by Mutungulu Wanga,
BNFA Deputy Chairperson-General (Strategy & Diaspora Liaison)
This article discusses the thorny issue of the boundaries of Barotseland by exposing archive documents which help decipher the boundaries of the territory as at midnight 23rd October 1964, when the Republic of Zambia came into being by transformation of the former British Protectorates of Northern Rhodesia into an independent nation. Further, the archive documents are discussed by laying out their intent and demonstrating how they relate to the evolution of the boundaries of Barotseland as they exist today. This is preceded by a brief account of the status of Barotseland: firstly, as a constituent part of Northern Rhodesia; and secondly, as an integral part of Zambia up to 1969 when the unitary treaty cited as the Barotseland Agreement 1964 was arbitrarily and unilaterally terminated by the government of Zambia. Read more