Zambia: Information on tribalism in Zambia and the relationship among the Tonga, Loaya and Bemba and on the treatment of the Bemba by the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MDD)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZMB15780.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Zambia: Information on tribalism in Zambia and the relationship among the Tonga, Loaya and Bemba and on the treatment of the Bemba by the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MDD), 1 November 1993, ZMB15780.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaed63.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
New African of October 1993 reports that 15 ministers resigned from President Chiluba's government because of corruption in high places, drug trafficking and tribalism (32). This source further states that Chiluba's critics also accuse him of tribalism and of relying heavily on his own Bemba tribesmen at the expense of other tribes. The Lozi of Barotseland are also reportedly unhappy with the government of Zambia because an agreement signed between them and President Kaunda in 1964, before Zambia became independent, has not been honoured (New African May 1993, 21). Before independence Barotseland was a separate kingdom and
the agreement gave the Litunga, the Barotse king, recognition and power of taxation over local government, control over local courts and over customary law, land, forestry and fishing. It also guaranteed that money accumulated by the 1925 Barotse Fund...should be used by the Litunga (Ibid.).
Information on the ethnic composition of the police force in Lusaka and on Vice-President Mwanamwasa's tribe could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
New African [London]. October 1993. "Zambia: Chiluba in Crisis."
_____. May 1993. Mungo Tsabalala. "Rumblings in Barotseland."
