BAROTSELAND Independence Being Pushed By A Disgruntled Individual Within Linyungandambo

BAROTSELAND GOVERNMENT NAMED Setting the Record Straight

The Zambian Watchdog Online Newspaper has been running a series of sensational stories on Barotseland, among them the following:

• Lozis to declare independence when parliament is dissolved
• Barotseland appoints administrator, prepares for independence
• Barotseland constitution to be distributed starting today

The latest one published on 11^th October 2011 being:

• Barotseland government named

On top of that, the online paper has posted on its Website the so called “Declaratory Statement” which purports to declare that Barotseland is independent from Zambia as of 8th September 2011 and the so called “BAROTSELAND’S EMANCIPATION AND RESTORATION ORDER 2011” which also purports to be the Constitution of the Independent Barotseland.

With all due respect to the Zambian Watchdog and the source of these stories who claim to be Linyungandambo, (though some known members of Linyungandambo deny any knowledge of the information. That’s why we conclude this is the work of a disgruntled faction or individual within Linyungandambo) this series of articles is simply a big joke taken too far.

After reading literally all the comments posted in reaction to the last article “Barotseland government named”, I am convinced that someone needs to rebut the article otherwise the world will forever be denied the chance to know the truth. There is need to set the record straight! It surprises me how gullible people can be. From the comments so far posted in reaction to the article it is clear that a number of readers on the forum take this rubbish about the declaration of Barotseland Independence seriously. Another thing that has come to my realization upon reading through all those comments is the fact that there is such rampant ignorance over the Barotseland Agreement 1964 which must be counteracted by an aggressive awareness campaign to answer questions like; what is Barotseland? Who is a Lozi? How does the BA’64 benefit the Lozis? What are the implications of the BA’64 on the unitary state of Zambia? What are the implications of the abrogation of the BA’64? Etc. In any case it is not the scope of this particular article to delve into these complexities but simply to set the record straight concerning the article in question.

Reading through the series of article that I have listed above it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to quickly decipher through the absurdity of the whole story and come to the conclusion that indeed the articles are simply a big joke taken too far! Had the Zambian Watchdog made a simple verification exercise in Barotseland they would have discovered that the declaration of the independence of Barotseland, the appointment of the A.G, the circulation of the constitution and finally the so called naming of the cabinet are not a reality on the ground and certainly have not affected life in Barotseland as we know it, they are just a fallacy. All these are simply the creation of small group or most probably one individual suffering from acute self deception and living in utopian dreamland with all the time to indulge in fantasy and use the Zambian Watchdog as a platform to popularize that fantasy.

The cabinet list is most amusing to say the least. I have personally called a number of the people mentioned and without exception each of them has been caught unawares by the absurd news and denied being part of the nonsensical Barotseland Cabinet.  I am convinced that over 90% of those mentioned in that list are completely unaware of the existence of such a list or indeed of a Barotseland Government in place. . Some of the names mentioned in the list of the so called Barotse Government are definitely not part of the idiotic scheme. They are too honourable and sensible to be part of it. (Mr M. Wanga, Mr M. Liuwa Mr Mwangelwa Lewanika, Mr Nyambe Namushi and Mr M. Mulope for example) Their names are just being used to add some credibility to the nonsensical scheme. One of the persons named on the list has commented in his post reacting to the article about the Cabinet;

“Now that my name appears on the Cabinet list as Secretary to the Cabinet, my earlier conclusion that this is the work of cowardly lunatic(s) is confirmed.”

A serious bid to declare Bulozi independent of Zambia can not be carried out in this childish way and this should be clear to any person who has been exposed to the basics of public administration and politics. There are genuine and credible efforts currently underway to resolve the Barotse issue. The commission of inquiry appointed by Zambia’s fifth President, especially if its terms of reference are broad enough, is one such effort. The dialogue that has been going on between the BRE and all major stakeholders like the Activist groups namely Barotse Freedom Movement (BFM), The Barotse Patriotic Front (BPF), Linyungandambo and The Movement for the Restoration of Barotseland Agreement (MOREBA) is another such effort. The up coming enlarged Barotse National Council (BNC) is hoped to be the climax of such efforts. These sensational stories about declaration, constitution and cabinet of Barotseland are just an attempt to derail progress in the real Struggle for Barotseland. The Linyungandambo faction involved in this scheme is a bunch of lunatics who must be dismissed with the scorn, contempt and ridicule that they deserve.

Mungandi wa Muwina Mungandi

Interim Secretary – MOREBA

KAOMA – Barotseland

Posted by Admin on October 15, 2011. Filed under Exclusive, HEADLINES. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry