as he paddles away his canoe across the Zambezi River for the Likumbi
Lyamize traditional ceremony.
Zambia got it’s name from the Mighty Zambezi river with its source in the Ikelengi hills in Mwinilunga district.
A monument at the Zambezi source was unveiled on October 24, 1964. There is a copper plate at the centre of the independence monument. It’s inscribed, “This plague unveiled on 24 October, 1964… is dedicated to those people, men and women, who by their personal sacrifice enabled independence to be achieved.
Zambezi comes from the Lunda expression Nzambi enzi which literally means “God Come”.Kalonga ka Nzambi means the river of God
Therefore Zambia means Land of God.
Happy 54th Birthday Zambia!!
Zambia got raw deal from its incompetent leaders. Which river does the majority of its cursed leaders flow from?
Land of God??
Jesus will come and kick the hell out of you, as he did to those doing corruption in the temple.
Zambia got raw from its incompetent tribal H-opposition masquerading as a political party.
The leader of a tribalism party got the money out of Zambia which he swindled the privatisation agency and Zambia and took it to PANAMA, a tax haven country. The Tribal H-organisation doesn’t talk about it and it hallucinates that this was not “Corruption.” No wonder no sane Zambian can vote for a TRIBALISM-prone H-ORGANISATION which basically is a COALITION OF THE WICKED.
Zambia has been divinely protected by God since its inception. Calamity has visited many African nations but Zambia. That is why we should continue to pray for peace and ask God to confuse the confused if they deliberately refuse to be sane like most Zambians in the LAND of GOD.
Doesn’t add up. No one knows what Zambia means.
Ba lusaka times the source of zambezi is NOT ikelengi hills, the source is nkakawani village ,,if you said kaleni hills you would have been close but 48km away,,,,, imwe ba PF cadres you still fail even with those leakeges
Praise God for Zambia’s destiny. God is making a way for us. The foundation is God and the country will forever be sustained by God. God Bless Zambia
Ndobo there is no village at the source of the Zambezi are you dreaming? It is Kalene hills and it’s a lonely spot.
God bless Zambia
Amen.
You are blessed with everything yet you have petty thugs for leaders!!
I only know one PETTY THUG by the name of UNDER FIVE.
But, who attended the meeting when the discussions about the name were going on? It is not clear who named the country Zambia and if it really came from Zambezi. Why didn’t we call the country Zambezi then? What was the reason for its change to Zambia, and what does Zambia mean? These are million dollar questions that must be answered on days like this!!
I gather it’s Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe who came up with the name Zambia at Mulungushi rock where KK et al has gone for inspiration. A lot of suggestions came up including Zambesia. Maybe someone out there knows better. Feel free to educate me.
Zambezia is the correct name we should have been known as. One day the whole Zambezia or Zambesia will be re-unified to include Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. We will get better leadership to arrive there. Probably more territories in SADC will eventually be added to overcome these 50 to 124 year old borders that started with the 1894 border commissions.
Zambia according to Norman Carr in his book “Kakuli”, was coined by Arthur Wina and not Simon Kapwepwe, yet his wife, now the Vice President does nothing in the midst of attempted historical assassination by the current regime to protect his legacy. Simon Kapwepwe had suggested the name Kumukuba to mean the country of Copper
Zambezia did come up but because there already was a province by that name in Mozambique it was discarded
You are right.
People like Anthony mwikuta are busy writing fictional books about undeserving Jona ,titled Against all odds “mxm”! Kupusa bati …praising failures.
A book onto Zambia,s rich and detailed history would have benefited the country. It is currently difficult to get information about our rich heritage and culture.
Arsenal FC has a vist Rwanda on their shirt sleeve and baboons in cabinet are forever driving the country to the ground.
There is always confusion when it comes to who named the country. I’ve heard the Arthur Wina story that he named the country but that’s NOT true. The one who named the country is Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe. During the struggle for our liberation when SMK was a member of the ANC under Nkumbula, in his diary he wrote down potential names for the ‘new nation’. Among them where Muchinga, Mukuba and Zambezia. The ANC broke up when SMK decided to leave the party with KK following soon after.
SMK and KK decided to form a new party, with the naming of the future ‘independent republic’ as a top priority. In the meeting, the party were leaning towards the name Zambezia but some felt it was a bit too cumbersome (it did not roll off the tongue). SMK then suggested to shorten and alter it to…
I have been to the source and this place in is a bush and the road is gravel from Mwinilunga boma, the most surprising thing is if you actually see the source of this mighty river one won`t believe, it is a small call it hole in the ground for lack of a better word and to think this small hole breaths water into the mighty river one can not believe, truly GOD can do wonders.
@ Jonny I too visited the source of the mighty Zambezi and noted neglect of both vegetation protection and monument let alone the parking. The reception with its visitors book are nothing to take pride in!
cont. SMK then suggested to shorten and alter it to ZAMBIA and everyone was in agreement with the name. This also led to the founding of the Zambia Africa National Congress ZANC. KK and even Andrew Sardanis who was there in the frontlines of the independence struggle confirm this story to be TRUE.
Logic doesn’t flow. Why “land of God” instead of “God comes” for the meaning of Zambia?
Factually speaking, the whole earth is the land of God, not just Zambia. The Bible says “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” Psalm 24
Also: “He hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” Acts 17:26
Does Zambezi mean “Nzambi enzi”? I do not think this is the origin of that name. The river is called Yambezhi in Mwinilunga. Where does Nzambi come from? In fact, most of the rivers in that area have the morpheme enzhi.
You are lying.Zambia got its name from Gambia With Z for Zulu whilst G for Gunase……
You’re right in a way. Zambia just like Gambia got it’s name from the Portuguese. The Zambia name came as a result of locals/natives mispronouncing ‘cambio’ the Portuguese word for river.
Stop dreaming. This is not rocket science. Kaunda, Mainza Chona, Lisulo, Mundia, Kapwepwe and Kamanga all met in the late 50’s and came up with the name Zambia derived from the longest river in the territory, Zambezi. Zambia was later to become part of the ZANC name after Kaunda left Nkumbula’s ANC.
A short but essential piece of history. I knew Zambia got it’s name from Zambezi but never really bothered to research on the word meaning. That’s awesome in the truest sense of the word.
Don’t console yourselves yet, when was the river named? Who told you they were referring to the Almighty God Jehovah, It could be a from one of the traditional gods of our ancestors.
Zambias independence would be incomplete without the mention of BIG NAMES
1. Mama Julie Chikamonke
2. Lawrence Katilungu
Mama Julie Chikamoneka was a woman and half
Julia Chikamoneka (born Julia Mulenga Nsofwaand popularly referred to as Mama Chikamoneka) (1910 — 20 March 1986) was a fierce activist and freedom fighter in colonial Zambia. Chikamonekawas a moniker she adopted to hide her identity when mobilising citizens to avoid being jailed, which happened quite routinely. The literal translation in Bemba is “it will be seen.” She was famously dubbed “Mama UNIP” for her relentless fearless often guerrilla tactics.
Chikamoneka organised women protests against colonial oppression and was a founding member of the Women’s Brigade in 1951. The Brigade housed nationalist leaders, raised…
In March 1960, Mama Chikamoneka, with other women, marched to the District Commissioner’s office where they intruded and slapped him. Then, accompanied by Emilia Saidi and Mandalena Mumba, proceeded to strip down to her waist before leading a group of women protesters on a march to the national airport.[3]
Mama Chikamoneka’s most legendary act of defiance was her decision to march half naked with other activists in public to protest the abhorrent colonial regime and to call for immediate independence. This happened in 1960 when Ian McLeod, Secretary of States for the Colonies, visited Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia). McLeod famously wept as a result of this action, and Chikamoneka called it “the most amusing incident in my life.” In her view, to show her nakedness was the highest form of…
Very nice article. Can we have more of these. The debate above is also very enriching.
Yea because no under5s can comment since most of them were born in the 90s. All they know is mazoka and hh and upnd.
Yes, most UNDER FIVES were born in the 1990s and they have no idea about how Zambia was born. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Zambia.
Happy Birthday Zambia !
But before the advent of modern nationhood what did each tribe call their nation(s) ? The only Zambians who had a name were the Lozi with Barotseland.
My ancestors were chased by shaka n settled in eastern province, bembas also came from Congo. Lozi’s also crossed over. Some tribes such as Tonga’s seem to be the indigenous as in there roots are here. Is this correct?
@SkyLAb, I think you are right! If I can recall my history. I am writing some history in another field but covered some parts on Zambia. Nothing is said about the TONGA. They were likely indigenous unless someone has any other evidence.
Probably the ancient Zambians around the source of the Zambezi worshiped the river itself. We had our own way of worshiping and communicating with our gods. The colonialists came with their own religious doctrine and introduced us to a white Jesus whom we worship even now. The gods of our forefathers were declared evil and satanic. We are now carry the heavy cross of a foreign god. We are far from religious freedom.
There is no scriptures in the Bible where Jesus Christ was described by the Color of his skin. As such, know that Jesus should not be given an earthly perspective mindful of Color. In His mission, he identified Himself as having been sent by God His Father the Creator of Heaven and Earth and not a Father of some skin Color but Creator of all things.
Thus, Jesus Christ is not a White god. But Son of the God who created Heaven, Earth, Sea and all that is in them. Acts.4:24.
Choose whom you’ll believe…. The wisdom of fallen Man, which is of the Devil, or the wisdom of the God of Jesus Christ.
The name Zambia came from Chief Nzamani. Just another version of the story.
The name Zambia and our currency Kwacha/Ngwee were all coined by no other than Arthur Nolutulu Lubinda Wina. Now that Bembas and Nyanjas know that they are living under Barotse names, just wait and see how they will watch to change the name of the country to Kolwestan and the currency to Koswe/Mbuzi!
Please Njangwamuloty, Donchi share half baked stories.
“Kwacha” was used by Kamuzu of then Nyasaland as a rallying pro independence slogan, before Zambia used it.
Malawi went on to get independent, & name their currency Kwacha which means dawn, & Tambala Rooster.
Zambia followed after their own Independence, naming their currency Kwacha, & Ngwee, “ngwee” meaning “bright” to signify Bright new dawn of independence. However happy Independence countryman.
Very unacceptable statements from a small-minded Tribalist.
The Names of the people you’ve mentioned don’t in any way relate to you except for sharing tribal biology.
The same way Jesus Christ called the Jews that You are of your Father the Devil despite Him being Jew, even you, these Men could have called you similarly. Their Hearts and yours don’t agree anywhere.
These people used to consult each other in all matters and had healthy conversations, debates and agreements. Had it been like you and your Scouts, you couldn’t have won Independence.
What package does the department of tourism have for those that would like to visit our country? nothing.
A detailed study on potential tourist spots and monuments needs to be made and a proper maketing strategy devised.
Its indeed worrying how a cabinet meeting chaired by the President every tuesday of the week would not bring to task the people in charge of the tourism ministry in terms of strategy, do these guys have perfomance targets or they just enjoy free talk time,cars ,houses ,inflation beating salary increments and cut deals with the Chinese.
@Meendalutaker- what an !d!oti!Your mind is shrouded in tribalism! Discard the tribal coat and live along as the rest of civilised Zambians- awake from your flintstone backwardness!
Jesus was not white,,, he was black/ light skinned,, this is justified when you carefully read about the complexion of Jacob the brother to Esssaul,, Jacob was ruddy in complexion,, Jessy,, ruddy in complexion,, King David,, ruddy in complexion,, the same goes to Solomon,, and this is the lineage of Jesus Christ,, the other fact,, is that Jesus was sent to Egypt at a very young age,, it is obvious that he was going to be sent in an area which has people who are closer to his appearance for security from Herod and for Him to blend in to his environment,,
To what I know, Zambia got its name from the river Zambezi, How zambezi or Zambia? The people who named it were the Tonga Valley of southern province. They were calling it “Mulonga wasambeyi” meaning the river of where should I sweam, for where they sweam one will be caught by a crocodile. As valleys are very hot indeed. When chief Mukuni came from the central province was told the same that this is the river of where should i sweam but he did not understand until seeing his people being caught away by this reptiles that’s when he learned what it meant to say “Mulonga wasambeyi ” that where ever you sweam one is caught. By the time chief Mukuni came to settle in Livingstone he taught the whites who called it “zambezi failing to call it Sambeyi” ready old books Oxford it is written…