No single person or segment can liberate Barotseland
by S W Mwaekwa
Linyungandambo, literally translated means “Ya Nyunga Ndambo” or “Who shakes his/her neighbor”. Therefore, I take it that everyone that has information that his neighbor need to know and gives that information to him has done just what Linyungandambo entails. Kindly correct me if I’m wrong but I want to believe that all the pressure groups instigating for the complete liberation of “Bulozi” (Barotseland) are Linyungandambo, in the sense of providing awareness. I will liken this to the Biblical “Good Samaritan” parable as is told in Luke 10, 33-36. Soon following the signing of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 in May 1964 (BA’64), the President of Zambia, K Kaunda (KK) departed from the spirit of the Agreement. His actions thereafter are now common knowledge—commencing with the 1965 local government legislation. Those who were privy to the provision of the Agreement that KK, without remorse suppressed, stood up against his actions is and again common knowledge—treasonable actions, detention without trial and continued imposition of a state of emergence throughout his rule. The failed unitary state of Zambia has been caused by this one man—KK. One Barotse man saw need of information dissemination—an open and improved version of the old “No- kushimba”, meaning everyone had the right to know. On the other hand, KK had a scheme of “no one should know”—secrecy and high classification of the BA'64, which he passed on to his successors. The Chiluba regime, which immediately succeeded him even declared the BA'64 statute stale. What a shame! An Agreement is an agreement and has to be honored unless both the parties to the agreement countermand, or make adjustments to the original Agreement. No one party can alter, amend or cancel an Agreement and expect it to be binding or have effect on the original Agreement. We have so much to learn from the Waitangi agreement of 12th May 1840. (This was the “New Zealand treaty which considered the basis for the constitutional rights of the Maori. The treaty was drawn up by William Hobson and James Busby, the British lieutenant-governor and resident respectively, in an attempt to secure the immediate and peaceful annexation of New Zealand by the British government in 1840. The Treaty of Waitangi consisted of three articles that (1) required Maori acceptance of the British queen’s sovereignty in their lands; (2) promised Crown protection of Maori possessions, granting the Crown sole rights of purchase for Maori land; and (3) granted Maori signatories full rights as British subjects. The Protestant missionary Henry Williams and his son, Edward, translated the treaty on February 4, 1840, and it was read to a gathering of 40 Bay of Islands and Hokianga chiefs on the following day. Debate among the Maori swung between those who predicted enslavement and the forfeiture of power and land, and those who were convinced that the treaty was a solemn contract between the queen’s tribe and their own, ensuring the continued protection of Maori interests. On February 6, around 45 chiefs signed the treaty (a number that eventually swelled to 500). The treaty was restored in November 1995 after about 155 years and it had to take the Queen of England to offer an apology to the Maori people. The late President MC Sata (May his soul rest in peace) was different from all other Presidents Zambia had. He was able to see what many turned a blind eye on and like a good watchman-blew a trumpet. Ezekiel Chapter 33. Verses 01-09. He heard the voice of reason. ‘The word of the Lord came to me. 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman. 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people. 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. 7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.’ He realized that there was a lot of ignorance even among the “educated masses” so he gave the Nation the information it was starved of. He gave it the power. Information is power that leads to freedom of the mind. After the Mungu riots of 14th January 2011 the late President, MC Sata, constituted a commission of inquiry to ascertain the causes of the disturbances. He also decreed to all the print and electronic media to print and disseminate the BA'64 for all to read and know about. He had also earlier declared himself as “Linyungandambo member number one.” True to his word he did more sensitization on this matter than some Barotse pressure groups. The BA'64 was known to all within and without Zambia boarders. He encouraged and informed all that cared to listen, learn and take heed to do so. He had weaknesses and failures but he will be remembered for his boldness on this issue. For sure, his soul has been delivered, Ezek. 33:09. This gave added impetus to pursuing the Barotse issue much further. It remains, therefore, that all the pressure groups in Barotseland had to marshal all their efforts towards one objective—the total liberation of Barotseland, their God given homeland. It must be known that no one group can achieve this noble cause at the exclusion of the others. Those groups that want to be closed up and listen to no new reasons but concentrate on justifying their own existence have always missed this point. They are so worried about their envisaged positions to the point where they are missing the direction. I wish to emphasize that the liberation of Barotseland cannot be delivered by a one man show and neither an isolated group. Every Barotse has a stake in this process and should take pride in the offices and existence of The Litunga and The Ngambela. The two are the basis of the pride of the Barotse people. The struggle for the liberation of Barotseland can best be applied if all pressure groups assume an arrow head formation, all working together under one unifying leadership of the BNFA. It would be prudent that all the groups should rally behind the BNFA under the leadership of Hon. W Sinyinda who is the unifying factor of the Barotse Nation by virtue of his previous Ngambelaship status, which in my view, should be restored as soon as impossible. At the moment when the going seems to be tough, we should gather all our strength and direct it into the need for unity and for all the Barotse pressure groups to re-group and forget about their differences. It is not a question of trying to secure positions but a matter of patriotism (Col 3, 23.) Let God reward you and never do a thing just to please man and expect a reward from him, fore infighting and jostling for positions will weaken the resolve to achieving the desired goal. The crucial issue that people expressed in the Barotse National Council Resolutions of 27 March 2012 and also expressed in their submissions to the Dr. R. Chongwe commission of inquiry but missed in the recommendation is for actualization of Barotseland statehood. What needs to me done, therefore, is to have all hands on board and work together for a common purpose. All pressure groups must embark on village sensitization; prepare programs that are meant to inform and empower every villager by a well calculated system of economies of scales. Identify what benefits and advantages every area has, compared to others, and optimize on their utilization for maximum benefits. Once our villagers are empowered they shall free themselves from corrupt practices from some quarters we all know about. With every villager empowered, we can cooperatively be able to provide for our Traditional Authorities without having to look for hand-outs from somewhere. We can get back to our roots. After all, we had more than 78 million pounds at the time of amalgamation taken away from us by the Zambian regime by force. Yes every village can be a production centre of one product or the other. If we cannot care for our parents, no one will do it for us. We know their needs better. We should set our programs and follow them as opposed to the fire-fighting system of reacting to a crisis. Let us adhere to our plans and move along with them systematically. We can get there fast or very slowly. Our Traditional Authority (the BRE) should embrace everyone and go by the peoples program. Communication should be both horizontal and vertical through the Ngambela. I believe that as soon as the main players took their stands and did the needful, the ‘confusion’ within pressure groups would be eliminated within days. The onus is on each and every Barotseland national to do the most logical thing at the right time, right place and with the right attitude. We all have to treat one another as equals. We are endowed with different gifts and capabilities, be it as individuals or groups and we must learn to push and pull together. All are efforts must be directed to the future good for all. HE President E C Lungu stated that he wants to see the programs of his predecessor carried out to the full. The world is watching on how he is to handle this case. Is he going to be another F. W. de Klerk or will he opt to create his own identity from which he shall forever be remembered? We wait and see.God bless us all and give us the spirit of love, peace, humility and hard work.