Sata's visit on Litunga spells trouble for Barotse separatists

ARTHUR SIMUCHOBA
Correspondent | Friday May 24, 2013 00:00

The crisis deepened on April 14 when Sata flew into Mongu, the provincial capital, and proceeded to the palace to pay a courtesy call on the traditional ruler, the Litunga. But it was not all courtesy. There was a strong element of triumph for the president who was in the province for the first time since assuming office after defeating Rupiah Banda in the September 2011 elections.

Relations with the province had reached an all-time low in March last year when the Barotse traditional council declared itself in support of secession. The president was one of the most derided men in the province then, and reconciliation sometimes seemed out of the question.

But attitudes, particularly in the royal establishment, changed rapidly and drastically following the departure of the traditional prime minister, Clement Sinyinda, who had presided over the March 2012 traditional council. Sinyinda resigned suddenly last November, complaining that he was being sidelined by the Litunga in the first signs of trouble for the secessionists.

The palace moved away from any association with them. The trend accelerated until now when the president met with the Litunga to personally inform him that he would not be attending the Kuomboka ceremony, marking his annual migration from his flooded capital in the Zambezi plain to higher ground.

The president was at the head of a high-powered government delegation that included the Vice-President, Guy Scott. He was an invited guest for the regatta, the province's premier cultural event. The invitation to President Sata was, of course, anathema to the secessionists but the palace went ahead to make it in what was seen as a clear affirmation of the status quo. The visit was largely jovial, good-natured and it went well. But it undermined the secessionists considerably.

What it did was underline that they could no longer count on even the tacit approval or support of the royal establishment. The aura of support from that quarter had strengthened it considerably and the reverse can only weaken it and possibly drive it into oblivion.

They now need to take on not just the might of the Government of Zambia but their own king as well who is supposed to be the sovereign of the new state of Barotseland that they crave. For, it is now clear that the Litunga and the president are in accord, are getting closer and seem set to shut out the secessionists.

The palace has, for instance, already made it clear that it will not tolerate politics or the wearing of political regalia during the migration ceremony. It has emphasised that the ceremony will be a cultural event strictly and not a political platform for anyone.Sata warned of police action against Sinyinda because he was inciting hostility against the Litunga. 'If he is fighting the king, then he is also fighting me,' he declared, to the chagrin of the secessionists.

'The person who is organising people against the Litunga is your former prime minister,' he continued. 'The person who is organising secession is your former prime minister. I warn the king, if he attempts to bring him back, then I will use my signature.'

He was aware of the problems that the Litunga was facing which had resulted in the annual migration being delayed. 'We are very grateful that at least you pulled yourselves together and you are still going to have the ceremony,' Sata said. The secessionists naturally take a dim view of these proceedings. There is growing animosity towards the Litunga. Apart from spreading a whispering campaign that the Litunga has been 'bought' by the government, they have recently asked him to state on which side he stands.

He needed to be 'honest and brave enough to let the people of Barotseland know on which side of the fence (that divides Barotseland and Zambia) he stands, or else posterity will judge him harshly, they said. We are living in an age of transparency and accountability; an age that frowns on feudal forms of leadership.' History was replete with leaders who saw their position as an opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of those they claimed to lead.

'There is no single leader who ruled against the will of the masses and died a satisfied individual,' they went on.'A leader who rules in obscurity shall, whether he likes it or not, always be suspected of evil dealings by his subjects. Worse still is a leader who openly connives with someone his people regard as their sworn enemy.

'For a leader to host a visiting leader who comes and threatens his subjects is not only bad but degrading to the host and an insult to all his subjects. This is a shame.'It could well be. But the basic question that they are asking regarding on which side the Litunga stands can only be rhetorical now.

The royal establishment has come to the side of continuing to be part of Zambia, and that has left the secessionists in 'splendid isolation' and picking up the pieces will be hard. (SPA)