A history of female leadership through the centuries

On May 23 during the launch of Ndabila, one of our senior Alchemists Mulenga Kapwepwe took us on an enlightening tour of our past and showed what a rich history of female leadership we possess as a country.   
Below is part of her presentation. Be inspired!  

 

In modern times, we tend to forget the contribution of women to our rich heritage and history.  In Zambia, women have a long history of practical participation in public affairs, and women have been closely associated with the exercise of power for centuries. The women whose histories I am going to present are for me exciting examples of our own traditional concepts of gender, and our long held respect for female leadership and participation in politics, business, warfare, diplomacy and peace building. To do this, I will take you back in time, and take you from province to province.

1.      Lunda, NorthWestern - 17^th Century

Lueji wa Nkonde ruled the Lunda federation of Tubungo in the 1650’s.   Lueji’s reign resulted in the migration of various groups who became the Lunda, Luchazi, Luwena, Luvale and Chokwe. The migrating groups settled in the North-Western Province of Zambia, and adjacent areas in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, and Angola.

2.      The Lungu- Azao or Sao, Northern Province - 17^th Century

The Lungu people came down the lake in canoes from the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika at the end of the 17^th century. They put to shore on the south end of the lake. This group was of the Azamba clan, and their leader was Mwenya Mukulu, a woman, who also became their chieftainess. She divided this area amongst her sisters, and one of her sisters became the chief and leader of the Tabwa, who they found there.

3.      The Shila, Luapula Province – 19^th Century

Na Chituti was a royal woman who brokered peace between the Lunda of Mwata Kazembe and the Shila. Because of her foresight and acute diplomatic skills, she saved her people from certain war, defeat and serfdom.    

4.      Toka-Leya, Southern Province- 18^th Century

Be-Dyango was a ruler in her own right until her people were conquered by the Leya, migrants from the Luba Lunda Kingdom. She brokered an understanding with the invading Chief Mukuni and became the co-ruler of the Toka-Leya people.  Her skillful handling of the invaders left her with many rights and powers and ensured that the important aspects of her people’s rights were not lost. Today as then, a woman who holds this now hereditary title co-rules the area around Livingstone with Chief Mukuni.

5.      The Lozi/Luyi, Western Province -19^th Century

Since then, women royals have kept the number two spot position, that of the Litunga-La-Mboela-ship.  They have also held the third position in the hierarchy of Barotse rulers, which is that of the Mboanjikan-ship.  These powerful chieftaincies are retained by women, who also have great judicial powers and functions.

Litunga-La-Mboela-ship: there have been at least seventeen persons on the throne of Litunga-Ia-Mboela, the second one and the last eight of them have been female.

Mboanjikana:  The royal stool of Mboanjikana, based at Libonda in the Kalabo area, has been continuously occupied by a female. Among Mbuywamwambwa‘s daughters was Mboanjikana, who became the first Ruler Mboanjikana, which has always been held by  a female ruler.
 

The Great Mukwae of Nalolo, a woman of remarkable talents and strength of character, and a sister to Lubasi, a royal son who became Lewanika. She was instrumental in helping him reorganize himself and regain his throne after rebels stormed the palace and forced him to flee.  The Mukwae of Nalolo besides governing her own province, maintained a dignity second only to the Litunga, and played an active part in the affairs of the nation at large. She filed in a complaint against the Portuguese to the Italians, that they were encroaching on her land and was instrumental in negotiating the 38^th latitude parallel which forms our current border with Namibia and Angola. 

6.      Soli- 19^th Century

In 1889, Mukandamamba was the only leader, a chietainess who was acknowledged by all branches of the Soli. The Shamba a subgroup of the Soli trace the beginning of the Nkhomeshya chieftaincy to Shamba a slave woman who married a chief, and became the grandmother to Chief Nkhomeshya.

7.      The Lunda, Luapula Province-19^th Century 

Queen Kafuti, Nakafwaya, the woman who married four paternal brothers of the Lunda Kazembe dynasty, Chinyanta Munona, Sunkutu, Chokonkole and Lukwesa Mpanga. She is regarded as the greatest Mwadi (Mwata’s wife) of the Lunda. She played a leading role in the preservation of the Lunda nation during the times of internal power struggles and the Arab invasions. Queen Kafuti, Nakafwaya, was a very beautiful woman. When Kabwebwe presented her at court, to his older brother Chinyanta Munona who was then King, Chinyanta Munona convinced Kafuti to marry him instead. When Chinyanta Munona died and Sunkutu usurped the throne, he married her. When Chokonkole took over as Kazembe, he married her and when Lukwesa Mpanga finally became Kazembe, he also married her. She is the only Mwadi who is buried in the burial ground of the King’s children and has her own Nkumbu, or praise poem.

8.      Lala, Lamba, Swaka and Seba, Copperbelt Province- 19^th Century

These tribes are the descendants of five famous sisters: Mushili, Ngosa Mupeta, Nampongela or Musonda, Mwewa Mwiba, and Nkhana. These five famous sisters established the Nkhana and Mushili Chieftaincy. Among the Lamba today it is still the women who choose the next Chief to succeed.

9.      The Sala, Lusaka Province – 19^th Century

Loongo became Chieftainess of the Sala after the Ngoni invasion. Her prowess made her all powerful, and though she was unable to repel the Makololo when they invaded, on evidence of her powers and abilities, they released her and her sons from captivity. She went back to her country and reorganised the people again. The Makololo and the Lozi respected her so much that even though she was a conquered queen, they never made her pay tribute like other conquered chiefs. Loongo created an all woman army and carried a spear herself. She was also a seer and a prophet.

10.  The Lamba, Copperbelt Province- 18^th Century

Kabunda Shimanjemanje brought agricultural knowledge and seeds to Lamba country and thereby helped her brother to establish himself as the first Chief of the Lamba.

11.  Ntemba of the Chewa-19^th Century

Sometime between the year 1885 and 1888, Ntemba, a Chewa woman of strong and vital character was eventually driven to become her brother’s political opponent in order to counter misgovernment with equity and the rule of law. She entered into an agreement with Kambwili a trader from Chief Kopa of the Bisa who supplied her with guns and a large number of mercenaries to overthrow her brother’s government in exchange for trade opportunities and land ownership.  For a long time, Ntemba held the Bisa-Chewa alliance together, making it work for the mutual benefit of the people.  When Ntemba died her daughter Chidote, ruled and continued honoring the Bisa-Chewa alliance.

12.  Amongst the Bemba, women have sat on the highest council and ruled their own districts. The Chanda mukulu, Mukukamfumu, and Ngoshe. In fact at a time under Chitimukulu Chitapankwa, Ichinga province was ruled by a woman governor, NaMusenge, who was extremely wealthy as she was a very astute business woman. Another chieftainess in the area of Lubemba is Sekwila and she ruled alongside NaMusenge.  Kangwa Chonya was a powerful Chandamukulu who was the first woman to use the Western judicial system to stop another royal son, Ponde, from becoming Chitimukulu.

13.  Waitwika -NaMwanga-Musyani was a Bisa who travelled up north and found himself among the Namwanga, he was a very skilled craftsman and soon took leadership of the people. Musyani had three children, Muchinga, Mwemba and Waitwika. He gave them land to rule, and Waitwika became a chietainess on the Zambian side.

14.  The last Batwa (of the Lukanga Swamps) chieftainess before the Europeans came into the country was Muyanje.

15.  The first Unga chief Mwewa Mfumu was succeeded by Mwape wa Masenga. She was succeeded by her daughter, Kalumbi who ruled the area called Kaleya at Itili. Kalumbi was the third Unga chief after the migration of the Unga from Luba kingdom.  Kalumbi was succeeded by Pongaponga.

16.  Na Bwalya was a woman of considerable character and the type that commanded respect. In her district, she was recognized as chief, and was upheld as such in the person of her heirs. Na Bwalya died 13 May, 1914 and was succeeded by her granddaughter who died in August 1916.

17.  The Tonga, Southern Province-19^th Century

Nampeyo is a neighbourhood in Monze district in the Southern Province of Zambia. Ten miles east of the town of Monze, one crosses its western boundary. Its eastern boundary lies within the hills of the escarpment, facing the Gwembe Valley. This is the seat of the Chona Chieftaincy. The Chona chieftaincy descends from Naciteba who died in Nampeyo sometime in 1889. Naciteba bore a daughter, Nangoma, who was born around 1840, and was her oldest child. Nangoma grew up into a woman who inspired confidence and she was known for her good sense and counsel. Nangoma came to be regarded as a leader of her people.

The prestige of a leader is sometimes vested primarily upon the power with which she is invested by the people. This was the case for Namonga. In time, all the land depended on her powers for their wealth and security; even the plants and animals were linked to her for their growth and fertility. Thus Nangoma’s authority was not supported by any military organization, but relied essentially on her wisdom, good sense and counsel. Nangoma is particularly outstanding in her contribution in the area of health, food security and agriculture.

Nangoma regulated the celebrations of the Lwiindi and rituals of agriculture for all Nampeyo, telling people when they should start each phase of agricultural work, thereby overseeing all aspects of food security for the people.

In 1893, a small pox epidemic broke out and Nangoma saved many lives, treating them with her own traditional medicine, and allowing those who wanted to go to the doctor at the nearby clinic to do so. Unlike in the other villages, only two people died of small pox at Nampeyo.

In 1919, an influenza epidemic broke out and Nangoma worked tirelessly and saved a number of lives, although many people died.

Nangoma also knew how to treat and protect cattle from various illnesses. When she heard of illness in the country she would go and dig for medicines, crush and place the medicine in a big wooden trough and which was then filled with water. She would then instruct the people to herd the cattle in the hills until they were very thirsty. This made certain that when they were brought back to the village they would go to the trough and drink very deeply. Thus the people’s cattle were protected by her medicine. Nangoma produced two heirs to the Chona chieftaincy. She died in 1925.

18.  The Ambo, Northern Province -19^th Century

Ambo migration to the current geographical location took place in the early 1800’s. They arrived from the Luapula and settled in an area that spread from the east of the middle and lower Lukusashi, the Muchinga mountains and extended to the Luangwa valley. To the west lay the escarpment of the Lala plateau, from where many of the permanent rivers flowed into the Lukusashi.

Mwape was undoubtedly the most a remarkable woman of her epoch. While the outlook of the other Ambo chiefs were merely parochial, Mwape’s was imperial. With her ascension to the throne, she extended her authority acquiring a kingdom twice as large as any Ambo chief had hitherto aspired to. Fortune favoured her throughout her reign and delivered her safe from the most desperate situations.

The first daring act of power perpetrated by Mwape was the assassination of Mushalila. Mwape invited him for a beer and then decapitated him. Mushalila was a political opponent that she wanted out of her way. Mushalila’s brother Chitopa at once attacked Mwape’s village at Munyangwa.  By evening of that first day, Mwape’s powder was exhausted and she only had a few guns, she decided to escape by night. After some time, her people in Ambo country heard of her whereabouts and sent a party of men to bring her back safely to Ambo country. 

Once back in her own country, the incorrigible love of battle revived in Mwape. Within a year, she had gathered an army and waged war against Mutumpa, a Lala Chief who ruled on the Manda stream, defeated and killed him. Not long after, Mwape came into conflict with two other Ambo chiefs, Chikwashya and Mteme. Mwape’s forces were not as well armed as Mteme and Chikwashya’s forces, whose advantage was bolstered by a large number of guns and a healthy supply of gunpowder.

Then before the war was formally declared, two fortunate incidences played themselves out in Mwape’s favour. The day previous to the siege, a Portuguese hawker arrived in the area bartering gun powder for slaves. Mwape commandeered the entire consignment of powder and sent the trader packing. Shortly after, Mwape played another successful stroke; Chikwashya had been trading with the Portuguese and had accumulated a large number of guns and deposited them with his brother Mulonda at Kachunda’s village. Mwape made a surprise attack on this village and captured Chikwashya’s entire armory. The extra guns and gun powder now placed her in a strong position. The war was on.

With the help of another chief, Chikwashya surrounded Mwape at her stockade in at Chilumba.  The engagement lasted two days and two nights. By the third day, Mwape’s forces were reduced to a point of surrender. Mwape sent to Luwembe for help, and a man from her stockde stole away at night and mastered help from Ntimba, whose forces were soon seen approaching over the hills. The Chikwashya and his allies, convinced Mwape was about to steal another victory, stole away to the north to Mlembo after a brief exchange of fire. After this victory, Mwape moved to Chisenga, where she reigned as chief over all the Ambo. Mwape was still ruling over this area in 1888, when the German explorer and prospector Carl Wiese met her. Mwape II lived until 1910, and is buried on the Chiwambila stream.

When the African Lakes Company were exploring and signing charters with different chiefs, they were strongly advised to avoid Mwape’s country, as she was known for her aggressive and fearless stand.  Notes on Mwape of the Ambo by J.E.Stephenson: 1900-We crossed to Lwangwa and got to Mwape. She was a remarkable woman, being one of the only two polyandrists I have heard in these parts. She put no obstacles in our way, but showed us the worst pass up the Muchinga Escarpment to make our journey. The villages were deserted and one was stockaded and thus we could not get much help.

All the women I have talked about made a big difference to where we live and who we are today. Our history, our ethnic composition, and indeed our borders would not have been what they are without these women.