Groups representing Barotse National Activists are warning their traditional leadership, including the Litunga, of ghastly repercussions if drastic measures are not taken to reverse the resignation of Prime Minister Clement Sinyinda.
Prime Minister Sinyinda, traditionally known as the Ngambela announced his decision to quit after being ignored by the Litunga, sparking resentments across the Zambian Western region that seeks to secede using the Barotseland Agreement 1964.
The Barotse National Youth League, MOREBA and the Barotse Freedom Movement have issued a joint statement urging the Litunga to put the leadership crisis in the region under control so that Lozis can continue pursuing their independence.
This is in addition to the Barotseland Military’s warning. Activists believe Ngambela Sinyinda is better placed to represent their resolve to secede following the March 2012 resolution at the Barotseland National Council.
“It is a wise saying that ‘an idea whose time has come cannot be stopped’. Like one of us once said: The Train taking Barotseland to its Freedom has taken off it is either you get on board, get out of the way or you risk being run over,” the joint statements, adding;
“We also call upon the powers that be to seriously reconsider the situation at hand and appreciate that if something drastic does not happen to reverse the situation, the repercussions are too ghastly to contemplate and there is no telling on what the end result is going to be.”
Below is the Full Joint Statement Issued by the Barotseland Activits
PRESS STATEMENT
We the Groups Liaison Committee of the Barotse National Activists have learnt with disgust and utter shock of the resignation of Mutompehi Clement Wainyae Sinyinda from his position as the Ngambela of Barotseland (Right Honourable Prime Minister).
The development is a devastating ‘blow below the belt’ to the Barotse Cause of which we are aware that Mutompehi Sinyinda was genuinely passionate about and has escalated to unprecedented levels since taking over as Ngambela of the Kingdom of Barotseland.
We wish to express our overwhelming gratitude to the distinguished and unparalleled service he rendered to the nation of Barotseland and offer our unswerving support and solidarity to him.
We are gratified by the closing statement of the Ngambela’s letter of intent indicating his desire to step down when he says:
“Notwithstanding this decision, I would like to assure His Majesty of my fullest cooperation as the BRE and the people of Barotseland strive to find a lasting solution to the challenges currently facing the Kingdom”
The challenges that the Ngambela has enumerated in his letter are symptoms of a systemic cancer that has degenerated almost to rock-bottom due to the stagnation of the otherwise vibrant evolution of our governance system which the Kaunda regime nipped in the bud just after independence.
It is these systemic ills and institutionalized inadequacies that the struggle for a free and self governing Barotseland aims at remedying, not by abandoning our tradition but by reinforcing and modernizing our otherwise democratic monarch system of governance.
We wish to challenge all Bana ba Poho Yensu at home and in the Diaspora of Zambia, beyond its borders and beyond the shores of Africa that we need not despair because of this temporal setback; because it is indeed a temporal setback. Barotseland is bigger than any of us and for this reason Barotseland will triumph at all costs and against all odds.
It is a wise saying that ‘an idea whose time has come cannot be stopped’. Like one of us once said: The Train taking Barotseland to its Freedom has taken off it is either you get on board, get out of the way or you risk being run over. We also call upon the powers that be to seriously reconsider the situation at hand and appreciate that if something drastic does not happen to reverse the situation, the repercussions are too ghastly to contemplate and there is no telling on what the end result is going to be.
We are consoled by the fact that Mr Sinyinda is still Ngambela according to our tradition, at least until he hands over the instruments of power and showelelas (gives royal salute) at the Namoo to indicate his final departure.
We can only hope that the conditions that led to his declaration of intent to step down can be seriously addressed so that tranquility can return to this Kingdom and that we can forge ahead with the struggle to bring the freedom that the Barotse people are entitled to.
TUKUONGOTE…! WA MWANA NONGOLO!
SIGNED:
• Mundia Martin – BFM
• Grace S. Muyangana – BFM
• Kanyambi Mukonda – BFM
• Mwangala Batunda – BaroTSE National Youth League
• Muwana Libi – Barotse National Youth League
• Mungandi wa Muwina Mungandi – MOREBA
• Mwangelwa Mbikusita – Lewanika – MOREBA