YOUR INTENTION TO DEPOSE HENRY KANYANTA SOSALA AS CHITI MUKULU IN 2021
We wish to make it clear that we are now fed up with the utterances and all demeaning remarks by one of your senior members of the UPND management committee.
Mr. Patrick Mucheleka on the radio station each time he visits Kasama. These continuous attacks on radio by your senior member confirms what appeared in the daily nation paper of 16th October 2018, under the heading, “opposition intends to dispose Henry Kanyanta Sosala as Chiti Mukulu in 2021.
First and foremost, in order not to be misled, and for the sake of having knowledge of Bemba history on the ancestors and Royal lineage of the current Mwine Lubemba (Paramount Chief Chitimukulu-Henry Kanyanta Manga II), we urge the UPND to ask Patrick Mucheleka to provide them the details he has in his possession about our Paramount Chief, if he doesn’t have it, we are prepared to avail it to you.
The history of the ancestors and royal lineage of our Paramount Chief Chitimukulu now Henry Kanyanta Manga II, is very clear, this history cannot be erased by anyone, let alone Patrick Mucheleka, UPND included!
Preamble
David wrote: ‘’Lord, place a guard at my mouth, a sentry at the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3). And his son Solomon added: ‘’Be careful what you say and protect your life. A careless talker destroys himself.(Proverbs 13:3).
The Current Mwine Lubemba (Paramount Chief Chitimukulu) Bemba Royal Lineage. Chitimukulu Chitapankwa’s sister Kasonde (Chandamukulu II) had two sons Mubanga Chipoya (Chief Mwamba III) and Mutale Sichansa(Senior Chief Nkula II) and two daughters, Kangwa Chonya and Chimbabantu.
Kangwa Chonya had four sons, Kanyanta (later became Chitimukulu VIII); Luatila (later died as Chief Nkolemfumu III); Mubanga (later became Senior Chief Mwamba V) and Mboonkali (died as Chief Nkolemfumu V) and the only daughter Chilufya died before she had married.
And here is the history of the current Mwine Lubemba (Paramount Chief Chitimukulu) bemba royal lineage through Chimbabantu (later Chieftainess Chandamukul III). In the ‘’History of the Bemba’’ Andrew Roberts wrote: ‘’The Ngoni recruited support among the Lungu, Mambwe, Namwanga and Iwa. They returned to Manga with a large force and launched a successful attack, in which they killed Mukukamfumu II, Kasonde, a sister of Chitimukulu Chitapankwa and captured her daughter Mwango Chonya (later known as Chilobelobe: meaning the Lost One)(ibid. p. 145).
W.V. Brelsford in ‘’The Succession of Bemba Chiefs’’ wrote: ‘’Chimbabantu had been captured when she was very young, about 12-14 years of age, by the Ngoni during the raid. She was sold by the Ngoni to a Fungwe native who married her. Some years later greetings and messages began to come through from her by way of ivory traders. Kafola, the son of Mukukamfumu III was told to make enquiries and he discovered where she was and so she was finally brought back about 1890 with her Fungwe husband. He was given ivory and he went away leaving Chimbabantu and her two children Musenga and his sister Chabili. The two children are now Chief Nkolemfumu VI and Chieftainess Chandamukulu IV. The former will probably become Paramount and the latter’s sons too perhaps. After her return home Chimbabantu (now Chandamukulu III) successfully married three Bemba and had two girls and a son, one child by each husband. These three are Kasonde, Mubanga and Mutale Nshika (currently chief Mpepo IV).’’
Lying is defined as: ‘’ To say or write something which is not true in order to deceive someone.’’ God said: ’’I hate and detest all lies (Psalm 119:163).’’ Solomon wrote: ‘’The Lord hates liars, but is pleased with those who keep their word.’’ (Proverbs 12:22).
A lie-detector is defined as: ‘’a piece of equipment used to try to discover if someone is telling lies.’’ Our ancestors had also some kind of lie-detector i.e., traditional methods through the application of herbs or concoctions (umwafi) to prove whether one was telling the truth or lying. Dr. Mbita Chitala in ‘’ A Short History of The Bemba People of Northern Zambia 1485-1946’’ has translated in English the application of umwafi from the Bemba history book called ‘’Ifya Bukaya.’’ The Bembas pretended to surrender and promised to pay homage to the Ngoni. Then three Bemba chiefs, Chitimukulu, Mwamba and Makasa sent ambassadors to the Ngoni. And since the Ngoni were not very sure if really and indeed the Bemba had surrendered they subjected them to the cultural lie-detector.
And here is Dr. Chitala’s account: ‘’Then they summoned Mukuli who was the envoy representing King Makasa. They paraded him on a marked ground (mu cishilwa). A young man took a wooden spoon (akapande) and fed the poison (umwafi) to Mukuli and he swallowed the poison in whole. Then he was given a bark of a tree (icipande) to chew and swallowed. The young took the gourd vessel (ulukombo lwa lunda) which contained the poison and forced Mukuli to drink the concoction. After he drank he was forced to drink some water. Then they let him wander aimlessly in the marked yard (cishilwa). Then he suddenly began to vomit and he vomited so much that all the concoction that he had taken was let out. The people on seeing this commented thus: ‘atuuko mwafi, tali na kebo mundi’ (he has vomited all the poison, he has no case (kebo) in his stomach).
‘’The same poison test was administered to Kapande, the envoy of King Mwamba who also did not succumb to the poison test and he too vomited all the concoction and he also survived. Then they summoned Kapoma king Chitimukulu’s envoy and subjected him to the same poison test. When Kapoma drank the concoction, he started wandering aimlessly in the marked yard, but he developed dizziness (alapungushima). He did not vomit the poison as others had done. Eventually, the energy in Kapoma waned and he fell to the ground. The people watching Kapoma die slowly, poured scorn on him.’’ And tradition has it that besides going through the ‘’mwafi’’ poison testing Queen Chimbabantu had also to undergo various testings to really prove her identity.
After the death of Chitimukulu Kanyanta in 1943, there was a succession wrangle between Senior Chief Musenga and Senior chief Nkula Musungu and the issue of Musenga’s family background was brought into the campaign. And here is what Brelsford wrote: ‘’…. Chimbabantu was too young to have been cicatrized with Bemba markings, but she was old enough to remember her relatives and it was her message, revealing her knowledge of them, by the traders that first drew their attention to the fact that she was alive. When she returned she had Ngoni face markings and her ear lobes had been slit and enlarged. But she proved her identity then, and was accepted as Chimbabantu by all branches of the clan up until the present, so we do not think any questioning can be allowed now.’’ (ibid. p. 13). (emphasis mine). King Solomon wrote: ‘’The Lord sees to it that truth is kept safe by disapproving the words of liars.’’ (Proverbs 22:12).
From the foregoing we can deduce that Queen Mother Chimbabantu returned back home in 1890 and it is amazing that in 2018 thus 128 years later, somebody born in the 1960s claims to know much more! In fact Musenga who was born in a foreign land was accepted as a legitimate Bemba royal and became Chitimukulu 33, while his sister became Queen Mother Chandamukulu IV! Whereas, on the other hand, Brelsford had made it clear: ‘’ After her return home Chimbabantu (now Chandamukulu III) successfully married three Bemba and had two girls and a son, one child by each husband. These three are Kasonde, Mubanga and Mutale Nshika (currently chief Mpepo IV).’’ (emphasis mine). And of the ‘’two girls,’’ the current Paramount Chief Chitimukulu’s maternal grandmother was Kasonde Chisuna.
And it is just unbelievable to the extreme extent of how people can hate an individual like the current Mwine Lubemba (Paramount Chief Chitimukulu Kanyanta Manga II)
We want to make it very clear that the supreme body that appoints Mwine Lubemba, Paramount Chitimukulu is, “Bashi Lubemba”, and once the Paramount Chief is appointed, no one has powers what so ever to reverse the appointment. Be reminded that just a few years ago, the late President Micheal Chilufya Sata, (may his soul rest in peace), tried to tamper with this process but failed lamentably and later made peace to the current Paramount Chief Chitimukulu before he died. We are talking about the man full of knowledge on Bemba history, a well-respected son of the land.
This stance initiated by Mucheleka do not mean well to all well-meaning true sons of Bemba Chiefdom. And it makes sad reading that UPND management committee where Mr. Mucheleka sits, truly supports this dream which can never realized in any way. We are made to believe that if UPND intends to run Zambia by tampering with Bemba traditions, and indeed interfering with any other traditional arrangements in our country, then their intention is to divide the country and this do not mean well for Zambia.
We are alive to the fact that after the 2016 presidential and general elections, Bembas in Namwala were mistreated and the UPND remained mute over the issue, slowly we turn to believe that this could be your deliberate policy!
We shall from today on wards treat all forms of disrespecting remarks from Mr. Mucheleka whether on radio or in print media as the official opinion of United Party for National Development, so cage your member. If he doesn’t stop to insult our Paramount Chief Chitimukulu, we shall be compelled to call for llamfya, the Bemba Supreme Council and inform them of your intention to destroy the Bemba tribe when you come into power. When you fight the Paramount Chief, you fight the entire Bemba tribe, we are therefore capable of instructing all our village headmen to explain to the people of your ill intentions. So, stop it!