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Sir Mwanawina Lewanika
Sir Mwanawina took over from his elder brother Imwiko in 1948. He was a very brave man. He is remembered for his leadership participation during war time in Serenje. He was nick named 'Silupula' because of his military discipline. His bravery was greatly appreciated and honored when he was knighted by the Queen of England and became Sir Mwanawina III. His was a tough responsibility to navigate the position of Barotseland and her status in the middle of a heated debate concerning the independence of Northern Rhodesia in 1964.
Even though Barotseland desired to be separate from the rest of Northern Rhodesia that could not be achived as most influencial and educated young men of the time,unlike those of today, yielded to Kenneth Kaunda's craftness to destroy Barotseland, and were promised personal political benefits. Thus they betryed their own country, Barotseland for thirty pieces of silver. Although Britain wished for Barotseland to be independent due to the legal binding treaties between Barotseland and the British system, neither Britain nor the Northern Rhodesian government seemed prepared to shoulder the financial burden, in the mean time needed to sustain Barotseland until she stood on her own economically. On the other hand, the new government of Northern Rhodesia fancied the idea of incorporating Barotseland into independent Zambia. How could this happen when the Litunga wanted to be free and it was legitimate?
This posed a big puzzle for both Northern Rhodesia and Britain. In the end Britain emphasized in parliament to carefully involve the Litunga in all deliberations so as to come with a satisfying solution. Barotseland agreement 1964 was drafted care for this need. The purpose of the agreement was to replace the treaties of Barotseland since Northern Rhodesia wanted Barotseland to join in the independence of what would be named Zambia. Therefore, the union of Barotseland protectorate and Northern Rhodesia gave birth to what is presently known as one Zambia one nation. The agreement was of particular interest to Britain in that the British wanted to ensure that as they gave independence to Northern Rhodesia, Barotseland would not be left hanging in the middle of nowhere.The British government made sure that whichever direction Barotseland chose to take was facilitated peacefully and smoothly in order to honor the teaty obligations they signed with King Lewanika.
Since the new government of Northern Rhodesia had special interest in Barotseland with a hidden agenda, to make Barotseland an integral part and thus together become a unitary independent state, President Kaunda signed the agreement. However, by signing the Barotseland Agreement 1964, President Kaunda managed to expand the extent of his presidency, but also surrendered some of his authority over Barotseland to the Litunga. This was well understood from the beginning, as it was a trade of worth taking. The Litunga also understood that he traded executive presidential powers, not autonomy. After signing the Barotseland Agreement 1964, it became an international legal document because it was a replacement of an international treaty. Everything went well, and would have continued to go well, until President Kaunda alone without consulting with the Litunga changed the Zambian constitution which in part or in whole changes the contents of what was agreed on and signed upon. At that moment the agreement is no longer binding, not that the law that regulates international agreements is no longer binding. But the agreement has been broken and abrogated by the government of Zambia. From then on, really Barotseland is being ruled by Zambia illegally. To fix the problem, Barotseland must be free. That can only happen if the people of Barotseland themselves call for that freedom through Barotseland self-determination. This is the right the people of Barotseland have which is embedded in human rights as a people, and is the cause of the current protest in Barotseland.
| Sir, Mwanawina Lewanika |
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The Barotseland Agreement of 18th May 1964
Rodger M.A. Chongwe SC
October 28, 2010
In an effort to bring the King of Barotseland to the table and facilitate the fusion of the Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia with the protectorate of Barotseland to form Zambia the colonial power through the colonial secretary Sir Duncan Sandys crafted an agreement which was sold to the Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia and Sir Mwanawina Lewanika of Barotseland. This was during the last stages of the constitutional conference at Malborough House in London. It would appear few of the delegates at this conference claim to be aware of this side meeting, which was taking place simultaneously with the main conference.
The representatives of the Barotseland Protectorate argued with the colonial power regarding their own treaty with the British Government that led to the creation of the Protectorate of Barotseland. The nationalists wanted Barotseland to join Northern Rhodesia in its independence as the two protectorates were to all intents and purposes part of one country. People who were prominent in the independence struggle came from Barotseland as well as Northern Rhodesia. However the King of Barotseland did not want to sleep on the rights of his people.
Subsequently Sir Mwanawina Lewanika agreed that Barotseland Protectorate should join with the Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia to form the nation of Zambia on condition that the Barotseland protectorate retained its local autonomous status enjoyed during her status as a protectorate. Barotseland was to surrender those powers that hitherto had been exercised by the imperial power of Britain over Barotseland to the new State of Zambia.
The details of the powers to be retained by the Barotseland Royal Establishment were spelt out in the agreement.
Sir Duncan Sandys on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, Sir Mwanawina Lewanika on behalf of the Barotseland Royal Establishment and Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, signed the Agreement for fusion on the 18th May 1964.
This agreement paved the way for the creation of the State of Zambia on the 24th October 1964.
In 1969 there were constitutional amendments to the 1964 Constitution and part of those amendments were aimed at bringing local government in Barotseland in line with other provinces. Barotseland was renamed Western Province. The King of Barotseland now only called the Litunga of Barotseland lost some of his powers including his treasury and this was in line with what took place elsewhere in the country. The agreement of 1964 was repealed by legislative fiat without any discussion or consensus from the parties.
The above then is the genesis of our constitutional problems emanating from the Western Province. They are problems that have been left to fester for a very long time. Each successive government has skirted around the problem. No real effort has been made by any of our previous governments to sit down with the traditional leaders of the Western Province to settle the issues once and for all. These issues will not go away unless there is a will by all of us in Zambia to seriously address them through our constitution. After all, at the core of the demands is decentralization. Which politician in Zambian would not agree of the need for decentralization and therefore devolution of more power from Lusaka to the provinces?
In regard to Zambians who come from the other provinces, who do not wish to understand that the Western Province has a legitimate claim to be part of Zambia on a different basis to the rest of us. We cannot in good conscience try to gloss over and arrogantly dismiss this fact, as has been the practice in the past. We as the rest of Zambia made a deal with the Barotse Kingdom. We must now in all good faith acknowledge that we did not keep the agreement. Our partners in the broken agreement have clearly not been happy with our behavior for a long while. Let’s come together and put it right in our time. We can take advantage of the constitutional debate now in place in the country and try to settle once and for all this very important national issue for the good of our country.
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