Tongas invite Rupiah, Sata to attend Lwiindi traditional ceremony

Tongas invite Rupiah, Sata to attend Lwiindi traditional ceremony
Written by George Zulu and Pride Bwalya in Monze
Sunday, May 31, 2009 3:54:30 PM

PATRIOTIC Front president Michael Sata has been invited to attend this year's Tonga Lwiindi traditional ceremony together with President Rupiah Banda, to be held in Monze.

And Tonga Traditional Association [TTA] president Dickson Namanza has accused government officials and chief Mukuni of the Toka-Leya people of Livingstone of perpetuating division among the Tonga speaking people by holding another Lwiindi ceremony, which coincides with the one in Monze.

In an interview in Monze after holding a protocol meeting on Thursday which was attended by Southern Province deputy permanent secretary Aaron Zulu and MMD officials.

Namanza confirmed Sata's invitation to the ceremony in July.

He said that the invitation was purely on the basis of uniting the slowly crumbling peace in the nation, adding that nothing political was attached to Sata's invitation.

"Yes I should confirm with you that we have invited Mr Sata to grace our Lwiindi ceremony this year. We have invited about five prominent people and Mr Sata is one of them. This is in the quest to unite the country. We have seen and observed the current political situation in the country to be a source of concern hence the call to have Mr Sata attend the ceremony together with the Republican President Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda," he said.

Namanza said Sata was a senior citizen who had served Zambia in various capacities and having him at the ceremony was a great moment for the people of Southern Province and other Tonga speaking people.

"We have been labelled tribal but we have to show the rest of the country that Tongas are not tribal but peaceful people who are ready to work with other tribes for the betterment of the country and improvement of traditional and cultural development. We have in the past invited Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people of Eastern Province, including the Bemba chiefs, so the issue of Sata's coming is not political but purely mutual and a uniting factor, and we shall have Hakainde Hichilema (UPND) who is the patron of the association," he said.

And Namanza has accused the government and chief Mukuni of the Toka-Leya-speaking people of Livingstone of dividing the people of Southern Province.

He questioned the relationship that exists between President Banda and chief Mukuni to have the powers to invite foreign heads of state to attend to a small 'village' Lwiindi ceremony leaving out the provincial one.

"As president of the Tonga Traditional Association we strongly condemn the move by chief Mukuni to hijack the organization of the most important and unifying ceremony of the Tonga people in the province by playing a role of organiser. There is a hidden hand in government sponsoring this, but we have to warn them that we shall not sit idle," he said.

He said the confusion of moving chief Mukuni's village Lwiindi from December to July, the same month the provincial Lwiindi ceremony would be taking place - was unacceptable and called on government to work towards rectifying the move.

He said late president Levy Mwanawasa only used to attend the Monze one.

"We have followed protocol to have a head of state at our ceremony but we are wondering why chief Mukuni who is not even a senior chief should go straight to the head of state and personally invite him to grace a village ceremony. We are worried as southerners of being divided by people like him [chief Mukuni] whilst working hand in hand with government," he said.

Chief Mukuni has invited President Banda, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and President Joseph Kabila from the Democratic Republic of Congo to grace this year's Toka-Leya's Lwiindi ceremony to be held in Livingstone in July.