao related to the vision of the will as all-powerful, even to the extent that (in Mao's own words) 'the subjective creates the objective.' That is, man's capacity for both undergoing change and changing his environment is unlimited once he makes the decision for change the entire universe can bend to his will. But again, the controlling image is the sense of revolutionary immortality that confers these vaulting capacities upon the mind. And during the Great Leap, Chairman Mao declared that there was no poor soil but poor thoughts.

The conscience of a nation pertains to power, though power is a fluid concept with many tangibles. Empowerment means that people get equipped to deal with their own situations in practical and viable ways. Power is neutral until it is acquired and used, but completely without it, we just are lethargic because power enables people and enhances life.

The French sociologist, Raymond Aron defined power in terms of capacities: population, military and economic power, industrial base, territory; policies: the exercise of power by deliberate courses of action to affect the will of rivals and competitors; and motivation: the propensity to act in a certain way in international politics.

What I mean, in this case, is that we in Zambia lack the ability to translate human and material resources into tangible power. Hence we are incapable of transforming our own preponderances in the nation, population, financial and geo-strategic assets into economic power, capable of achieving social and political goals.

And we cannot, therefore, stand up and say with pride, 'we are independent.' We are not, and let no one fool you. If I feed you; decide what you are going to eat and when you are going to eat. So how free are you? I just cannot see how we Zambians are going to develop this country through begging. It is said that the face is the beggar's greatest asset and he must therefore always look miserable. In fact, I wonder if there is a single African country that can survive for over a month without donor support!

Our political luminaries do not seem to understand one great lesson: that all the difficulties and complex problems of each country can in no way be solved by another country's formula, though it may somehow try to help and only to a certain extent. This is because reality does not conform to logic. For example, the western development programmes that are deliberately imposed upon docile Africans fail to transplant successfully in Africa, just because no gardener would ordinarily transplant a fully-grown tree to a new site. Rather, he would plant a sapling or a shoot and be content to bide his time until it grows to its full dimensions.

We must lean on history in order to get a clear picture of how we have unintelligibly mismanaged the affairs of this nation. In the book Central African Witness, historian Cyril Dunn in the 1950s wrote about the aspirations of the then Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe): "To Sir Roy Welensky, economic development has always been the paramount objective. He believes that the federation's potential is immense, except for a shortage of oil and timber can perhaps be as vast as that of the USA itself. He is quite sure that it can be developed only by 'the enterprise, the driving power and the initiative of the whites'...the blacks will get their fair share of the rewards as they develop the sense of the dignity of labour; once he grasps what Sir Roy calls the basic slogan of any industrial society - work or starve. The political aspirations of the blacks must be restrained, since Central Africa's economic progress would be dissipated in 'chaos, corruption and misrule' if ever Africans were allowed to assume control."

Jong- Pak, the South Korean ambassador to Zambia recently said that Zambia and Zimbabwe were far much better economically than his country in the 1950s and 1960s. And the former French ambassador, Jean Paul Monchau said: "Poverty of the Zambian people is mostly unexplained if one considers the country's riches and without going into details, I do not understand why emphasis was not put on agriculture, the basis of any development strategy."

In this respect, the World Bank report in part reads: "The potential of Zambia's agriculture is often cited as the greatest untapped natural resource - the potential of agriculture growth to contribute to incomes and welfare is unequivocal: agriculture is the largest sector employer, being the primary occupation of over a half of the rural population (or 26 per cent of the total population of the country), and contributing three-fourths of the incomes to the average rural population."

What does this really mean to us Zambians? And to me it just means that there is total bankruptcy of dynamic vision for political and economic revival.

There is total lack of original thinking and lack of innate propensity, potential and power to determine our own destiny and spearhead the political and economic revolution that can lift Zambians out of the poverty mire to prosperity. There is bankruptcy of enterprising intellectualism and I just cannot understand how individuals who only become clever after events can be called 'intellectuals and geniuses.'

I now invite Trywell Kalusopa to speak directly to you: "I believe that political and economic brains that do not liberate their own people from oozing poverty when they have the instruments to do so are worthless. Brains that recite a pseudo capitalist agenda for self-aggrandisement are a curse to the nation. Brains that cannot break an exploitative system for the good of the Zambian people are dead brains. They are not worth of the brains! They are sterile! These are the sorts of brains that believe that the absolute drive towards foreign investment is a panacea to national development."

In 1991 Zambians saw the emergence of the supposed young intellectuals into the corridors of power and this was viewed with considerable optimism because the administration was over-flooded with geniuses in various disciplines. The regime introduced the liberation of the economy. The promise of the privatisation programme was claimed to be a constant rise in the living standards of the people and an end to the vicious business circles. The liberation of the economy was sold to us as a science that would enable our country to achieve the ageless ambition of social stability and an ever-ascending abundance and from these triumphs would flow a more caring government and a greater individual liberty.

However, this kind of Zambia's indigenous economic philosophy that was being proclaimed in such extravagant metaphor is the 'township or compound' economy. This is the type of economic philosophy that we usually encounter in urban townships or locations where if a person loses his job, he then begins to sell his household goods in order to meet his daily needs, until eventually he has nothing to sell and is driven into destitution.

The supposed geniuses just went on cheaply selling and destroying what the supposed less educated had put in place and plunder the assets that had been accumulated by the supposed less endowed. And indeed according to John Hatch in the book False Start in Africa, Zambia at the time of independence in 1964 had about 100 university graduates; those with full secondary education - Grade 12 were 1,500 and those with junior secondary education - Grade 9 were 6,500.

When the South African Communist Party, Secretary-General, Dr Blade Nzimande visited Zambia he said: " one striking feature of the Zambian society is the extent to which the structural adjustment policies pursued by the Chiluba presidency have rolled back many years of the gains made during the first two decades of Zambian independence after 1964. We found amongst many of those we met a re-emerging nostalgia for the Kaunda presidency and the advances made then in the fields of education, health and provision of other basic services. The Chiluba presidency privatised all the state-owned enterprises leading to massive job losses and the rolling back in the provision of education and health services in particular."

On the other hand, it wasn't long before the situation began to reveal frightening depths and complexities of enlightened egocentric interests among our supposed best brains. Here is what Isaac Chipampe wrote: "Indeed after 1991, I saw few of the original wealthy people maintaining their riches. To the contrary, a new crop of wealthy people emerged. They never borrowed from financial institutions; they never discovered anything comparable to Bill Gates' Microsoft; they never owned any business that had a workforce or machinery or even buildings to show for and never invested in anything apart from being co-opted in government and therefore government became their major source of wealth. And who can argue against the reasoning that it pays to be in government when one looks at the wealth that the Task Force has exhibited so far."

An international organisation, the National Citizens' Coalition reported in Social Watch Report 2002: "when Chiluba took power, large -scale corruption diverted resources meant for the people of Zambia, while they watched in sorrow and desperation as their country headed towards becoming the poorest in the world - Chiluba's government was the most corrupt in the history of this country. Resources that should have been used to improve the people's quality of life were appropriated in grand corruption episodes. When Chiluba took power from Kaunda in 1991, the poverty rate was 56 per cent. When he left the government after 10 years, poverty had risen upwards to 80 per cent."

But why are we really in this situation? I think Alick Musonda in his book, The Masterminds of Coups D'etat in Africa gives us the clue: "the engineers of the fall of states in Africa are the colonial masters who still pull strings to puppet Blacks. In their 'tactical' withdrawal from the political revolution, they left in their tracks economic, social, political and military booby traps to devastating effect."

And the most effective 'booby trap' is the 'Bantu' education system or what I prefer to call 'factory education.' Miller. J. reported in Sierra Leone in 1841: "the education provided by missionary and colonial schools did not fit the indigenous cultural background either in its general orientation or in details of content, methods, materials and institutional arrangements... the knowledge later produces doubt and fogginess of mind in adult life, resulting in lack of balance. Want of liberal attainments induces imitation of the worst in Europeans."

I was invited to present a paper on 'A Nation Without Culture is Dead' at the National Symposium on Curriculum in June 2009 and the general consensus among the academicians was that the current educational system produces consumers rather than creators.

The purpose of education is to extract a human being from the limited circle of their lower self in order to project them into the limitless circle of cosmic consciousness. Thought is an extraordinary means of action, because thought enables us to understand and also to act. Thought is far more than simply a faculty for the purpose of storing accumulated book knowledge it is a magical wand, the instrument of omnipotence.

Once you have reached the point where you have your thoughts well under control, as in the case of the genuine genius, you can then direct them where you want so that they may do their work of sorting out, organising and harmonising the particles and currents within you and in the entire world. This then means that genuine education enlightens and enables the adherent to attack courageously any challenge before him; it involves subtle lessons that can make one active, dynamic and daring in order to meaningfully contribute to the well-being of society in which one lives.

But why are we being manipulated and exploited to the maximum in broad daylight with our full consent as alluded to by one Professor Akuffo? Our type of education makes us panic too quickly and therefore we tend to swallow everything from the white man because the very first day when we step into a classroom, we are taught to consider him to have a superior mind. And as the saying goes: water cannot rise above its own level.

The capitalist cannot exploit the continent without first demoralising the inhabitants. And so he introduced a key word in the 'Bantu' educational system - lack. This particular word has totally dominated every initiative and it has been used to squeeze out hope of prosperity that existed or could have existed within us. Lack is everywhere in Africa.

There is lack of good climate; lack of good vegetation; lack of good water ; lack of good air; lack of good soil; lack of good minerals; lack of good people; lack of good natural resources etc. The list can go on and on and in short there is lack of everything on the African continent. The only thing that is in abundance in Africa is lack itself. The sole purpose of introducing the word lack into our educational curriculum is to create a sense of fear and hopelessness into our hearts and minds because fear paralyses the faculty of reason, diverts concentration and effort and turns will power into nothingness.

I am not trying to criminalise the colonial education system and a good number of automated and playboy intellectuals it produces, but I cannot, however, hesitate to point out its deliberate failure to lay concrete foundations of self-discovery; self-assertion and the quenching of the pioneer spirit.

And as a result, there is no hunger for real meaning; no search for 'more' and hence the so-called intellectuals allow all sorts of impressions to enter their minds unconsciously and as a result, they are controlled by words, foreign knowledge and cunning powers-that-be that feed their lines as they rob their power of creative individuality. And consequently, there is no search for other dimensions beyond the ordinary conventional western political and economical philosophies that they had swallowed in lecture halls.

On the other hand, Chairman Mao wrote that the image of the human mind is infinitely malleable, capable of being reformed, transformed and rectified without limit. And this is the area where 'Bantu' education system actively play its role since character and thought patterns can be directed to desired ends and whoever controls the mind, controls the man. And so the type of education you receive will direct the way you approach the whole spectrum of life. King Solomon wrote: "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." Another unknown author wrote: "Thoughts are forces, subtle, vital, creative and continually building and shaping our lives according to their nature."

And so whoever controls the mind controls the man. The ear is the gateway to the senses and that is why in what is called 'the power of the air,' all governments control the radio because whoever controls what is transmitted controls you. And therefore any teaching which induces a slave mentality or a sense of impotence is not education at all it is an attack on the minds of people.

Of course, no one can overlook the fact that the western man has brought a lot of good civilisation to Africa but it comes with a sly danger, because while celebrating the generous donor aid and such privileges as learning and enlightenment, it can easily blind us to who we really are and come to the fatal conclusion that the white man is the measure of all things. This mentality has subverted the African mind and personality like no other ideology.

In fact, Hasham Nazor in Power of the Third kind: Western Attempt to Colonize the Global Village has warned of the dangers of being foreign-parasites: "If the developing countries' intellectuals do not soon wake up and challenge the colonising operation, it will be too late.

The process has been activated by the western powers using vast amounts of money, time and planning...beneath the overwhelming charm and power to assimilate, some of the developing nations are already submitting too much. Meanwhile, most of the people in developing nations might not even be aware of its complexities and magnitude."