Barotseland : $b eight years among the BarotseStirke, D. E. C.
History
Barotseland : $b eight years among the Barotse
Stirke, D. E. C.
Western Province (Zambia)
A younger sister, Mbwanjikana, is Mokwai of Libonda, and Lewanika’s
eldest son Litia (or Yeta, as he is now called by all Barozi since
his youth) is stationed at Sesheke. (Yeta, styled Yeta II, has since
succeeded his father as Paramount Chief.) The two sisters and Yeta are
subordinate to Lewanika, but all three have their Kotlas (Parliaments)
and Prime Ministers. There is a right of appeal from any of these
subordinate Kotlas to the Lialui Kotla.
The Barozi Reserve is closed against farming or mining, and is reserved
for the Barozi only. Trading is allowed, but any applicant for a licence
has to be proved by the Administrator, Resident Magistrate, and the Chief
Lewanika—Lewanika getting a half share of all gun and store licences
issued throughout Barotseland.
Liquor is naturally not allowed to be sold in the Reserve, nor are
powder, caps, nor guns. The Administrator will grant permission to the
Chief, at his request, for any of the more important Indunas to buy
sporting guns and a limited amount of ammunition.
Slavery has been suppressed, although, in due justice to the Barozi, it
does not appear to have existed in its more brutal form in this country.
The B.S.A. Co. has given every encouragement to the Paris Huguenot
Mission in the Reserve, and the Mission have several privileges to assist
them, such as free inspection of their schools by the Principal of the
Barozi National School, the reservation of vacancies in the Barozi
National School for members of the Mission Schools and other items. The
Chief Lewanika has always lent the mission the support of his approval,
although he himself has not become converted.
The B.S.A. Co. has endeavoured in every possible way to protect the
interests of the Barozi people and their Chief Lewanika. The Resident
Magistrate at Mongu, besides his magisterial duties, acts as adviser
to the Chief and the Kotlas (or Parliament) as well. The native is
safeguarded against himself as regards his cattle by restrictions placed
on the local traders as to numbers purchased annually—restrictions on
breeding stock being much more stringent than on bulls and bullocks. The
Rhodesian Native Labour Bureau is given free access to the country to
recruit labour, but is under close Government supervision.
[Illustration: A Lujazi Village
Photo by J. C. Coxhead, Esq.]
[Illustration: Lewanika’s Head Paddlers
Photo by J. C. Coxhead, Esq.]
Besides all these safeguards, there is a Resident Commissioner stationed
at Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia, a large part of whose duties is the
protection of natives’ rights. Beyond him again is the High Commissioner
for all native protectorates, who directly represents His Majesty King
George V, and is also Governor-General for the Union of South Africa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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