Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda speaking people in Luapula Province has strongly condemned the recent violent riots that had rocked Mansa district, describing the action as unfortunate.
And the Mwata has called on the police to ensure that the ring leaders who started the violent riots are arrested and punished by the law.
The Traditional leader said that he does not believe that the businessmen who were targets during the riots could have been involved in ritual killing.
He was speaking during a meeting with the provincial Permanent Secretary Stephen Bwalya who called on him at his palace, yesterday.
He also doubted if the claims of ritual killings which led people to riot in Mansa were genuine, saying if the rioters had genuine complaints of ritual killings they supposed to report the suspects to police.
He said Zambia people must realise that the country operates under the rule of law and no one person has a privilege to take the law in their own hands.
“If people had genuine complaints, they were supposed to report to police who were supposed to investigate the claims and bring the suspects to book.
” No one is supposed to take the law into their own hands, it is totally wrong,” the Mwata said.
He said when people take the law in their own hands and cause destruction to property, even innocent people get affected.
“Are they saying that all the businessmen they attacked are involved in ritual killings? I do not think so, innocent people were affected,” the chief charged.
He said the riots were totally wrong and all the ring leaders who started the confusion must be arrested and punished.
He said while police arrested a lot of people, some of these were just chancers who were directly involved in the riots but
He said these women and children were just chancers driven by poverty deciding to help themselves to a bag of mealie meal or some valuable property.
And Luapula Permanent Secretary told the Mwata that
ZANIS
‘Lunda speaking’ people in Luapula?Journalists,get your facts right!
I hope there will be no amputations in Luapula because Rupiah’s police are very brutal.
yah, let the culprits be brought to book but mind you some children have also died and we know this crap has been happening for a long time when we had the so called baka munyama or baka tumbula mutima
Mwata Kazembe is not senior chief but paramount chief. The article is untrue and govt planned as usual.
Your Royal Highness, just to add on what you have rightly pointed out, hunger, poverty, joblessness, lack of polital direction for the province, hopelessness are some of the causes of the riots. Ofcourse they were also criminal elements that just took advantage of the situation. But to crown it all Mwata, government should fully compesate the businessmen whose businesses were rooted. Kalombo mwane
#1 Realist: There are Lunda speaking people in Luapula as well, though different from those in North Western. Please revise you geography. Actually umutomboko is for Lunda speaking people of Luapula
Well stated Ba Mwata. Culprits need to be put to justice.
Mr,”Realist” on # 1 there is actually nothing wrong with the scribe,they are also refered to as Lundas,though the accent sounds like Bemba,please try to ready the Central African History and see how these people migrated from CAR and separeted in DRC then you will know the the correction version of why they are called Lundas.However Mwata i like you contribution to the riots in Mansa,you have rightly condemned such acts as a leader.God bless you.Zambians let us learn to work hard to live a better life not looting.
There are Lunda people in Luapula. The Lunda luba Kingdom has remnants all over Southern Africa. He is not Chief Mwata Kazembe. That is like saying President Ntambalukuta Rupiah Banda. He is Mwata Kazembe. Nor do we have Chief Litunga. Litunga is a title on its own.
# 1, yes we are Lundas, but speak a combination of Bemba, Lunda, Ushi and something else. But we are associated more with Bemba than any other language.
Peter, Angoni and @7, you are very right, there are Lundas in Luapula and they are one and the same as the Lundas of NW province, except that the Lundas who settled in the NE (present day Luapula province) lost the language through the tribes they fought during their migration from the Luba-Lunda Kingdom in the modern Katanga Province. This is why you will note that when the Mutomboko ceremony is held, the Lunda Mwatas from the NW are invited to preside over the ceremony and to an extent the lunda language is then used by the Mwata Kazembe during the umutomboko.