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Kuomboka At Libonda
By Yuyi K Libakeni
As January lingers on, its last day ushers in February the
month during which floodwaters gather across the Barotse floodplain
and Lozi tribesmen, young and old, take to their favourite sport,
swimming or ku yowana, hence the Lozi name of February, Yowa. But
the month also heralds the Kuomboka festive season during which the
Lozi people, by courtesy of their canoes, abandon their flooded
homesteads in the valley for dry homes elsewhere – some within the
floodplain but others on the higher ground of the forest margins.
Kuomboka, meaning coming out of the water unto dry land, is
essentially a way of life, a fight for survival against nature and
as such none can claim to have originated it. The institution is as
old as the settlement of the Aluyi, the Lozi ancestors, in the
Barotse valley which they called Uluyi or Ngulu-ta-Yutoya.
Although this
ceremony is now primarily associated with the Litunga there are
within the Barotse Royal Establishment two other chiefs who perform
this annual evenr in their chiefdoms. These are Mulena Mukwae of
Nalolo, Senanga and Mboanjikana of Libonda, Kalabo, second and third
respectively in the royal hierarchy, both positions being
traditionally reserved for females, This article is designed to
introduce the Kuomboka of Mulena Mboanjikana of Libonda.
Kalabo was the first home of the immigrant Aluyi from the
Congo in
the early 17th century under the leadership of their
grand dame, Mwambwa Njemakati. Dotted about the district are sites
of historic early settlements, including Mwambwa’s own village,
Sifuti and Ikatulamwa, the capital of the first Litunga. It is
Mboanjikana’s Kalabo that is home to the sacred and divine royal
burial grounds of Makono, for the matriarch Mbuywamwambwa, and
Mboo’s Imwambo, at which installation rites of the Litunga are
conducted. Moreover, a new Ngambela or Moyo Imwambo, the Litunga’s
senior wife, needs to be presented at Imwambo for confirmation in
their position. Kalabo is therefore not just the crucible of Lozi
history, traditions and customs but also the terra sancta of the
Lozi, hence the critical position of this chieftainship.
The history behind the development of this chiefdom is long
and rich. Briefly, it was Mboo, who as prince, established Libonda,
originally called Nanguyu, before it was taken over by his sister,
Njikana. Today Njikana and her chief councilor, Induna Muleta, have
developed into a fully blown chiefdom and Njikana is considered the
first Mboanjikana even though this title was first used only in
Lewanika’s reign.
To date five princesses have reigned at Libonda - Njikana,
who was Mboo’s sister; Akatoka Namucoko (1878-1950), Lewanika’s
sister, Makwibi (1951-1959), daughter of Mwanawina 111 (Litunga
1948-68); Lundambuyu (1959-1995), Lewanika’s daughter and Kandundu
(1996 - ), daughter of Yeta 111, (Litunga, 1916-45).
 Njikana
is buried within Libonda between the Kuta and Nayuma harbour; her
grave keeper being named Muisiyata meaning looking after oneself.
Akatoka is buried in Njikana’s own village, Lunde, a stones throw
away the grave keeper called Kanuwe whose story is given below.
Lundambuyu is buried to the south across the Luanginga at Pata Nali
village.
It appears that after the death of Njikana, Libonda
reverted to the direct administration of successive Litungas.
However at some point a commoner, Mukubesa, was put in charge and
was known as Ndeka, simply a commoner with chiefly duties without
the title. Mukubesa was killed by his fellow coup plotters during
the 1884-85 rebellion against Lewanika.
Now if Njikana is the first Mboanjikana what is the origin
of this name? There appears to be no clear answer given to the
writer by various high standing informants. However three
possible explanations are current. First, it is suggested that
Njikana might have had a son named Mboo but who was commonly
identified as Mboo-wa-Njikana (Mboo of Njikana) if only to
differentiate him from Mboo the Litunga. But Njikana is known not
to have had any children.
Second, others point to the Siluyana saying “Mboo anjikana”,
Mboo has rejected me, having been said by Njikana in response to
Mboo’s insistence that she returns to her own village, vacating
Libonda where she had moved without his permission. (Adolphe Jalla,
in his History of the Barotse Nation or Litaba za Sicaba
Sa Malozi records Mboanjikana and her sister Nakatindi tracking
Mboo on his extended hunting safari complaining he had abandoned the
people). But if this is so, what then was Njikana’s own given
name? There is good reason to suggest that the name Njikana might
have been a nickname denoting that the princess was generally a
discontented and complaining type, nalimiye.
The third explanation revolves round the legend of
kanuwe, the mysterious hippo. It is said that in centuries past
there lived a hippo whose custom was to walk out of the waters and
ramble his way up into Nanguyu wa Njikana (the royal village,
Libonda), as the village’s lawful and loyal inhabitants went to bed.
Hre would then help himself to the people’s vegetables before taking
a nap by the Kuta overlooking Njikana’s limbwata (grave).
But before dawn the hippo would saunter back past the limbwata
to the safety of his habitat in the deep waters of the
Zambezi, hardly a
mile away. Through these nocturnal sojourns the hippo cut a furrow
also called kanuwe that can still be seen today! This
inexplicable phenomenon led the people to conclude that the animal
was no ordinary one; it was, so they thought, a human transformed;
it was a metamorphosis of their long dead chief, Njikana. Kanu
we, ka usambu uli munu (hey man, you are no hippo you are one of
us humans) the villagers challenged the visitor. Akowe ambu
kulya mopu, wene kuta Nanguyu wa Njikana ku lungamena kulya
mangambwa ….. (while your fellow hippos are busy munching grass,
you decide on moving up into Njikana’s village Nanguyu eating
up people’s vegetables, pumpkins …..) Convinced it was their dead
chief, the people named the hippo kanuwe referring to it as
mbu wa Njikana, Njikana’s hippo. So it is concluded Mbu
wa Njikana has now become Mboanjikana! Mbu is the
Siluyana word for hippo as is kubu in Silozi.
The answer to
this name search might lie somewhere between the last two versions.
But the hippo version appears to be the more plausible. And so it
is that kanuwe, the Hippo, is today the royal standard for
Mboanjikana and visitors to Kuomboka will see it on the royal canopy
munching its grass uninterruptedly as Her Royal Highness’s loyal
citizens mind their own business of getting the chief – and the
hippo – out of the waters to safe dry land.
When the
festivities of the Kuomboka ceremony of the Litunga are over, the
signal is given for the Mulena Mukwae to move and she will be
followed by Mboanjikana, with a lapse of two to three weeks. Apart
from reasons of protocol, it is necessary to interspace the
activities to afford opportunities to those who would wish to
participate in two or all three ceremonies.
Libonda, the
capital of Mboanjikana, is perched on the bank of the Zambezi at a
point where years ago there was placed a pontoon to ferry both
persons and vehicles to and from Kalabo and Mongu. Libonda is only
almost 1½ hours drive from either Kalabo or Mongu but being on the
Zambezi, speedboats make their way up there throughout the year.
Although it is perched on the
Zambezi, the village is built on such a high mound that there is no time in
recorded history when it was overrun by floods. The people are
proud of this as the Siluyana praise song tells us:
Mundi we
isulumba mbumbi
Meyi kuiya ku
amona
Kuuya ku alatama
Sengamine silibonda
No ku feka sungwela mu ngambayi
Mundi was
musheke ku njelelo,
Wa lun’gamba
balutongo.
The song says
during the dry season, Libonda appears from a distance like a mirage
forest; a village that is never touched by floods because although
floodwaters may be seen gushing out from the river towards the
village, somehow the waters suddenly spread away from the village.
Visitors are haunted by fears that the village, so closely built,
might just collapse into the river but there is never such a
threat. On the contrary, the village is surrounded by beautiful
sands making nice playgrounds while the village remains dry
throughout the year.
During her
Kuomboka, Mboanjikana moves south west where her winter capital
Mulundumano, is built on the banks of the Luanginga river, at the
foot of the western forest edge in Mapungu area, some 20 km south of
Kalabo boma. The place is easily be reached from the boma by boat
or 4WD vehicle or straight from either Libonda or Mongu by
speedboat.
The old winter
capital at Sishekanu to the north east was abandoned in the early
1970’s. Then, large flotillas of canoes accompanied the chief as
they too move to their winter villages. In those early days, the
chief’s Kuomboka was usually preceded by the movement of the large
herds of cattle, for which this area was so famous. This occasion
was itself as picturesque as the royal ceremony.
For the 2003
ceremony, the kick off was scheduled for 8.30 am with the arrival at
Mulundumano at 4 pm. However departure was delayed due to some
dignitaries arriving late. Nevertheless, they arrived a t
5 pm, a journey of some seven hours including lunch break. The
course follows the
Zambezi, past
Nakatindi’s village then Imwambo mundimunene, exiting
thereafter and following Ikatulamwa canal. A short stop is
made at Imwambo for paying homage to the father of the nation.
During good floods, as 2003 was, it becomes unnecessary to follow
the canal. With high waters, boats can cut across the plains. Apart
from being a shortcut, this route provides a view of the main
historic villages: Ikatulamwa itself, Namanda the burial village of
Yeta 1, the third Litunga and in the distance, Makono. The route
finally joins the Luanginga at Mwandi, the capital of Yeta 1, after
lunch break at Nondi. It is possible to follow the Zambezi down to
the Luanginga confluence then upstream. From Mwandi the route
follows the Luanginga down to Mulundumano, the destination, where
multitudes of the chief’s subjects are gathered to receive her.
The flotilla of
boats, as might be expected, is much smaller here, largely for two
reasons. First, the people of Libonda unlike those of Lealui are
not forced out by floods and so most prefer to stay put. Second,
those who move do not have to aim for Mulundumano for they have
their own established traditional winter homes elsewhere; after all
Mulundumano is of recent creation and largely undeveloped. The main
royal boats, include the official barge, Indila, the Matende which,
as at Lealui carries royal property, and Luwabelwa for the Prince
Consort in addition to the Natamikwa and its sister boat Mundende,
the surveillance boats. Nevertheless what lacks in numbers is more
than made up in the paddling expertise displayed by these men whose
daily lives are governed by water and the boat. To underwrite this,
the point is often made that in the past the bow of the Nalikwanda
was a preserve for Silowa Kachaka Nalikundumbwa, Ilicima Wamunyima
of Suumi and Imbwae Imikendu; all men of Libonda. For centuries
Libonda has been the kindergarten for the royal paddlers. Indeed
the people of Libonda proudly say “mutunda ku aci ka keelwa ngoma,
ku aci kuna ku tanga ilibeba” meaning that those who hail from
Libonda cannot fail to dance the game of Kuomboka because it is they
who started it.
The barge, Indila,
carries the name of the barge that Mwambwa Njemakati, the Lozi
ancestress, used on the last stretch into their new home down the
Zambezi. Legend is that it was a gift from Lunda chief
Kapin’ga who later married her daughter Mbuywana, alia Nakubyana.
In accepting the boat Mwambwa had named it Indila, the Way!
It is thus considered the first royal barge (as Nalikwanda was built
later) of the Lozi and it is for this reason that it is Indila that
carries a new Litunga from Makono rituals to Lealuyi, while
Nalikwanda, with its Maoma drums, meets the Indila midway (the
Litunga’s barge mix includes one Indila). Luwabelwa, the Consort’s
barge means we are happy!
 Although
Libonda dates back centuries, it had no royal drums until 1975 when
the then Litunga Mbikusita, authorized the issue of a set of the
Siluyana ensemble – but no maoma. Before that time only a small
drum, mondo, beaten with sticks like maoma was used to signal the
approaching curfew; summon the public as maoma do or signify the
start and end of business hours at the Kuta. It is still in use as
a timekeeper. And so the royal beats so familiar at Lealuyi will
still be heard as the royal procession makes its way across the
floods to Mulundamano. But the people of Libonda were in the past
famous for the royal dance Lishemba which was a standard bearer of
this chiefdom. It was an imitation of the Crested Crane,
Liowanyi, which the Lozi admire profusely for beauty,
gracefulness and gender sensitivity, both sexes wearing the same
plumage: liowanyi wa namkuma wa ndande uli muwa, umulume ngala bo
umukati na ngala kame goes the praise. The Lozi loved the bird
so much that it was domesticated in many villages – and it is this
which once helped sour Luvale-Lozi relations. The story is that a
group of Luvale travellers sought night shelter in a Lozi village
and as per custom, the headman warmly welcomed them. However in the
thickness of the night the maowanyi birds reared in the
village began to sing and dance their song ouanyi, ouanyi ..
(who is this one?) in Lozi but to the Luvale guests the words
sounded ounanyi which in Luvale is a big insult. They
immediately packed and left without a word claiming “the Lozi have
told their birds to insult us .” Another incident is narrated when
during the time of Lewanika’s overthrow in 1884-85 the people of
Likapai area anxious for his return, pressed one favourite princess
of his to assure them of his return. She took out her nalubeso,
a small ornamental hoe, and threw it into the river. The hoe drifted
back to the bank, indicating Lewanika’s return to the throne. Three
times she did this and the men around tried with the same results.
Excited, they all rose dancing lishemba to the tune
mutabeni showa wa namakuma (let us rejoice with gladness like
the crested crane). Lishemba, as a dance, died out a long
time ago although I have visions of my grandfather and other Indunas
doing their thing in the late forties. At Lealuyi, liowanyi
is the symbol of Moyo Imwambo, the Litunga’s senior wife, and her
official paraphernalia is embossed with the bird.
Kalabo, like most of our rural bomas, is without most
modern town facilities except there is electricity, TV and a
hospital. Accommodation is scarce. The old government hostel has
been taken over by road contractors. World Vision
Zambia are
developing a small guest house and there are one or two others. But
camping facilities are available, at the local secondary school.
The local District Administrator, himself an expert paddler, is keen
to facilitate visitors to this area too.
Understandably the tourist potential of this ceremony
remains untapped or still obscured. But the run in the wide
Zambezi and
Luanginga, the unobstructed wanderings in the plains en route, all
give the casual visitor and tourist a relaxed view. Moreover the
regatta that is sometimes, like last year, held as part of their
Kuomboka at Kalabo Boma provides a visitor with a fuller enjoyment.
The wide-open expanse of water at the Boma allows for artistic barge
maneuvers and affords paddlers the freedom to display their prowess
to the full, uninhibited by space. In addition the long horse-shoe
shoreline at the Boma gives unlimited seating space and viewing. Now
with the Mongu-Kalabo road under construction and planned
developments in the Liuwa National Park, there is room for
developing the tourist potential of this ceremony. But for now
pioneers are invited to blaze the trail.
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March 2004