Presented to parliament by the secretary for commonwealth relations by command of her majesty may 1964
LONDON
HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE
EIGHTPENCE NET
Cmnd.2366
THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT 1964
Following talks in London between the British Government, the Government of Northern Rhodesia and The Litunga of Barotseland; an Agreement regarding the position of Barotseland within independent Northern Rhodesia was concluded at the commonwealth Relations office on 18 th May, 1964. It is entitled, “The Barotseland Agreement 1964”. It was signed by Dr.K.D.Kaunda, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, by Sir Mwanawina Lewanika III,K.B.E Litunga of Barotseland and by the Right Honourable Duncan Sandys M.P Secretary of State for common wealth Relations and for the colonies signifying the approval of Her Majesty’s Government.
The text of the Agreement is attached as the Appendix to this paper.
19th May, 1964.
APPENDIX
THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT 1964
This Agreement is made this eighteenth day of May, 1964 between KENNETH DAVID KAUNDA, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia of the one part and SIR MWANAWINA LEWANIKA THE THIRD ,K.B.E., Litunga of Barotseland, acting on behalf of himself, his heirs and successors, his council, and the chiefs and people of Barotseland of the other party is signed by the Right Honourable Duncan Sandys, M.P Her Majesty’s principal secretary of state for common wealth relations and for the colonies, to signify the approval of her majesty’s government in the united kingdom of the arrangements entered into between the parties to this agreement and recorded therein.
Whereas it was proposed that the northern Rhodesia shall become an independent sovereign state to be known as the republic of Zambia.
And where as it is the wish of the government of northern Rhodesia and of the Litunga of Barotseland,his council and the chiefs and people of Barotseland that northern Rhodesia should proceed to independence as one country and that all its peoples should be one nation:
And where , as having regard to the fact that all treaties and other agreements subsisting between her majesty the queen of the United Kingdom of great Britain and northern Ireland and The Litunga of Barotseland will terminate when Northern Rhodesia becomes an independent sovereign republic and her majesty’s government in the United Kingdom will there upon cease to have any responsibility for the government of Rhodesia including Barotseland. It is the wish of the government of northern Rhodesia and of The Litunga of Barotseland to enter into arrangements concerning the position of Barotseland as part of the republic of Zambia to the place of the treaties and other agreements hitherto subsisting between Her Majesty the Queen and The Litunga of Barotseland:
And whereas on the sixteenth day of April,1964 a provisional agreement was concluded at Lusaka with purpose and it is the desire of the government of northern Rhodesia and The Litunga, acting after consultation with his council to conclude a permanent agreement with this purpose:
NOW THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSETH and it is hereby agreed between the said Kenneth David Kaunda, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, on behalf of the government of Northern Rhodesia and the said Sir Mwanawina Lewanika the Third, K.B.E., Litunga of Barotseland on behalf of himself, his heirs and successors ,his Council and the chiefs and the people of Barotseland as follows:-
1. Citation and commencement
This agreement may be cited as the Barotseland Agreement 1964 and shall come into force on the day on which Northern Rhodesia, including Barotseland, becomes the independent sovereign Republic of Zambia.
2. The Constitution of Zambia
The constitution of the republic of Zambia shall include the provisions agreed upon for the inclusion herein at the constitutional conference held in London in May, 1964 relating to:-
(a) the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the individual;
(b) the judiciary; and
(c) the public service
and those provisions shall have full force and effect in Barotseland.
3. Administration of Justice
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the people of Barotseland shall be accorded the same rights of access to the high court of the republic of Zambia as are accorded to other citizens of the Republic under the laws for the time being in force in the Republic and a judge or judges of the high court selected from among the judges who normally sit in Lusaka shall regularly proceed on circuit in Barotseland at each intervals as the due administration of justice may require.
(2) The people of Barotseland shall be accorded the same rights of appeal from the decisions of the courts of the Republic of Zambia as are accorded to other citizens of the Republic under the laws for the time being in force in the Republic.
4. The Litunga and His Council
(1) The government of the republic of Zambia will accord recognition as such to the person who ois for the time The Litunga of Barotseland under the customary law of Barotseland.
(2) The Litunga of Barotseland, acting after consultation with his Council as constituted for the time being under the customary law of Barotseland shall be the principal local authority for the government and administration of Barotseland.
(3) The Litunga of Barotseland, acting after consultation with his Council, shall be authorised and empowered to make laws for Barotseland in relation to the following matters, that is to say-
(a) The Litungaship;
(b) The authority at present known as the Barotse Native Government (which shall hereafter be known as the Barotse Government);
(c) The authorities at present known as Barotse Native Authorities;
(d) The courts at present known as Barotse Native Courts;
(e) The status of the members of the Litunga’s Council;
(f) matters relating to local government;
(g) land;
(h) forests;
(i) traditional and customary matters relating to Barotseland alone;
(j) fishing;
(k) control of hunting;
(l) game preservation;
(m) control of bush fires;
(n) the institution at present known as the Barotse native treasury;
(o) the supply of beer;
(p) reservation of trees for canoes;
(q) local taxation and matters relating thereto; and
(r) Barotse local festivals.
5. Land
(1) In relation to land in Barotseland the arrangements set out in the annex hereto shall have effect.
(2) In particular, the Litunga of Barotseland and his Council shall continue to have the powers hitherto enjoyed by them in respect of land matters under customary law and practice.
(3) The courts at present known as the Barotse Native Courts shall have original jurisdiction(to the exclusion of any other court in the republic of Zambia)in respect of matters concerning rights over or interests in land in Barotseland to the extent that those matters are governed by the customary law of Barotseland:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting the jurisdiction and powers of the High Court of the Republic of Zambia in relation to writs or orders of the kind at present known as prerogative of writs or orders.
(4) Save with the leave of the court at present known as the Saa- Sikalo Kuta, no appeal shall lie from any decision of the courts at present known as the Barotse Native Courts given in exercise of the jurisdiction referred to in paragraph (3) of this article to the High Court of the Republic of Zambia.
6. Civil Servants
All public officers of the Government the Republic of Zambia who may from time to time be situated in Barotseland shall be officers serving on permanent and pensionable terms.
7. Financial Responsibility
The Government of the Republic of Zambia shall have the same general responsibility for providing financial support for the administration and economic development of Barotseland as it has for other parts of the Republic and shall ensure that, in discharge of this responsibility, Barotseland is treated fairly and equitably in relation to other parts of the Republic.
8. Implementation
The Government of the Republic of Zambia shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that the laws for the time being in force in the Republic are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement.
9. Interpretation
Any question concerning the interpretation of this Agreement may be referred by the Government of the Republic of Zambia to the High Court of the Republic for consideration (in which case the opinion thereon of the Court shall be communicated to that Government and to the Litunga of Barotseland and his Council) and any such question shall be so referred if the Litunga, acting after consultation with his Council, so requests.
10. Revocation
The herein before recited Agreement of the sixteenth day of April, 1964 is hereby revoked.
In witness whereof the parties hereto
Have hereunto set their hands in the
Presence of: – K.D.KAUNDA Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia (Signed)
E.D. HONE Governor of Northern Rhodesia (Signed)
(Signed) IMENDA SIBANDI Ngambela of Barotseland
MWANAWINA LEWANIKA III Litunga of Barotseland
Signed by the Right Honourable Duncan
Sandys in the presence of :- (Signed)
(Signed) RICHARD HORNBY DUNCAN SANDYS
Parliamentary Under Secretary of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary
State for Commonwealth Relations of State for Common wealth Relations And for the Colonies And for the Colonies
ANNEX TO THIS AGREEMENT
1. The Litunga and National Council of Barotseland have always worked in close co-operation with the Central Government over land matters in the past have agreed that the Central government should use land required for public purposes, and have adopted the same procedures as apply to leases and rights of occupancy in the Reserves and Trust Land areas, where applicable. At the same time, the administration of land rights in Barotseland under customary law and practice has been under the control of the Litunga and National Council in much the same way as customary land rights are dealt with in the Reserves and Trust Land areas.
2. In these circumstances it is agreed that the Litunga should continue to have the greatest measure of responsibility for administering land matters in Barotseland. It is however, necessary to examine the position of land matters in Barotseland against the background of the Northern Rhodesia Government’s overall responsibility for the territory.
3. The Barotse memorandum has indicated that Barotseland should become an integral part of Northern Rhodesia. In these circumstances the Northern Rhodesia Government will assume certain responsibilities and to carry these out they will have to have certain powers. so far as land is concerned, apart from confirmation of wide powers the Litunga over customary matters ,the position is as follows:-
(1) The Northern Rhodesia Government does not wish to derogate from any of the powers exercised by the Litunga and Council in respect of land matters under customary law and practice.
(2) The Northern Rhodesia Government would like to ensure that the provision of public services and the responsibility of economic development in Barotseland are not hampered by special formalities.
(3) The Northern Rhodesia Government recognises and agrees that full consultation should take place with the Litunga and Council before any land in Barotseland is used for public purposes or in the general interests of economic development.
(4) The position regarding land in Barotseland in an independent Northern Rhodesia should ,therefore, be as follows:-
(a) There should be the same system for land administration for the whole of Northern Rhodesia including Barotseland, that is, the Government Lands Department should be responsible for professional advice and services with regard to land alienation in all parts of Northern Rhodesia and that the same form of document should be used for grants of land (i) for Government purposes and (ii) for non-Government and non-customary purposes. The necessary preparation of the title documents should be done by the Government Lands Department.
(b) The Litunga and National Council of Barotseland will be charged with the responsibility for administering Barotse customary land law within Barotseland.
Printed in England and published by
HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE
I dont think this is necessary but am appealing to our new government to be so instrumental on this issue coz to me it looks so simple but its a very sensitive one and am also appealing to the litunga and his adiministration to be so patience has thy await for the outcome of this issue,remeber one zambia one nation,one president,equal development is the way forward
Missunderstood…
This was a bullshit deal. I wonder why KK signed it. But a deal is a deal and should be honoured…. In the year 3000!
Simple deals are neva honored by greedy pipo.
Miss understanding
How do you sign that….
Y sign that? There is so much confusion surrounding it! Wich KK dd that?
Too simplistic to be relied upon.
And I thot KK was smarter….shame.
If they get back their land maiwe evn cairo rd wil be gon! Incliding findeco she n soweto market iye imwe!!!!!
This z a vry sensitive issue which requires or rather calz 4 wisdom in handlin’ it! I did n’t knw dat alot waz involved in it. I wonder if KK understood it b4 signing!
If the PF gvt doen’t handle this issue carefully a civil war is inevitable.The people of B.L are sick of gvt ignoring their plea.”Lets share the resources equally” they (gvt) lend a deaf ear.Its not as simple as we think it is.Mind you,it’s a daily headline in W.P
The government signed out of there selfish desires but now they have to pay. We want that which belongs to us bulozi bwa luna.
C’mon Guys! Nowhere does it mention the cessation of BL. The general trend of the language is of reconcilling BL to the rest of Zambia and get rid of the discrepancy of the agreements between UK and BL and the protectorate agreements between UK and the rest of Rhodesia. You reading too much into it. Speak out of fairness or forever hold your peace.
This was a bullshit deal I dont support and we dont need it. No wonder KK just signed it, went quiet on it and started promoting 1 Z 1 nation coz the solution these Lozis look for is not there. Sata should just stay quiet about coz these guyz can divide our beautiful country.
The whole agreement does say anything about barotseland being a country on its own so what are these Lozis talking about,l cant understand really?
This is F**ck!..Lozis you are very late the country can’t divide now!
You can fuck it al you want, a marriage cert will never disapear by wish. South sudan fought since 1954 n crooks that they had won. It my take 3000years, it will never rot.
All of this it jst a morther f**ing hell what kind of a deal is this
I’m Lozi but I’m not in support of dividing the Nation.Afterall,I intend to marry a Tonga lady whom I dnt want to be a foreigner after dividing.Tongas interested in me should apply not later than June,2012 with a non refundable fee.What the gvt should do is to improve infrastructure.Guys,it is not a lie that we are lagging behind.We are not happy.But the deal is real.We should just pray that the matter will be resolved peacefully.
Iye,is that all the agreement says.Is there something you guys left out.I don’t see these guys signing anything about dividing in case of anything.its a marriage n its irreversible.don’t force matters,ask children who ve grown up in a fallen home,disaster.zed ni zee 4 everyone.Mayb ther othr agreements which allowed separation with th whites bt I don’t c any with this one.n I bet ths wz final for creation of our zed
Bl has never been sidelined for development,its just that the amount of money needed to develop is more than what can be taken in other regions. For instance,the amount of money needed to do a km of road in BL is thrice that in other parts of the country. The other thing is because of the culture of the Lozis,they need to change how they relate with pipo that don’t come from there. Y is it that even the most resilient vultures the indians have ignored the province?
Mmmmh U say 1 Zed wen them guys are not for that yet they are all over Zed so as for thoz who av married our relatives and av received or acquired land and properties wat are they going to do n jst lyk I got my farm on the BL side n my hse on the NR side wats gonna happen my frnd has a she in Chalala n a bsn premise along Mumbwa wat rubbish is gonna happen my Lawyer has a Farm in L/west and month props on the NR side and many other guys Organisations,the Military the Pub Service Org Police hey this is one hell of a non starter we may all wish to cling to our own kinds but as a pipo it ain’t ryt let’s not be so tribal pse jst let go and let’s leave as one stuff has happened so let go
To me this is so simple in that I see the problem to lie on point 7 where it talks about equity. The only mistake the past govt. Have made is failure to distribute wealth and development equally. I therefore urge the PF govt to concentrate on a series of developmental projects to this Province.
The other issue is letting KK read and explain it well tl people coz I feel most people don’t just understand it.
AUB SIMS.
Nothing complicated about this issue and I don’t see why some people got so confused to the extend of killing each other.90% of the malozi and GRZ official had never seen this document hence the arguments without basis. Thanks PF for making this document public. One zed. One nation
I’ll fight till my last drop if nothing will come into change. They didn’t honour the agrrement and even in marriage if the other party doesn’t oblige the terms and conditions of marriage you divorce. so if they won’t solve it in accordance of the agreement we’ll fight for our forefather’s land.
Bulozi bwaluna its all we want,fight till th drop!
But this is true lets this govt give what belongs to cearsar .
let us follow KKs stance one Z one nation period.
Omg
Please the goverment should get rid of such insanity. Because every tribe will want to have their own Nation.
crazy stuff ryt there. these lozy owns want to be geting a pasport just cum to lusaka and a study permit to study at UNZA or CBU. crazy stuff
I think there z no consensus,so the high court should interpret this.this z what I feel.
its miss understandings but its a straight forward thing…the lozis were surpose to claim the BA before indpendence not these craps that they are bring up…simple things are just being misunderstood why? Selfness .self leaders who are propagating wrong info to the public shame….there is nothing complex… lozis do nt take advantage over the peace that we have one day you’ll pay….tentions of triblism and supriority over the other tribes are indirect rising….hence youre not seeing this…..continue with this….but one day only that day you’ll come to your sences….and that day it will be to late….
Kk was not thinking when signing the B.L agreement, same as sata how can he say i’ll wil restore B.L & give it to them. We not going to rule our selves, were is one zambia one nation going. Lets think twice lozi people.
you are an idiot! KK new what he was doing, it was the other characters to the agreement who did not understand the consequences of their signatures. Read the agreement with legal spectacles and see who was who in this deal! The constitution of zambia was declared supreme by the agreement, secondly the Litunga needed authorization for him to act against, in given circumstances. These are the major legal hurdles which your small brain can not change today.
God help us
Lozi’s please after reading this do you still see were it says incase it doesnt work out them Barotseland will be divided frm Zambia ? read between the lines and understand.all u need is to preach the sharing of the national cake equally for we are One Zambia One Nation.not ifya bupupa shaaa!
I wish to urge my tribal cousins to remain united.My dear LOZIS we are already one Zambia one Nation.The past govts should not be entirely to blame over lack of developement in W/P.Their MPs are partly to blame.Where did they take the CDF??It is saddening to learn that there’s no police post in Mwandi?Why was the MP elected?This is a lesson to the serving MPs to lobby govt and take developement to W/P.
All u dirty snakes that ar talkin sh*t ’bout our Barotseland honestly u ar annoyin me.Idiots lyk guts guy,wena pombwe tuwe.singe charles kambe ushwezi mwanyo.aden luwawa tuwe and david chansa masipa maho mubotana tuwe.u thnk we ar happy wit these bulsh*t tha’ ar happenin in ya maf*ckin tiny zambia?we lozis ar not fools mind u,i knw u all.if i want u can start disppearing one afta tha other with immediat effect malete amina.so watch out when i cum again!
Jus wen i thot KK was all smart! he thot he wud be dead by the tym this shit hit the fan! well, thanx to God he still alive and can tell us what this shit is all about! even HEMCS was there so he shouldnt be silent! this is crapM
u pipo you ar foolish thats why u are tribalistics
Very enlightening, indeed!
what are the boundaries? i cant see were it says ,its an independent government cause its refering everything to central government. wenyo
DEAR ZAMBIANS LET US RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL IN THE BAROTSELAND AND ACCEPT WHERE WE WENT WRONG IN THE THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT OF 1964 TO MAKE ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION THEREFORE FREE THE INNONCENTS BAROTSELAND ACTIVISTS FROM PRISON LIKE AKAFUMBA MOMBOTWA AND PATRIOTIC FRONT PF REGIME MUST FURFILL ITS PROMISES IN ZAMBIA AND TO ZAMBIANS AT LARGE LIKE RIGHTS OF HOMOSEXUALS ZAMBIANS AND FREE MUBIANA AND MWAPE IN KAPIRI MPOSHI AND PAUL KANSOKOMONA IN LUSAKA
By implication, simplification this means all provinces should be states, to catch up with this agreement. We should create governance units equivalent to the status of the states in the USA. Each province will have its own civil service and economic activities, except for the Presidential and the military which should fall under the federal hemisphere. This is what the white man failed to usher in expressly at that time.
Eeeeeeeh! So where is the boundary?
nothing much to think about,lozi pipo should understand the fact that there was no country such as barotse land and as such the british when giving independence to nothern rhodesia thought it wise to leave a unified region…they ,the british are the ones who divided the entire region calling proectorates and bulshit like that.
The Barotseland Agreement of 1964,I think it is a very complicated issue to handle especially the boundaries and that is the reason why President Edgar Lungu recently stated that this issue should be left between him and the Litunga to settle it.
Recently articles have been flying around calling K.K to open up and say something or clarify what he signed for concerning the Barosteland agreement of 1964.Firstly,when theLozis speak there is why they are speaking and secondly when the Government drag their feet there is why they are doing so.K.K ever since the wound started bleeding has never tried even to see that wound nor advice on how best it can be treated .Calling him to explain yes he can be called but what if K.K today says he can only answer his part and not the parts of other people who signed the agreement because if they are not present they cannot defend themselves, then who will answer for the dead? In the signing of ceremony of five people thus KDK, ED HONE,IMENDA SIBANDI NGAMBELA,MWANAWINA LEWANIKA iii and RICHARD HORNBY DUNCAN SANDY each one who signed had the reason which satisfied hin to agree and sign.KK for instance had a cabinet whom he consulted and agreed,had privately and widely consulted .Kaunda would answer but on his own side.Besides before KK opens his mouth he should think twice being the father of the nation because he might say what would bring the country into fire..The way forward is not having a government with a rigid mind set to solve the issue and not to have another rigid mind of the Baroste people to solve the issue at hand.Understanding is required between two parties and engage in dialogue.Find out according to the agreement what has been abrogated which needs to be put in place.Then let us put in place what has not been put in place and let us not put in place what has not to be put in place.ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION.
where is the boundary of Barotseland.