A WHIRLWIND OR JUST A ‘STORM IN A TEA CUP’
by Mwananyandi Mukunyandela Mukouoyisa
The stories taking rounds in the airwaves and on cyberspace is very damaging to the very principles upon which the Barotse Kingdom is anchored on. If it is not true, those that are in the positions to set the record straight must stand up and do the needful other than sit and watch while people are fretting and being infuriated by none issues. On the other hand, if the stories have any truth at all, it casts a dark cloud on the Kingdom of Barotseland because it means that the Litunga, with or without the Kuta, has turned against the expressed will of the people as enshrined in the BNC resolutions of March 2012. In other words, it means abdication on his part. In Barotseland, it is the people who call the shots not the ruling elite since time immemorial. This way of doing things was re-emphasised in a more graphic way by the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) submission to the Rodger Chongwe Commission of Inquiry into the Mongu shootings of January 14, 2011 in which it was clearly stated that, ‘BRE is bound by the direction dictated by the people’. The epic 2012 Barotse National Council (BNC) itself was specifically called by the BRE in order to get instructions from the people on how to proceed on the Barotse impasse. The powers that be in Zambia should know that the solution to the Barotse impasse lies not in dark corner meetings with the elites or some sections thereof, but in consensus building with the broader range of stakeholders. The consensus was achieved in March 2012 through the BNC meeting. The persistent attempts by the occupying Zambia powers to entice the Litunga to turn against the BNC resolutions of March 2012 is not intended to resolve the impasse but rather to escalate it to unmanageable proportions because it is clearly targeted at turning the people against their beloved Litunga. It reeks of divide and rule tactics that have been a trademark of Barotseland’s illegal overlords from the east. History gives us lessons on the rise and fall of Kingdoms in the world. There are reasons why great kingdoms like those led by the Czar of Russia or the Great Kabakas of Uganda are almost no more today while those like the British Monarch thrive on. The answer clearly lies on how these Kingdoms managed change through consensus building and thereby transforming themselves from totalitarianism to people driven inclusive governance. The Barotse Kingdom has made several strides on this road of transformation for a long time now, despite the onslaught of successive Zambia regimes. That is why in Barotseland the will of the people is supreme and the voice of the people is regarded as the voice of God in line with the Latin adage “Vox Popeli, vox dei” translated as ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’. Engaging the reverse gear on this path evokes fatal consequences which will only assist the enemies of Barotseland to achieve their objective. Since the story came to surface of the ‘three evil men from the east’ who invaded our land Barotseland in the cover of night and are purported to have penetrated as far as the innermost recesses of the dwellings of our Ngocana to strike dirty deals with our beloved King, a whirlwind seem to have broken out and has been making rounds among all bana ba Poho ye Nsu the world over. This is evidenced by surfing the internet on social media pages where one is greeted by the anger of concerned sons and daughters of the soil. The story has it that the ‘three evil men from the east’ traveled in the guise of the night and sneaked into the royal village--bypassing the Kuta and the Imilemas--thereby gaining direct access to the Litunga. It is further alleged that the three evil men discussed ways and means to halt the processes set in motion by the historic and epic 2012 BNC. The reports go further to say, on that fateful night, dirty deals were made by these three evil men from the east by dangled carrots in front of the Litunga in order to make him agree to the concept of ‘Barotseland Agreement 2015’. The said Barotseland Agreement 2015 is alleged to promise a few pecks to the Litunga and a handful of his palace staff at the expense of the right of self-determination for the entire Barotse Nation. Investigations from those close to the palace brings out two conflicting stories. One version holds that the reports are a reflection of the events as they unfolded albeit in the cover of the night while the other suggests that this whole talk is simply ‘a storm in a tea cup’ without any relevance to actual events on the ground. Whichever version you choose to believe, the whirlwind caused by the story is real and has raised dust, ruffled feathers and unsettled emotions. So much so that some Malozi have even broken taboo by writing open letters to the Litunga in which they challenge him to come out in the open and state his position. For those that are not familiar with the Silozi tradition, this whole fuss may be rather a strange reaction to an ordinary event. Yet those well-schooled will appreciate the gravity of the situation. According to Silozi tradition and culture, the Litunga is held with very high respect and reverence close to, if not equal to, that given to a deity. The Litunga is portrayed and perceived to be very delicate and an object protected by layer upon layer of the very lives of loyal sons and daughters of the Barotse soil. That is why he is referred to with such endearing terms like Ngocana meaning a sacred calf and Kaongolo ka Nyambe meaning tiny insect of God. The fact that three foreigners (the three evil men—current Zambia President Lungu and former Presidents Banda and Kaunda), representing the oppressive and intruding Zambian authority, penetrated in the night to gain access to Kaongolo ka Nyambe without going through the normal checks and balances of the Kuta is embarrassing to every mulozi on two counts: First and foremost it implies the breakdown of the protective shield that all Litungas from time immemorial have boasted about. It is said that anything aimed at the Litunga can only get to him if it has gone through all his loyal subjects. That’s why during the reign of Litungu Ilute Yeta IV when the Chiluba regime threatened to arrest his Majesty, Malozi from all over literally travelled to Lealui mundi wa alume (The village of real men) to act as human shields to their Litunga. Secondly, whatever the Litunga ‘swallows’ has to be ‘chewed’ for him. That is why every matter of significance passes through the Kuta before it is brought up higher to the Litunga. In other words the Barotse Monarch does not fend for himself, the people fend for him. On the critical issues of actualizing Barotseland statehood, the Litunga cannot and should not be in the forefront, the people are and should be in the forefront. In fact, it is an act of abdication should the Litunga be seen to defend himself or undertake a self-saving act. When a snake advances towards the Litunga he is not supposed to move in self-defense nor take flight. Neither is he supposed to attempt to swim, should the royal barge sink or capsize. It is the duty of the people to save or protect him from whatever calamity. Going as far as writing open letters to the Litunga may obviously be seen to be going too far by some if not most Malozi. Further, according to Silozi tradition, the Litunga cannot be called upon to account for anything, neither can he be quoted. Yet the whirlwind is here and doing nothing about it is not a solution at all. We question the human hedge that tradition has put around the Litunga to account for what happened. They must straighten things out and provide the much needed answers to the many questions currently bothering Malozi. The Kuta should not think that silence is golden at a time like this one. The illegal Zambian government is silent for obvious reasons over this story. If the Kuta follows suit then the obvious interpretation is ‘silence is consent to guiltiness’. The Kuta has in the past made bold statements in defense of the integrity of the Litunga. One such case is when the Kuta, in a statement signed by the Inete, refuted claims by the Post Newspaper of 23rd November 2012 to the effect that the Litunga has U-turned on the BNC resolutions of March 2012. That statement was crucial in dispelling the malicious story that was peddled by the said tabloid and also re-stated the Litunga’s and BRE’s commitment to the BNC resolutions of March 2012. It further confirmed that the BNC resolutions of March 2012 were arrived at following a due process and dully indorsed by the Privy Council and the Litunga. All the civil society organizations in the forefront of advocating Barotseland’s right to self-determination and march to actualizing Barotseland statehood have come out in the open through pronouncing that they cherish their traditional leadership and wish to move with them into modernity. For this reason, they have all, without exception, expressed the desire of entrenching a Constitutional Monarch type of government. A government that also embraces the people's desire to protect their time tested traditional structures as they re-introduce and enhance the tenets of parliamentary democracy, which the occupying Zambia government had shameless destroyed. There is only one way to resolve the Barotseland impasse—to go by the dictates of the people of Barotseland as outlined in the BNC resolutions of March 2012. Any other way, such as midnight meetings with select section of the elites, will just not do but rather tend to ignite wild fires which will be impossible to extinguish (this is the enemy’s wish). Let the people remain resolute and stand as one in their actualization of Barotseland statehood. Let those who dare to u-turn or engage the reverse gear know that they do so at the risk of being run over by the forward surge of a free- and self-governing Barotseland.Tukuongote shaa... wa mwana Nongolo kapa wa mwana Muka (if need be), isi wa mwana Nalukapwa.