By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
Emeritus Professor of Sociology
Since the Paramount Chief Mpezeni IV of the Ngoni people of Zambia passed away on May 30, 2026, at the age of 75, there have been many public and personal reactions among my fellow Zambians. While the 22.5 million Zambians learned the sad news through the media, what has garnered a lot of attention are what appear to be offensive images on social media. These images appear to be videos of one or two Zambian men apprehending another Zambian man who is smart looking, wearing clean clothes with a tie being smeared with white stuff all over the face, the head and hair, the neck, and chest. The victim appears embarrassing, funny, degraded, and humiliated. This is called powdering among Zambians, and it is not new. This article will discuss what Mbuyaship is, what powdering is, what its purpose is, who is doing the powdering now and who is the target, why are individuals powdering others, and who can participate in the powdering and who should not participate in the powdering. Last, the article will discuss cautions about powdering.
Mbuya is a noun which means grandfather or grandmother in languages particularly from the Eastern and Northern Provinces of Zambia. Another term for mbuya among the Tumbuka, Chewa, Ngoni in the Eastern Province and Malawi is agogo. The traditional deep kinship customs of mbuya or agogo going back hundreds of years is that the two individuals involved in the relationship joke, tease each other, and may sometimes playfully lightly wrestle with each other. That light playful physical contact is called kumphatana between cousins among the Tumbuka. This relationship of joking with and teasing each other is also very central between cousins or in cousinship. This mbuyaship is what exists today among the Bemba of Northern Province and the Ngoni of Eastern Province. How did this mbuyaship happen between the people from the 2 tribes?
The reader might not appreciate the deep history of the Ngoni-Bemba mbuyaship just by a 5-minute read in social media. The reader should read the book by the great Zambian Historiographer the late Yizenge Chondoka who dedicated most of his life to researching indigenous Zambian history. In Chapter 8 titled: “The Bemba-Nthuto Ngoni War and the Beginning of the Cousinship” in his book “The Zwangendaba Mpezeni Ngoni”, Chondoka says in the 1800s the Ngoni and Bemba fought numerous wars and battles.
“It is important to note that up to this day, the Bemba claim that they defeated the Nthuto-Ngoni, and that, that is why they left Bembaland. On the other hand, the Ngoni also claim that they defeated the Bemba but left their territory because the Bemba did not have enough cattle to fight for.” (Chandoka, 2017, p.71)
It was after these wars in the 1800s that the mbuyaship between the Ngoni and the Bemba started that exists up to this day in 2026 expressed during the funeral period after the death of Paramount Chief Mpezeni. But why are the Bemba powdering, and what the reader may regard as humiliating the Ngoni during this funeral?
What Zambians call powdering today is a very common practice deeply embedded in traditional Zambian culture. The white painting of the face and the whole body was very common among most of the 72 Zambian tribes. The painting was done when individuals were experiencing significant life events such as during marriage and wedding ceremonies, during funerals, and especially during initiation ceremonies (Chinamwali among the Ngoni and Chewa and Chisungu among the Bemba for girls) when boys and girls were transitioning from being boys to young men and girls to young women. Sometimes in some traditional dances among the 72 Zambian tribes, dancers may powder their faces and bodies. The anthropology scholar Victor Turner discusses rites of passage. In his book “The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual” Turner called the period of psychological transition the process and state of liminality.
Modern Zambian urban Bemba and Ngoni people may use modern white commercial powder. But traditionally, very fine white mealie-meal and cassava meal used for cooking nshima were used for painting the head, face, and the body. There may also have been some white substances from trees in the bush that may have been used for powdering or painting the faces and bodies white.
The powdering that is happening from the Bemba of the Ngoni is to express and cement their mbuyaship during the mourning, funeral, and burial process. Next time there is a major death among the Bemba, the process of powdering will be reversed during which the Ngoni will powder the Bemba. The mbuyaship expresses love and solidarity between the individuals from the Ngoni and Bemba tribes that goes back to the 1800s. Whenever I have attended burials between we, the Ngoni and our cousins the Bemba in Lusaka during the last 50 years, the mbuyaship activities especially at the cemetery lighten the burden, the mourning and the burial process. The powdering injects some humor and lightens what is a deeply grieving occasion of mourning, loss of a loved one, and deep sadness. For those Zambians who may express concern that the powdering is ruining their clean clothes, face, and destroying their dignity, you should be aware that when Zambians attend funerals, the traditional custom is that they wear old used clothes for both men and women. To familiarize yourself with Zambian funeral customs, read Chapter 15 in my book “Satisfying Zambian Hunger for Culture (2012)” that describe funeral customs in Zambia.
Who can powder who during the Paramount Chief Mpezeni mourning and funeral? Only individuals who belong to the Bemba tribe can powder the Ngoni mourners. It is a serious taboo for anyone who is not a Ngoni or Bemba to powder a mourner or to participate in the mbuyaship. The powdering is never meant for random people to run around aggressively powdering, harassing, and physically assaulting others during mourning and the funeral process. You can see in the photo that Mr. Dickson Jere who is being powdered by a Bemba is smiling.
As I was scrolling through social media, someone raised the issue that powdering the face, the eyes and nose may cause harm from talc in the commercial store-bought powder. The powder may cause painful eye irritation. What if someone is asthmatic and has other bronchial allergies to commercial powder? I would strongly recommend people use the traditional breakfast or other maize mealie-meal, cassava meal, or traditionally pounded white mealie meal.
There should be some reasonable logical places where powdering should be done. It might not be appropriate to do it at the office at work during working hours unless there is prior acceptance, agreement, or arrangement. Afterall, the Ngoni Bemba mbuyaship often happens between individuals who know each other very well. In case of the coming funeral and any other funerals, powdering is often best done in the physical environment of the premises of the mourning house and the cemetery.
