The FDD says pronouncement by President Edgar Lungu that him and the Litunga should be the only ones to comment of the Barotse Agreement is wrong, ill-advised and totally misguided.
FDD Spokesperson Antonio Mwanza said the Barotseland Agreement is a national issue and not a private matter between Mr Lungu and His Royal Highness hence should be treated as such and not the preserve of the President.
Mr Mwanza advised government to engage with stakeholders in an open, honest and informative process of dialogue so as to resolve the impasse.
He said the issue can not be resolved by having what he called dark corner meetings at State House.
He challenged President Lungu to make public the Roger Chongwe Commission findings which was tasked to inquire on the Barotseland Agreement.
He said making the findings public will make the country understand and appreciate their thinking and that hiding it was counterproductive and only heightens tension.
Below is a full statement issued to the media
For Immediate Release
The pronouncement by President Edgar Lungu that only him and the Litunga should be the only ones to discuss the Barotse Agreement 1964 is wrong, ill-advised and totally misguided.
The Barotseland Agreement is a NATIONAL issue and not a private matter between Mr Lungu and His Royal Highness The Litunga therefore it cannot be treated as a preserve of Mr Lungu. You cannot resolve such an emotive and thorny issue by holding dark corner meetings at State House.
There is need for the Government to engage in an open, honest and informative process of dialogue with ALL stakeholders if we are to resolve this impasse in a conclusive and amicable manner. We implore President Lungu to make public, the findings of the Roger Chongwe Commission which was tasked to i
It is imperative for all of us to know the actual submissions the people of Barotseland made so that we may all appreciate their thinking and concerns on this matter. Keeping the Report away from the public is counterproductive as it only heightens tension and fuel speculation.
Lastly, we urge the PF Government to publish and circulate the Barotseland Agreement so that people can peruse and appreciate what this document actually entails. At the moment, there is a lot of misinformation and ignorance with regards to the actual content of the BA64. You cannot resolve such national issues on the premise of ignorance and secrecy.
Issued by Antonio Mwanza, FDD Spokesperson
OBVIOUS THIS WAS ALREADY DONE BETWEEN THE TWO INVOLVED PARTIES-BRE & GRZ. THEY DECIDED THAT THE MATTER IS EXCLUSIVELY BETWEEN BRE & GRZ.
In fact Edgar Lungu should make public findings from all those Commissions of Inquiry. A lot of money was spent on them. Can we also get an update on the Malawian Judge Chikopa who was guest to PF govt at a huge expense.
Anthony naena too much. Let Edgar split Zambia into 2 countries like Sudan.
I know that President Lungu is not gifted in the art of addressing people, as such, he makes a lot of mistakes. However, there are also a couple of times when what he says have been unfairly twisted!
Rubbish. The BA64 is already in public domain. The constitution confers us rights and freedoms to hold certain opinions and to express them. We the people of Barotselamd have the right and freedom to discuss the issue and call for an amicable settlement
Well done FDD for speaking the facts & truth.
The Barotseland Agreement 1964 is NOT only for discourse by the Litunga & Lungu as the duo insinuates. The BA’64 is an international treaty between two different protectorates of Barotseland & Northern Rhodesia, signed on 18~5~64 so as to make a UNITARY state of Zambia so that both people of the former & latter states to One Nation. But “one nation” turned into one leader WAMUYAYAYA. Mainza Chona & Simon Kampwepwe were “bullied” to never been presidents.
Unfortunately, KK & UNIP dictatorial regime of 27 years never implemented the BA’64 but repudiated it with impunity in 1969. This was a BREACH of contract hence none binding & therefore, releases parties to revert to the original status prior 24~10~64, thus Barotseland & Northern…
The Barotseland Agreement issue is a monster that was created by Kenneth Kaunda. Let us not deceive ourselves that it will, one day, magically disappear. It won’t. The sooner we confront it, the better. The late president Sata got intimidated by it. Edgar Lungu is now playing the ostrich.
…The Barotseland Agreement 1964, & NOT Barotse Agreement, was a birth certificate of the unitary Zambia & Lusaka Times always deliberately calls it “Barotse Agreement” to mislead the masses. KK nicknamed Barotseland as “western province” in order to subjugate its people. “Western province” is NOT a signatory to the BA’64 neither is KK’s creation BRE.
The Litunga, his Council (BNC), heirs & people of Barotseland on one side, on the other was KK with his UNIP of NR. BRE is also NOT a signatory to BA”64 but the Barotseland Royal Government.
Best is to revert back to Barotseland & Northern Rhodesia. Look at the TRIBALISM, VIOLENCE, Ritual killings & ECONOMY in Zambia, its a FLIP FLOP.
Viva Barotseland, bye neighbour Zambia & visionless PF of Lungu.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
@MUYUNDA LINDUNDA. WHEN WERE U BORN, WHAT NRC DO U HAVE? DID U HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO SEE THE SIGNED BRE&GRZ AGREEMENT IN “PUBLIC DOMAINS”? IF A MARRIAGE IS WATCHED OR INDEED A CEREMONY ATTENDED ON PUBLIC DOMAINS OR MARRIAGE SIGNING BROADCASTED ON WORLD MEDIA. IS THE WHOLE PUBLIC DOMAIN & EVERYONE ELSE WATCHING A PART OF THE MATRIMONY? THE AGREEMENT OR INDEED “THE COVENANT” STILL REMAINS BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES THAT SIGNED. THE REST ARE BUT SPECTATORS, AND SO ARE U. BUT U CAN COMMENT ON IT BUT UNLESS U WERE PRESENT FOR AND WERE PART OF THE AGREEMENT AT THE TIME OF IT BEING SIGNED, YOU ARE NOT A PART & YOU WILL NEVER BE A PART OF IT.
We have enough to deal already
First things first, Zambians are not interested in a drunken president’s meaningless utterances, they want to know which politician is committing murder for rituals in order to perpetuate their unwanted stay in govt. Isn’t this.
Stupid Mwanza…!
Zwd.where is it?
YES MWANZA. TELL THE PROFESSIONAL FAILURE (PF) LEADER HOW TO COMPETENTLY DEAL WITH ISSUES. NATIONAL ISSUES ARE NATIONAL ISSUES NOT LUNGU’S ISSUES. ZAMBIANS DESERVE TO KNOW. LUNGU MUST GO AND LUNGU WILL GO – SAVE ZAMBIA FROM DOOM
Comment: we are one Zambia one nation. Talking just to be heard.
Mr Mwanza is a breath of fresh air in Zambian politics. He is intelligent, smart and professional. Keep up with your good work of checks and balances.
Spoken like a pro… you wonder why Zambians can’t vote for progressive minds like this Mwanza guy opting instead for the likes of Kambwili. And you wonder why we aren’t progressing as a nation.
Because smart people don’t work hard! Just take a close look at people close to you! You will notice that smart people are only good critics but are lazy people!
This is a non starter topic for a poor country. Zambia will not work broken into pieces. We all know this has resurfaced to allow certain people to forage for power they can not get throw winning elections.
There is always agitation, distraction, on the political scene. A lot of loser politicians getting creative to win election. We should all be talking Austerity, not the cost of secession. Where are you going to get the money. Is this the new Constitution Replacement topic. Why not just put it on this coming referendum and be done with it?
Zambia does not work even as it is. Otherwise why is there 80% poverty all over the country and 100% poverty in Barotseland? If Zambia does not work, then we should go our separate ways and do something different for our different groups. There’s no point associating with documented kleptomaniacs and anarchists like Bembas and keep on dreaming that the country will be fine one day. Zambia will never be fine. Zambia is a failed state.
LT YOUR WEBSITE IS TOO BUGGY ITS CRASHING EVERYTHING MOBILE AND PC BROWSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The owner of PF
We neeeed more of these fotos
1100% We Hard-core tribalists are the majority of people behind the UPND party. The tribalism tag cannot be wished way because they the Tonga have created a tribal tag for themselves whether it’s in work places or the communities where they live. Take Mr Magande for example he is the man that sourced funding to persecute bembas and easterners between 2001 and 2008. That agenda has not died; given a chance they will still persecute the two major tribes. Someone needs to apologise.
It is the Bembas who need to apologise for stealing everything they find that belongs to GRZ. This thieving tribe should never be entrusted with power, never again.
The Barotseland Agreement issue is too big for small minds. It was too big for the late Sata. It’s too big for Edgar Lungu. Great minds are the ones now dealing with it. Let Lungu concern himself with the bread and butter issues, which seem to be getting off-hand. He is more adept at a bottle of beer.
Without Kenneth Kaunda, the Barotseland Agreement would not have been. Because of him, it’s no more. It was a marriage of inconvenience, the dissolution of which, was systematically executed by Kenneth Kaunda, himself. As of now, Barotseland is off the hook. It cannot be held custody by a non-binding treaty.
FDD tell us more about the carringhton maize saga which you know better.ECL and the Litunga are right on this one
Whose is ediths running mate?
ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION
Nothing good can come out of these PF thieves running the Zambian govt. However, please note that the BA64 is a very recent enactment. Two years ago the Scottish had to have a reconsideration of their 300 year union with the UK. Hong Kong was returned to the Chinese by the British. And the 1917 Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, leading to the release of new-old nations (Georgia, Ukraine and all those “???stans”). Barotseland is the oldest country in Central Africa which was there long before the 1884 Berlin Conference that created the reviled and contested borders in Africa. Of all disasters and tragedies of the creation of Zambia was to lump Lozis with their polar opposites, the Bembas who love chaos and stealing.
Why should a paper written before independence be important today? Count the number of pipo who valued it who are still alive today? BRE is just another UPND project meant to benefit the few individuals. Way forward let’s work hard and put food on our table. What is it that PF is not doing which UPND OR BRE will come and do you selfish individuals?
The selfish people in Zambia are the Bembas who contracted a national debt of $8billion under PF in 5 years and pillaged and looted all that. Don’t cast aspersions against people who were bystanders (as you claimed “sela tubombeko”) as you looted.
The Copperbelt extending from Chililabombwe through Lufwanyama to Lukanga in Central province and then in Northwestern province from Kasempa, right to the the heart of Balozi land is the area that was stolen by NR. The entirety of Ba lozi also includes Kaprivi of Namibia, and south eastern Angola inhabited by our subjects the Mbundas. These are facts ask anyone older than 70 years that lives in BaLozi land.
Even Southern Province belongs to Ba Lozi. Tongas historically speaking are our subjects.
@ Biemba, who is your subject, you are from angola?
@life experience ba Lozi includes South Eastern Angola as so whether I’m from there or Senanga, katima, lukanga, kasempa, namwala, it still makes me a subject of ba Lozi. You don’t know the history of ba Lozi. Ask anyone that was born before 1948 they will tell you these are facts. There are even huge beacons that were erected extending the whole area that are still in place. Find out from the geomatic survey dept if you doubt. Mbundas, Kaondes, Luvales, Lambas, Ilas, Tongas sought protection from His Majesty the Litunga as far back as the 18th century those are facts. Read the log of David Livingstone and you will know the truth.
I believe if the issue remains sensitive, it must be handled cautiosly. Most people think the Barotse Agreement (1964), is about Cession of land, power, and authority, to be done after independence. They do not understand that Britain decided to offer the independence package to its two protectorates the chance to independence on same terms and same hour in the Agreement. The Royal Highness and the first Republic president agreed and signed on behalf of the two, North-western Rhodesia and North-eastern Rhodesian, protectorates.
@Biemba, His Royal Highness Karonga Gawa Undi has his subjects into Malavian and Mozambiguean territories, but it will be sheer madness if he claimed for the same political land after the UN recognised new boundaries in 1964 and 1975 when the two became independent states. Boundaries in Zambia, as a territory, changed first in 1964, and lastly in 2014 when Micheal Sata gazetted new district. Zambian don’t have to ask people born before 1948; history of Zambian tribes and politics is document in books.
@Joseph Mvula that Gawa Undi never signed anything. He’s just an ordinary chief and not a king mind you. So don’t compare the incomparable.