By sebamashila Kaseba
HOW MUKUNI NG’OMBE BECAME MUNOKALYA MUKUNI ACCORDING TO MUNOKALYA MUKUNI
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THE EXPANSION OF THE MUKUNI ROYAL DYNASTY BY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL LENJE AND NSENGA, ONE KUNDA, TWO TONGA, AND THE ASSIMILATION INTO THE DYNASTY OF SUBIYA AND NANZWA CHIEFTAINS
2.1 THE MIGRATION OF PARAMOUNT CHIEF MUKUNI FROM LENJE TO LEYA COUNTRY
Greedy for new lands and spectacle, Paramount Chief Mukuni left Lenje country with a good number of his Bene Mukuni, mainly soldiers, and marched southwards (M. Muntemba (1970), p29). He did not appoint anyone to look after the Lenje country for him in the hope that he would go back. He did, however, leave some hot porridge, telling Musaka and Chaamuka that it would remain hot and that if it went cold they should know he was dead (W. V. Brelsford (1965), p75) and would therefore not be coming back.
Legend has it that the porridge remained hot for many years, then suddenly went cold, so it was known that Mukuni was dead, and Musaka, besides Chaamuka, took over as princely Chief of the rest of the Bene Mukuni Lenje country. After Musaka died, the Lenje country under his chieftainship, covering the districts of Chibombo, Kapiri Mposhi and also the northern part of Lusaka, was divided and given to the children of his matrilineal first cousin Nkanga, and hence the establishment of the matrilineal line of the Bene Mukuni Chieftains of Chitanda, Mukubwe, Chipepo, Mungule and Liteta, which chieftains are still today called “Bana Ba Nkanga”, that is Nkanga’s children (Senior Chief Wilson Chinkuli Liteta Mukuni Ngombe (1990)).
Soon after Paramount Chief Mukuni left Lenje country, some of his Bene Mukuni, led by Kanyonzo Sandwe and his descendant Kakumbi, left Mukuni’s Lenje country, crossed the Muchinga escarpment and settled in Lusangazi area, establishing the Bene Mukuni tributary chieftains of the Nsenga and Kunda of today’s Sandwe and Kakumbi respectively (Annis S. Field, Chapters 41- 47).
Before reaching Leya country, Paramount Chief Mukuni briefly stayed at Chirundu and, after he left, some of his people stayed behind as a distinct group under his young brother, pre-colonial Princely Chief Chipepo Syang’ombe, that is Chipepo of Mukuni Ngo’mbe lineage (Maud Muntemba (1970), p29). Thus the Bene Mukuni have today two princely chiefs by the title of Chief Chipepo: one of Chirundu and Gwembe Districts and the other of the Kapiri Mposhi District. [P. 24]
It is held that after a short spell at Sinazongwe, some miles south-west of Chirundu, Mukuni moved on to the present day Livingstone area. At first he did not settle here, but crossed the Zambezi river to settle in the old Wankie area. However, Mukuni crossed back to the northern bank of the Zambezi and chose a site for his palace and all his successors in spirit and title have maintained this same site for their palaces (Maud Muntemba (1970), p29).
On arrival, and settling among the Leya at the Victoria Falls, Paramount Chief Mukuni married the Leya tribal Chief Priestess Be-Dyango Munyama, who correctly saluted him as the Munokalya which, in local Leya parlance, means Chief of Chiefs, and also conferred on him the title Muchelewa of Nsyungu Namutitima, that is the Lion King of the Victoria Falls. By Be-Dyango Munyama he begot a son Siandele, who himself became Munokalya Mukuni IV after Mukuni’s two brothers, Mumba and Mushiba, who succeeded to the Mukuni throne upon Mukuni I’s death in that order (Malala Muzamba II Be-Dyango XV (1958)).
Upon his death, Mukuni Mulopwe was interred in Namunaki, which became a sacred chamber in which, as the eponymous founder of the Bene Mukuni Royal Dynasty, his 18th century tomb (Ntantala) is preserved and will forever be holy enough to legitimise all subsequent successors to Mukuni Mulopwe’s spirit and traditional title. Ntantala is therefore the seat of power as the holy tomb of the founder Mukuni, from upon which successors to the throne are raised. By this practice all the successors are reminded that they are the bearers of Mukuni Mulopwe’s spirit and royal station, as he was the founder of the Bene Mukuni (Malala Muzamba II Be-Dyango XV (1958)).
Here it is important to note that NONE OF THE FOUNDERS of the current Paramount Chieftains in Zambia has been accorded such dignity, reverence and respect.
In the mid-fifties of the 20th century, after it became apparent and logical to them that, owing to the age-old, well-developed and intricate Bwande funeral and investiture rites of the founder Mukuni’s traditional office at the Victoria Falls (see chapters 4 and 5), no successor in spirit and title to this office could be relocated from the Leya Bene Mukuni country to the Lenje Bene Mukuni country, the Bana ba Nkanga Lenje Bene Mukuni Royal Establishments requested Munokalya Siloka II Mukuni XVII to graciously allow them to use the princely title of Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe as Munokalya Mukuni’s Lenje resident representative and, therefore, overseer of all the Lenje Bene Mukuni Royal Establishments (Senior Chief Wilson Chinkuli Liteta Mukuni Ngombe (1990)). After permission was granted, the following Bana Bankanga chieftains have, at publication of this book, held the position:
1. Chief Chitanda – Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe I
2. Chief Chipepo – Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe II
3. Chief Mukubwe – Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe III
4. Chief Liteta – Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe IV
5. Chief Chipepo – Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe V
Further, to weld together the Lenje Bene Mukuni’s Princely and Subordinate Chieftains of the bana ba Nkanga and Chaamuka/Ngabwe respectively, and their people, the Kulamba Kubwalo, a loyalty-professing ceremony to the serving Senior Chief Mukuni Ng’ombe, was developed at Chibombo, Likonde Lya Ba Nkanga, that is Nkanga’s burial grove.
*The Mukuni Royal Dynasty’s Short History and the Munokalya Mukuni Royal Establishment’s Ritual and Political Sovereignty (2013)