Kuomboka 2014 Put Off Due to Royal Bereavement The Kuomboka ceremony of the Lozi people of Barotseland will this year not be held following the demise of the Litunga (King)’s wife, Queen Moyo Imwambo, who died on the 10th of March and was put to rest on 17 March, 2014. Clarifying the matter that had been a subject of wide speculation in the Kingdom, the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) through Tawila Akapelwa Silumbu (Induna Inete) made the announcement in Mongu today. Induna Inete who is also Kuomboka/Kufuluhela Committee National Chairman, Tawila Akapelwa Silumbu, announced this today at the Limulunga palace and said the cancellation is due to the untimely death of Her Royal Highness, the Queen, Moyo Imwambo who died about three weeks ago. According to local radio Liseli, Induna Inete said memories of the late queen were still very fresh. Therefore, the cancellation has also been done to allow the gradual healing of the broken hearts, and to give time for people in the diaspora and overseas who still continue coming to pay their last respects to the queen. The Lozi speaking people of Barotseland every year escape the rising flood waters of the upper Zambezi river in a spectacular ceremony popularly known as the Kuomboka Ceremony. The magnificent ceremony attracts people from all walks of life from within and far away countires of the world. The ceremony is essentially the movement of the Litunga – King of Barotseland from his Lealui Palace, in the flood plains to dry land in Limulunga, in his Royal Barge, the Nalikwanda, which is accompanied by his wifes barge and several other canoes paddled by warriors and ordinary men and women. Earlier in the week the BRE had said that the public would be informed on the way forward after the KUTA had sat down to discuss whether or not the ceremony would go on. The BRE representative Induna inete said We have to sit down as the Kuta and later inform the people on the way forward. We cannot combine two things at once, as we are still receiving people who are mourning with us, he said. He said that the people were also still building houses at the village (mafulo) where the queen was put to rest. This was in response to some traditionalist who had earlier raised the speculations of whether or not the ceremony would take place to a higher level when he had alleged that the passing away of the King would not ordinarily stop the ceremony. The senior citizen from the Royal family, Mubita Nawa was quoted by a social network group, BBN, expressing the opinion that the death of the Litungas wife, Queen Mooyo Imwambo, could not force the cancellation of this years Kuomboka ceremony of the Lozis and, therefore, urged the Barotse Royal Establishment to set a date for the event so that the people, including international visitors, were given ample time to prepare for the colorful event. He said that the ceremony must take place because according to Lozi tradition, the King (Litunga) has No funeral leave at all. According to Lozi tradition, the kuomboka must take place no matter what happens, as for now our Litunga has no funeral (ilili mufu) and he needs to move his people from the flooding plains. We have got a lot of things that should be moved from the plains to our dry villages, and this is a well known procedure by everyone, he said. Meanwhile, contributing to the social debate, another younger blogger, Prince Muyunda, had this to say; The reason why we are proud of our traditional lozi culture is because we have the people , and the people express their pride through the royal kingship of our kingdom.......if we love our kingdom and its culture, we must first love one another and our king and all that sorrounds him......at the moment, the kingdom is mourning, and morally incorrect to sound the maoma drums when we all are heart broken. Then who are we doing it for? kuomboka may come and go, but our kingdom is here to stay.....I dont see it sensible for me or any well meaning lozi to go dance ngomalume in front of a mourning and heart broken crowd. let us mourn our beloved queen with love and respect that she deserves. - See more at: barotsepost/index.php/en/frontnews/local-news/738-kuomboka-2014-put-off-due-to-royal-bereavement#sthash.rqG7JHEm.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 21:54:48 +0000
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