In the Zambia Daily Mail of Thursday, February 2, 2012 in response to my article titled Barotse Question: A dialectic failure of reason of January 24, 2012, a fellow citizen under the nom de guerre of “interested citizen”, raised questions I here seek to address.
First, I am pleased to read that “interested citizen” pleaded innocence to the inexcusable crime of ignorance of political historic contexts that evidence the evolution of African nation-States like the one we call Zambia. Any one who so seeks to understand why they call themselves Zambian or whatever other nationality they deem fit should surely take time to read their history. A song that comes to mind in this respect is Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley’s, Buffalo Soldier where he sings: “If you know your history, Then you would know where you coming from, Then you wouldn't have to ask me, Who the 'eck do I think I am”.
History lost, it is thence understandable that “interested citizen”, in some way, is asking who the heck do they think they are? “Interested citizen”, further asks, what the heck is Barotseland and its boundaries thereof? Above all, “interested citizen” asks what the heck is the Barotse Question?
Thus, to edify “interested citizen”, the Barotse Question is simply an explanation of the fundamental reasons underlying the quest for the restoration of the Barotse Agreement. There are two dominant theses on this issue, and notably they are not founded on the infinitesimal question of boundaries. These are: (1) sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood; and (2) a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) in the post-colonial State, which in Africa is mostly an assemblage of ethnic groups that were defined as a nation by the colonial masters[1].
These two theses defining the Barotse Question provide us a framework for addressing “interested citizens” questions of what the heck is Barotseland and who the heck do they think they are. This is because they address the validity of the nature of influences that determine when the Barotse “people’s wishes” necessitate assertion of self-rule as presumed to be promulgated in the Agreement[2].
Significantly, the Barotse sense of nationhood is historically recognised. For instance, Gerald Caplan in his book “Elites of Barotseland” observes that “Barotseland had existed as an independent national entity long before the creation of Northern Rhodesia, and was legally and historically entitled to maintain or dissolve the attachment as its people wished”. The underlying assumption here is that that Barotseland self-rule is an inviolable entitlement that the people of Barotseland have held over time. The continuance of this entitlement before the independence of the then Northern Rhodesia, and amalgamation of Barotseland into the State of Zambia, is evidenced in the Barotseland Agreement of May 18, 1964.
To which end, historically, there have been attempts to assert this entitlement. Notable attempts include that in 1907, when King Lewanika requested the British Government that Barotseland protectorate be removed from North Western Rhodesia and company rule and be given the same status as Bechuanaland (Botswana). And in 1921, when King Yeta III presented Prince Arthur of Connaught a petition that, in the main, demanded direct rule of the Imperial Government as a protected native state over the entire territory known as Barotseland North-Western Rhodesia.
In 1953, Barotseland was declared a ‘protectorate within the protectorate’, during the processes of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Barotseland’s sovereignty was recognised in section 112 of the Constitution of Northern Rhodesia.
On May 18, 1964, the Barotseland Agreement was signed (for lack of newspaper space I advise “interested citizen” reads the first paragraph of the Agreement). The agreement provided the governance and legitimacy framework for the creation of the independent sovereign State of Zambia. In short, the Agreement recognised a people’s a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood.
Thus, the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 evidences the first thesis on the Barotse Question, which is sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood. Interestingly, the Laws of Zambia consistently give due recognition to the autonomy of Barotseland as they acknowledge the existence of a Barotse Native Authority. There is no other group of people in Zambia politically and historically recognised as such.
However, derogations of the Barotseland Agreement are argued to chiefly include the 1969 Constitution Amendment Act and the Western Province (Land and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, with the former abolishing all rights, obligation and liabilities attached to the agreement, and the latter disinvesting the Litunga of his powers over land in the province as it vested all land in Barotseland in the President of Zambia.
The second explanation of the fundamental reasons underlying the quest for the restoration of the Barotse Agreement or what is termed the Barotse Question is a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation. This, I have consistently argued is a fallacy and a mere parody for political opportunism. Hence I write somewhere, “That Western province is the poorest and least developed province in Zambia is not a subject of debate, but that it should be acknowledged that all rural Zambia has comparatively been neglected for some time in our country’s development history”.
In addition, I have further argued that over time in post-independent Zambia’s history there is no ethno-region that can argue that they have been underrepresented in the political governance of Zambia. For instance, Lindemann’s governance representative indices by regional groupings and or ethnic groupings in the period 1964 to 2008 do not show significant ethnic marginalisation, though variances are observable[3]. Unfortunately, this is not the case today, as even evidenced by the Catholic Bishops concern on this score.
In retrospect, I hope up to this stage I have edified who the heck do they think they are; what the heck is Barotseland, and what the heck is the Barotse Question?
“Interested citizens” other questions, are “what really is the Barotse Question in today’s Zambia (just indicate the request or demand) and who are affected in terms of geographical boundaries”.
First, having outlined the paradigm of the Barotse Question, I hope “interested citizen” can now surmise that who is affected is simply who has a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood. In any case, a nation is nothing much but an evolution of historical romanticism! So the boundaries of Barotseland at any one point in history are simply defined by a historic and political sense of belonging. Period.
Second, what is the request or demand? The request or demand is inviolably inherent in the Barotse Question’s thesis. That is sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood; and a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) in the post-colonial State.
To which end, if we so understand this thesis, the question is NOT what is the request or demand, but what does the Barotse Question teach us in today’s Zambia? The answer is simply that the Barotse Question and its see-saw resurgence (thereof) provides us an interrogation of the usurpation of the traditionalists autonomy and privileges during the country’s State-building process. But critical of all, it simply calls onto to us to rethink as to whether our centralist approaches to political and economic governance address the sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood and the sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) concerns of our population.
The “Barotse Question is simply an affirmation of the need for equitably determined developmental entitlements, and elite bargaining based on social group or regional representation; and that the Barotse Question’s derived governance paradigm is one of inclusive models of political governance structures of devolution of power, as a means of allowing for more regional representative structures of government” (Mbinji 2011).
In short, the Barotse Question the request or demand (if we so wish to put it that way) provides a framework for devolution of power to the regions. It provides the State of Zambia the opportunity for a non-dichotomous governance system, which can integrate traditional and customary governance frameworks under which the majority of the rural populations exist.
In conclusion, if we so now understand the Baroste Question, we should then understand that it is a governance paradigm that can mitigate influences that can likely determine when a “people’s wishes” necessitate assertion of self-rule or secession, as it is a reconciliatory paradigm of the historic divide between today’s political elites and traditionalists.
After all, the Barotse Question is just a product of the rural poverty vis-à-vis political governance representation disconnect evident in Zambia.
For more reading on the Barotse Question, please visit http:// http://miliko.vacau.com/ and http://mbinjimufalo.blogspot.com/
[1] Mbinji M., (2011), Re-Examining the Argument for the Restoration of the Barotseland Agreement, A paper presentation to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) National Conference on Traditional Authorities, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Lusaka, Zambia.
[2] Ibid
[3] Lindemann, S., (2010), Inclusive elite bargains and civil war avoidance: The case of Zambia, Crisis States Working Papers Series No.2.
First, I am pleased to read that “interested citizen” pleaded innocence to the inexcusable crime of ignorance of political historic contexts that evidence the evolution of African nation-States like the one we call Zambia. Any one who so seeks to understand why they call themselves Zambian or whatever other nationality they deem fit should surely take time to read their history. A song that comes to mind in this respect is Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley’s, Buffalo Soldier where he sings: “If you know your history, Then you would know where you coming from, Then you wouldn't have to ask me, Who the 'eck do I think I am”.
History lost, it is thence understandable that “interested citizen”, in some way, is asking who the heck do they think they are? “Interested citizen”, further asks, what the heck is Barotseland and its boundaries thereof? Above all, “interested citizen” asks what the heck is the Barotse Question?
Thus, to edify “interested citizen”, the Barotse Question is simply an explanation of the fundamental reasons underlying the quest for the restoration of the Barotse Agreement. There are two dominant theses on this issue, and notably they are not founded on the infinitesimal question of boundaries. These are: (1) sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood; and (2) a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) in the post-colonial State, which in Africa is mostly an assemblage of ethnic groups that were defined as a nation by the colonial masters[1].
These two theses defining the Barotse Question provide us a framework for addressing “interested citizens” questions of what the heck is Barotseland and who the heck do they think they are. This is because they address the validity of the nature of influences that determine when the Barotse “people’s wishes” necessitate assertion of self-rule as presumed to be promulgated in the Agreement[2].
Significantly, the Barotse sense of nationhood is historically recognised. For instance, Gerald Caplan in his book “Elites of Barotseland” observes that “Barotseland had existed as an independent national entity long before the creation of Northern Rhodesia, and was legally and historically entitled to maintain or dissolve the attachment as its people wished”. The underlying assumption here is that that Barotseland self-rule is an inviolable entitlement that the people of Barotseland have held over time. The continuance of this entitlement before the independence of the then Northern Rhodesia, and amalgamation of Barotseland into the State of Zambia, is evidenced in the Barotseland Agreement of May 18, 1964.
To which end, historically, there have been attempts to assert this entitlement. Notable attempts include that in 1907, when King Lewanika requested the British Government that Barotseland protectorate be removed from North Western Rhodesia and company rule and be given the same status as Bechuanaland (Botswana). And in 1921, when King Yeta III presented Prince Arthur of Connaught a petition that, in the main, demanded direct rule of the Imperial Government as a protected native state over the entire territory known as Barotseland North-Western Rhodesia.
In 1953, Barotseland was declared a ‘protectorate within the protectorate’, during the processes of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Barotseland’s sovereignty was recognised in section 112 of the Constitution of Northern Rhodesia.
On May 18, 1964, the Barotseland Agreement was signed (for lack of newspaper space I advise “interested citizen” reads the first paragraph of the Agreement). The agreement provided the governance and legitimacy framework for the creation of the independent sovereign State of Zambia. In short, the Agreement recognised a people’s a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood.
Thus, the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 evidences the first thesis on the Barotse Question, which is sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood. Interestingly, the Laws of Zambia consistently give due recognition to the autonomy of Barotseland as they acknowledge the existence of a Barotse Native Authority. There is no other group of people in Zambia politically and historically recognised as such.
However, derogations of the Barotseland Agreement are argued to chiefly include the 1969 Constitution Amendment Act and the Western Province (Land and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, with the former abolishing all rights, obligation and liabilities attached to the agreement, and the latter disinvesting the Litunga of his powers over land in the province as it vested all land in Barotseland in the President of Zambia.
The second explanation of the fundamental reasons underlying the quest for the restoration of the Barotse Agreement or what is termed the Barotse Question is a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation. This, I have consistently argued is a fallacy and a mere parody for political opportunism. Hence I write somewhere, “That Western province is the poorest and least developed province in Zambia is not a subject of debate, but that it should be acknowledged that all rural Zambia has comparatively been neglected for some time in our country’s development history”.
In addition, I have further argued that over time in post-independent Zambia’s history there is no ethno-region that can argue that they have been underrepresented in the political governance of Zambia. For instance, Lindemann’s governance representative indices by regional groupings and or ethnic groupings in the period 1964 to 2008 do not show significant ethnic marginalisation, though variances are observable[3]. Unfortunately, this is not the case today, as even evidenced by the Catholic Bishops concern on this score.
In retrospect, I hope up to this stage I have edified who the heck do they think they are; what the heck is Barotseland, and what the heck is the Barotse Question?
“Interested citizens” other questions, are “what really is the Barotse Question in today’s Zambia (just indicate the request or demand) and who are affected in terms of geographical boundaries”.
First, having outlined the paradigm of the Barotse Question, I hope “interested citizen” can now surmise that who is affected is simply who has a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood. In any case, a nation is nothing much but an evolution of historical romanticism! So the boundaries of Barotseland at any one point in history are simply defined by a historic and political sense of belonging. Period.
Second, what is the request or demand? The request or demand is inviolably inherent in the Barotse Question’s thesis. That is sustenance of a sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood; and a sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) in the post-colonial State.
To which end, if we so understand this thesis, the question is NOT what is the request or demand, but what does the Barotse Question teach us in today’s Zambia? The answer is simply that the Barotse Question and its see-saw resurgence (thereof) provides us an interrogation of the usurpation of the traditionalists autonomy and privileges during the country’s State-building process. But critical of all, it simply calls onto to us to rethink as to whether our centralist approaches to political and economic governance address the sense of belonging to a traditionally and colonially recognised politically and historically defined nationhood and the sense of socio-economic and political exclusion (or marginalisation) concerns of our population.
The “Barotse Question is simply an affirmation of the need for equitably determined developmental entitlements, and elite bargaining based on social group or regional representation; and that the Barotse Question’s derived governance paradigm is one of inclusive models of political governance structures of devolution of power, as a means of allowing for more regional representative structures of government” (Mbinji 2011).
In short, the Barotse Question the request or demand (if we so wish to put it that way) provides a framework for devolution of power to the regions. It provides the State of Zambia the opportunity for a non-dichotomous governance system, which can integrate traditional and customary governance frameworks under which the majority of the rural populations exist.
In conclusion, if we so now understand the Baroste Question, we should then understand that it is a governance paradigm that can mitigate influences that can likely determine when a “people’s wishes” necessitate assertion of self-rule or secession, as it is a reconciliatory paradigm of the historic divide between today’s political elites and traditionalists.
After all, the Barotse Question is just a product of the rural poverty vis-à-vis political governance representation disconnect evident in Zambia.
For more reading on the Barotse Question, please visit http:// http://miliko.vacau.com/ and http://mbinjimufalo.blogspot.com/
[1] Mbinji M., (2011), Re-Examining the Argument for the Restoration of the Barotseland Agreement, A paper presentation to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) National Conference on Traditional Authorities, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Lusaka, Zambia.
[2] Ibid
[3] Lindemann, S., (2010), Inclusive elite bargains and civil war avoidance: The case of Zambia, Crisis States Working Papers Series No.2.
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