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The White Tribesmen Of The West
By Yuyi K Libakeni
In most parts of the world including Zambia, a
nickname is one of the occupational hazards of a teacher. In
colonial Zambia this nicknaming was extended to the District officer
corps, largely because, I presume, they were the ones who routinely
maintained closest contact as a matter of duty, with the Africans. .
But traders and missionaries had their fair share too.
The local names given were in general reflective of
tbe physical or behavioral characteristics of the subject. In the
Western Province which, for the historical setting, we refer to as
Barotseland. This syndrome can be traced back to the early
explorers.
At the top was David Livingstone who was called
Munali. Although the Lozi do not claim to have originated the name
Munali, it is contended that Livingstone was so named following the
new maize breed called Munali that had just been introduced from
Angola at the time of his visits. The colour of the maize resembled
that of his tanned skin. The other English-speaking missionary to
venture this way F S Arnot was named Munalinyana, Munali junior.
Both Manjolo and Polota were corruptions of Major Serpa Pinto and
Porto Silva, both Portuguese explorers. Jolosi was Westbeech, a
corruption of his first name, George, while Jolosinyana, the young
George, was given to George Middleton.
Among the missionary groups, the most outstanding was
Francois Coillard named Mungole, the lengthy talker. His prayers
were long and sermons non-stop tying down his congregations for
hours, hence Mungole wa silungotomeka. The artisan Waddell was
appropriately named Ngangula, builder, while Rev. E Beguin was
called Silasaw. He would castigate you mercilessly in the morning
but pamper you in the evening, nothing sticks to his heart.
The list of District Officers is led by A F B Glennie
who in 1953 was the first resident commissioner in Mongu. He was
Provincial Commissioner, Mongu in 1945 at the critical and sensitive
period of Yeta III’s abdication as Litunga and the succession of
Imwiko, father of the present Litunga. He was a keen admirer of the
Lozi royalty for which he was named Mwabange. In Luyana, the
original language of the province, Mwabange means my relative
and it had become a high title for an exalted prince at Lealuyi
during, Lewanika's time. For Glennie it was as if he had become the
Litunga's relative.
G C Rawlins was the first Resident Secretary in the
reorganized Provincial Administration prior to Independence and in
the fifties a Committee on the reorganization the reorganisation of
the then Barotse Native Government (BNG). It would appear he enjoyed
a bottle of fresh Barotse milk more than he did with his Scotch, for
which he was named Manonga. Mu lukisa, mu lukise, please make
the necessary arrangements was a familiar call from Major I H Wethey
who was given to orderliness and this earned Wethey the
sobriquet Mulukise.
Mwenyeka means giving out light, such as torchlight,
especially in darkness, to aid search. In the fifties, there was a
prolific witch finder, much in demand in the province, who assumed
Mwenyeka as his trade name. So when G J Labuschagne, a District
Officer, developed a keen interest in witchcraft and witch finding,
he was named after this renowned witch finder, Mwenyeka. Lingongwe
is the sticky stuff made from insect secretions and used by the Lozi
to seal boat leaks, as a hard holding glue. Hence, lingongwe is used
to refer to someone who holds firmly, as J B W Anderson was thought
to do.
Lungunina is Luyana for irrepressible hatred which
name was given to G Charlton-Jones while J G Lawrence earned for
himself Kabanze, scorpion.
S P Bourne had protruding teeth like a mole or Ngeti
in Lozi, which was his share. For being moody, R 0 Ingram was
nicknamed Simbilu as was J B M Walton, a loner, named Kangumu.
Good looks were also recognised, as were the ugly. G
Hughes-Chamberlain was named Lusenge, a slender and handsome man.
There was Safwimpa, a thickset, dumpy character whose given name was
less known. J F Worrington had a receding hairline for which he was
named Kabalanyana, little plain. A man with a big head is known
Lingandwe and so was M G Billings. G R R Stevens looked strong and
stout like a pole, Musumo. Stevens had the distinction of being a
guide to Litunga Mwanawina III during the latter’s London visit for
the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.
For R Crawford-Benson his lame arm had to be
recognised in the name Sikaboko, and for his fat loose body, B W
Hasties was called Matepeta and TL Russell, Mafuta.
Liilami, denoting one who enjoys trouble spots and
fights, was reserved for J P Ray-Robinson who gained notoriety for
his involvement in 1929 as District Officer in Mongu, in the murder
case that involved the late Ngambela Mataa Ndiku.
HC de Evans who walked like a sheep was called
Mwendambelele.
Longolongo is coined from ku longomoka, coming
out ceaselessly, and is used to describe a very tall person such as
was Mr Elder, and there was a popular song in honour of his
length. Kangamba is a small animal known for its bad smell and a
Mr Mockrel, a teacher at the Barotse National School was nicknamed
Kangamba by his students.
"Mulabona Mapenzi", Tonga for you will see, promising
trouble, was the nickname for A J Smith. Smith came to Kalabo from
Kalomo where he had picked up this Tonga saying which he used every
morning during inspections of his District Messengers drill.
H H Fisher was thought indecisive and circuitous so
Matinguluka, going round in circles, was his name. J A Cottrell was
Principal of the Barotse National
 School-cum-Provincial
Education Officer in the thirties before he came to Munali. He then
became Director of African Education and on retirement Director of
African Affairs with the Lusaka Municipality. He was called Ndate
Silishebo, father of Silishebo, one of his sons was named
Silishebo by his African playmates.
One of the most controversial District Commissioners
in the Western Province was J O Lemon of Kalabo who in 1957/8 set in
motion the greatest official witch hunt in the country’s history and
set the whole province on fire, thus earning the name Kamilatu,
trouble shooter. It was said that when in Kalomo he had set in
motion a similar campaign against illegal firearms.
M Armor was a development-oriented officer who put
through a canal digging programme in Kalabo, including boat building
and boating itself, ensuring that his messengers also learned the
skills. He organised a very successful boating Regatta in 1959
before setting up the government boat building school, probably the
first at Siavonga. He was nicknamed Kawayawaya which is popularly
said to indicate that Armor was indecisive, and hesitant. Clearly,
this is a misrepresentation of the man, for had it been so the
complex programmes above that he captained would not have been.
People who know advise that the name Kawayawaya referred to his
failure to concentrate on one project at a time. In fishing
parlance ku wayawaya means fishing here and there.
In the late fifties, two brothers fought over which
of them should be called Major Gray. Major Gray was an elderly but
relatively junior officer at the Boma in Mongu. Whenever there were
preparations for a function, road repairs, office maintenance,
dredging of the harbour, Major Gray would be there. He was the
perpetual in-charge of the labour gangs. He was everywhere and known
all over the township, better than his bosses which explains why
both brothers fancied being called Major Gray. He was recognised by
the Luvale name Chinyemba (Sinyemba), a man who never rests. Then
there was one P A Simay whose physique or character offered no
attractions to name makers, save for the rhyme in his name, Sime he
was called.
The province had a large group of white traders
including Jews, Dutch and British, but no Indians, some of whom were
appropriately nicknamed. Libebe was a great rainmaker so when trader
Darington claimed rain-making powers he was named Nalibebe. Eden was
a boat builder who built many barges, lisepe, which gave him his
name of Nalisepe. Clark was another trader at Kalabo who was called
Naipelekela, meaning I am self-employed. Maybe he used to boast
about this.
D M Brough was one of the first white traders in
Kaoma in 1912. He quickly established himself as a whistling man,
for which he earned the nickname Miloli.
Then there was the tall and hefty J L Pretorius who
was Mongu manager Susman Brothers trading network. He often wore
muulu, a charm armband ostensibly for physical strength and
often challenged his workers to a duel. He was given to shouting and
yelling (much like the character in popular TV series, Fawlty
Towers) at his workers prodding them to work faster, now, now,
wangu wangu in Siluyana and was therefore appropriately named
Liwanguwangu.
H Hoodson, Mufukunyama, who, apart from running a
butchery at Limulunga was a great meat eater and people feared he
might die from meat constipation, mufu-ku-nyama. W H Diamond traded
at Mongu and Lealuyi and for his meaty body he was called Situnula,
a big chunk of meat. C D Ellis originally traded in Mongu but when
he became bankrupt, he re-established himself at Libonda, where he
came to be known as Kupalelwa (having failed) in reference to his
earlier business failure. In time, however the meaning tended to
shift towards "place of last resort" since for most of the time he
was the only trader there. He was married to a local woman who was
popularly known as Ma-Bushumani (the mother of Bushmen) on account
of her short son. While his colleagues were busy with the search for
DNA, Prof. Max Gluckman of Wits and Manchester Universities and a
former Director of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute spent many years
in the 1940s searching the science of witchcraft. He was named
Makapweka for his excessive generosity to his informants.
Ronald Storrs, the third Governor of Northern
Rhodesia was the first Governor to visit Lealuyi in 1933. The
Litunga, Yeta III decided to break taboo and played the maoma royal
drums in honour of the Governor. This break with tradition and
custom raised the wrath of the people who saw it as a harbinger of
the hell yet to come. They cursed Storrs calling him Governor
Namalyanga, a scoundrel. The curse and scorn formed the lyrics
of a popular song sung for many years across the kingdom. Hardly
four months after this incident, Storrs was hurriedly transferred
and not even allowed to receive Prince George whose visit Storrs had
been busy organising.
Now, as we close this survey we might as well go to
"sleep" with F H Law or Lingomba. Law came to Mongu around
1910 as an employee of the recruiting agency, the Rhodesian Native
Labour Bureau and later established a very popular shop in Mongu.
Unfortunately the shop had no fixed operating times, Law was a man
of siestas: opening and closing as he felt. He was thus likened to
the Ground Hornbill bird, Lingomba, which also enjoys
its sleep. And so Mr Law became Mr Lingomba.
The author is indebted to the National Archives of
Zambia and many unnamed informants.
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March 2004