A Created Adversarial Press Against the Bemba Royal Establishment

Dr. Henry Kanyanta Sosala

PART I

But I was only shown these pictures by a white student after I presented a paper on ‘’African Culture’’ at an American university and she asked me why I was always misrepresented. I was at a loss because I had not seen them, but I just smiled at her and fortunately we were interrupted by other questioners.

Preamble

A week before President Hakainde Hichilema paid his first official visit to Northern Province I was at Chrismar hotel in Lusaka. It was around 2300 hours when the lady at the reception brought me an envelope, marked ‘’very urgent.’’ And I asked her who had brought it, but she said that while she was in the kitchen, someone had just left the envelope at the reception counter.

On top of the newspaper were written these words: ‘’HOW ARE YOU GOING TO REDEEM YOURSELF SINCE YOU REGARD YOURSELF AS BEING PRINCIPLED?’’ The headline in the Zambia Daily Mail of 16th September 2020 was: CHITIMUKULU REBUFFS HH. And the paper went on: ‘’The Chitimukulu of the Bemba people has refused to meet United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema because the opposition leader belongs to a political alliance that has little regard for the traditional leader……. The opposition alliance through its spokesperson James Lukuku said that Bembas are being managed by a misplaced and wrong leader.’’

The following day, a young man, one of the insiders met me at a certain place. And he put me in the picture: there was a certain group of people who do not want me to be in good terms with President Hichilema and the UPND. And they would do everything possible to create a wedge between the Bemba Royal Establishment and the UPND administration, but the main target was me. And he pointed out that it was the same group that made a roadblock in Kasama in 2013 that harassed and prevented Mr. Hichilema to come and see me when I was being harassed by President Sata.

So when President Hichilema called on me at my palace and after the exchange of formal greetings and introductions, I said, ‘’There is a difference between Mr. Hakainde Hichilema as the President of UPND and His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema as Zambia’s Republican President and the country’s Chief Executive.’’ And I don’t think the press picked it since they did not know why and to whom my message was being addressed.

The Bemba Royal Establishment

I must at this point digress in order to clarify the interpretation of the ‘’Bemba Royal Establishment’’ within the context of the Bemba political system. In our case we have two groups that comprise the ‘’Bemba Royal Establishment,’’ i.e., the subjects being represented by Bashilubemba (hereditary councilors) and the Bemba royals. And it is only Bashilubemba that have the mandate to appoint the Chitimukulu without any other chief present and after appointing the Chitimukulu, then Chitimukulu-in-council can appoint other chiefs. And no major pronouncement can be made by the Chitimukulu alone outside the council.

A social anthropologist, Andrew Roberts in A History of the Bemba observed ”In all these scenario, the stakeholders are commoners or at least those ineligible for the kingship. But though Bashilubemba do not occupy important political offices, they have control over rituals as well control the appointments of chiefs. This therefore predicates a basis antithesis between all powerful ruling class and a common class which may even reject the ideology of its rulers.’’

And in this situation the Bemba chiefs in order to maintain neutrality among their subjects who might belong to different political parties must be maintain to work only with the government in power. For example when Mr. Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba then UPND deputy President was detained, Chief Munkonge went there and it was reported in the press that he was representing the Bemba Royal Establishment, but the Bemba spokesperson quickly refuted the claim and instead insisted that Chief Munkonge was there because Mr. Mwamba’s father, the late Mr. Edison Lukashi Mwamba was once Chief Munkonge and he was therefore representing only the royals and not the Bemba Royal Establishment per se.

The Amos Chanda Saga

And as earlier alluded to, the anti-BRE/UPND cartel embarked on creating an adversarial atmosphere between the Bemba Royal Establishment and UPND administration through the press (normally known as ‘’spinning’’ the news), which is to deliberately reporting embarrassing stories relating to the UPND government.

And in this respect, they target was to manipulate on our weak and vulnerable individuals, like Senior Chief Mwamba who has humble education and is not in the least aware of their evil intentions. And according to his version of the story, while he was travelling to Lusaka for a workshop, someone rang him and began to tell him stories about how the Tongas were mistreating the Bembas and he asked if he was aware that Amos Chanda, one of his subjects has been arrested and detained.

Anyway, whatever Senior Chief Mwamba could have responded after he had unknowingly fallen into a trap were just his personal views. The irony of it is that Senior Chief Mwamba is just a junior chief in the Bemba chiefdom structure and he could not be quoted as a spokesperson for Bemba chiefs as well as the Bemba Royal Establishment. I believe it could have made some sense if such a message could have come from the Chitimukulu

The cartel was also aware that Senior Chief Mwamba was not a public figure and that was why they could print any picture that could depict him. Hence the picture below which is showing Amos Chanda with the supposed Senior chief Mwamba and you can note the differences between the two Senior Chief Mwambas.

Here is the picture of the genuine Senior Chief Mwamba

TO BE CONTINUED