Remembering May 18—53 years of bondage under Zambia
by a Barotse Patroit
May 18 of each year should be remembered by the people of Barotseland as the day when Barotseland was surrendered and put under the bondage of the Zambian government through the non-honoring of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 signed on May 18 of the same year. Each year this day passed unnoticed. Yet it should remind the people of Barotseland of the painful deceit and cruelty of Kaunda and successive Zambian regimes. How long shall we, as a people, continue to carry this painful and cruel yoke of slavery on our necks, which have now turned us into abject poverty?
May 18, 2017 marks 53 years of slavery under Zambia. Arise Barotseland and fight for the actualization of our independence. No one else will fight for or free us. Let us not deceive ourselves that someone will. The dead do not know that they are dead and the slaves equally do not know that they are slaves, only those free in their minds see their bondage. Here are some examples in Barotseland:
- All offices and jobs have been taken-over by manyai—mostly mabemba and manyanja—while we the owners of the land have been driven into the streets.
- Go to any school in Mongu, our children go to school barefoot while manyai go to school in vehicles.
- Go to any market in Mongu or any township in our territory, manyai can afford to buy our big breams but we the owners of the land can only buy mabango, lingongi or mingale.
- Dogs no longer find leftovers or makolola because we can no longer afford to throw them away. They are eaten as nkukwe the following morning.
- Food leftovers are no longer thrown into dustbins and even the mentally sick have learnt to ask for one kwacha instead.
- Manyai can afford to eat more than three meals a day while we the natives of this country can only eat once or nothing a day. Since we are slave minded and brain washed we have accepted this horrible situation.
- We want to forsake our siLozi language and music—a language spoken by 38 tribes of Barotseland and in 7 countries but seek instead to speak sinyai—mostly sibemba and sinyanja—tribes and play their tribal music—2 tribes out of 36 sinyai tribes of North Eastern Rhodesia spoken in only 2 countries.
- We erroneously call bunyai kwa bukuwa when makuwa left a long time ago.
Arise Barotseland. Rise-up against manyai—our oppressors, job seekers, and destroyer of our rich culture, language, tradition, resources and human rights. Don’t hesitate to join the struggle. Rise-up and fight for our human rights and for the actualization of the independence of our motherland—Barotseland. We declared our independence from the failed unitary state of Zambia on March 27, 2012 through the Barotse National Council Resolutions. Now is the time to implement them. Lineki-Lineki.