Legal procedures for re-establishment of Barotseland sovereignty have been met

 

by Saleya Kwalombota

Background The culture of lawlessness in Zambia did not just happen, it has roots in the Kaunda regime, where a political and administrative Legal document—Barotseland Agreement 1964 (BA'64)—was disregarded, thrashed and terminated prematurely. In view of this, late Hon. Mufaya Mumbuna in October 1969 during the heated debate of the second reading of constitution (amendment) Act No.5 that terminated the BA'64 in the Zambian parliament and in response to the speaker's caution to the house not to mention Barotseland or Barotse province because His excellence Kenneth Kaunda had put the territory off the map said,

"Mr. Speaker, Sir...we are put in a very embarrassing position because the very subject we are discussing, the termination of the Barotseland Agreement, the document is still known as the Barotseland Agreement. I have the Agreement here, I don't know how I am going to quote. I hope we shall not be further stopped to continue calling ourselves Barotse people."

This depicts the extent to which our law-makers in defending the BA'64 in the Zambian parliament went through and from that time Kaunda criminalized the name of Barotseland at any fora. This was the genesis that facilitated the exploitation of the constitutional and human rights of the people of Barotseland.

Irrefutable facts
  1. The territory of Barotseland is an existing legal territory, scribbled by eminent boundaries, which are legally founded. Barotseland map was drawn on 11th June 1890 before Northern Rhodesia and Zambia came into being. Therefore, it is illogical to claim that Barotseland is seceding from Zambia.
  2. The unilateral termination of the BA'64 legally buried the relationship that existed between Barotseland and Zambia.
  3. Barotseland has coat of arms, flag, a national anthem (Bulozi fasi la bo Ndata luna) and a national symbol (elephant).
  4. Barotseland national anthem invokes a sense of pride in the nation's achievements, seeks to preserve the nation's culture and is linked to the concept of patriotism. Credit is given to the 2012 BNC delegation that exhibited high degree of patriotism by refusing to sing Zambian national anthem instead they sang the Barotseland national anthem.
  5. Barotseland has a national (official) language—Silozi which is the lingua franca in the territory.
  6. Barotseland has unwritten constitution which governed and still governs the territory democratically and it has no constitutional crisis.
  7. According to the Zambia Independence Order section 20, Barotseland people did not surrender their sovereignty and territory to a new state of Zambia.
  Summary

It is within the jurisdiction of the Barotse National Council to deal with issues of Barotseland national interest and the resolutions are 'irreversible' and even above the Litunga's sphere of influence. On 26th and 27th March 2012 Barotseland validly exercised its right to accept the termination of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 by the Zambian government in 1969. The Barotse Royal Establishment officially wrote and submitted the resolutions to the government of Zambia, which did not rebut them within 28 days as the law stipulates. Therefore, the Barotse National Council  Resolutions of 2012 have full legal effect. The resolutions provided that the disengagement plan between the territories of Barotseland and Zambia must be concluded within the shortest possible time.

Conclusion On the basis of the BNC resolutions of 2012, and under international law, Barotseland has, therefore, legally reverted to the status of being an independent nation. The perceived delay is due to the procedural diplomatic process in meeting statehood. Bulozi fasi la bo Ndata luna