Yotam Siachoba Muleya, the Legacy of a Zambian athlete.

Yotam Muleya Road which streches along David Kaunda Technical School, joining Independence Avenue to Burma Road is named after Yotam Siachoba Muleya, a Zambian athlete. In Lusaka's Emmasdale area, there is also a primary school named after him.
Who was Yotam Muleya?

Yotam Muleya was born and grew up in Mudukula village in Choma where for many years he had been racing with his hunting dogs as a small boy.

He made history at the age of 18 when he defeated British 4 minute miler champion Gordon Pirie by a 100 yards in Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia (present day Harare, Zimbabwe) in a three miles race.
Yotam Muleya died on November 23 1959 in a car accident in Michigan, United States.
Muleya's funeral service was held at Sikalongo Mission in Southern Zambia where his remains are buried.

Mukuka Nkoloso, an African indigenous scientist worth remembering

Mukuka Nkoloso was a Zambian patriot and one of the country's freedom fighters for Zambia's independence in the 1960s. However, Mutale Nkoloso had even greater ambitions. His dream was to take 12 Afronauts short for African Astronauts, a space girl and two cats to Mars.

He founded his own Space Academy 7 miles from Lusaka. Nkoloso hoped to beat the United States and Russia space programs at the height of the space race.

Nkoloso sought funding from Russia and partnership with Americans but he never succeeded. He also sought funding from UNESCO but he never got any response. He nonetheless continued to train his students.

Henry Nkole Tayali, a life of a Zambian sculptor, artist, painter and lecturer

Henry Nkole Tayali was born on 22 November 1943. He was a multi-lingual Zambian fine artist, sculptor, printmaker, raconteur and lecturer. Tayali was born in a town near the site of the Nsalu Caves between Serenje and Mpika and a home of the ancient rock and cave paintings. He grew up in a culturally rich environment and was exposed to native literature and folklore.

One of the known works by Tayali is the famous sculpture or statue of the faceless graduate erected on the space between the library and the graduation square at the University of Zambia.

He was one of the foremost artists from Zambia to have achieved major recognition in the international art scene. He has been described as Zambia's most famous painter,and most revered and pre-eminent artist.

He died in 1987.

Shosholoza; go forward and make way for the next person!

The tale of African labour migrants in Johannesburg mines can be traced back from the 1890s and 1900s.
During that time, there was a train that brought miners to Johannesburg mines from Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and from all the hinterland of Southern and Central Africa.

This train carried young and old, African men who were conscripted to go and work on contract in the golden mineral mines of Johannesburg, South Africa and its surrounding metropolis.
As they travelled on the steam trains, they sung "Shosholoza."
Shosholoza was originally a Ndebele folk song that originated from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) but has now been popularised in South Africa.

It was sung by Ndebele male migrant workers that were going to work in the South African mines.
The song was usually sung to express the hardship of working in the mines. It expresses heartache over the hard work performed in the mines.

The word Shosholoza or "chocholoza!" means go forward or make way for the next man.
It is used as a term of encouragement and hope for the workers as a sign of solidarity. The sound "sho sho" is reminiscent of the sound made by the steam train.

Southern Africa liberation movement leader Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo dies at 93

Ya toivo was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner who was active in the pre-independence movement and one of the co-founders of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960, and its predecessor the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959.

Ya Toivo served 16 years in Robben Island prison in the same section as Nelson Mandela.

He was released from prison in 1984 and rejoined SWAPO in exile in Lusaka, Zambia. He returned to Namibia in 1989 in the wake of the country's independence and served as a Member of Parliament and as a Cabinet Minister in Sam Nujoma's government.

Ya Toivo retired from active politics in 2006.

SIR KETUMIRE MASIRE (1925-2017) FROM AFRICAN LIBERATION LEADER TO A DEMOCRAT

Sir Ketumile Masire was a humble giant whose exemplary life as a liberation movement leader and democrat has made many Africans proud.

He died on June 22, 2017 aged 92.

Sir Ketumile belonged among the eminent cohort of African leaders who served the peoples of Botswana and the rest of Africa with great honesty, integrity and humility, always informed by an unwavering commitment to discharge their responsibilities without any expectation of personal gain.

Today Botswana is one of the shining beacons of African's democratic success because of the many contributions by leaders such as Sir Ketumire.

Hamba khale!

THE ZAMBIA I KNOW : Lozis are not a tribe

The Barotseland of western part of Zambia has had 38 tribes as follows: Mambowe, Masubia, Mafwe, Makwangwali,Manyengo, Maikwamakoma, Makwandi, Maimilangu, Maliuwa, Makwangwa, Mambukushu, Mankoya, Mambunda, Makwamashi, Makwamwenyi, Mashasha, Masimaa, Mandundulu, Mayauma, Mambumi, Malukolwe, Makwengo, Mashanjo, Mananzwa, Makololo, Maluvale, Machokwe, Maseba, Makwandu, Mayeyi, Maluunda, Malucazi, Mandebu, Makwamulonga,Matoka-leya, Matotela, Mahumbe, Malushange and Aluyi.

Prior to the year 1830, the Aluyi were the rulers of the country called Barotseland. The Barotse
valley was called Uluyi and spoke the Siluyi tongue. In 1830 King Mulambwa (the 10th Litunga) with the longest and famous reign died.

Thereafter, civil war broke out following a succession dispute between his two sons, Mubukwanu and Silumelume. At this critical moment, the Kingdom was invaded by warriors from the south, the Makololo. The Makololo reached Barotseland on their conquest journey from the south and subdued the divided Aluyi and their subject tribes. They became rulers of the land for 25 years.

As well-known, it was usual for a victorious tribe to marry the women and use the indigenous language, the Sikololo became the medium of intercourse between the Makololo and their subjects. After 25 years, the Aluyi and other subdued tribes rebelled and slaughtered the Makolo men and restored the Barotse sovereignty. The Sikololo Lozi language remained the common language in Barotseland.

To say Lozi is a tribe is like saying Nyanja is a tribe, simply put, no one can claim to be Lozi just like no one can claim and prove to be Nyanja.

The rise of students' lumpenism and the fall of students' intelligentsia: the historical role of UNZA students in the liberation struggle of southern Africa

In the 1970s and 80s it was fashionable for students at UNZA to read Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels' theory of class struggle and the revolution.

During those days, the term lumpen proletariat figured prominently in the students' vocabulary. It was used to describe the illiterate, backwards workers and peasants who were more interested in drinking and other pursuits and were unconscious of their role in the class struggle.

Over the years, the role which UNZA students played in fighting political oppression and bureaucratic intransigence has been narrated in some historical quarters. Students learning at higher institutions like UNZA provided a voice for a voiceless citizenry that could not speak on a number of issues effecting society.

In the early 1970s for instance, the University of Zambia Students’ Union (UNZASU) organised a march to the French Embassy in Lusaka, to protest against the French government’s decision to supply sophisticated military weapons, including Mirage fighter jets, to the apartheid regime of South Africa

Alick Nkhata, broadcaster, musician and social commentator

Alick Nkhata was born in 1922 in the Kasama District of Nothern Rhodesia now Zambia. He was a popular Zambian musician and broadcaster in the 1950s through to the mid-1970s. Much of the traditional Zambian music was preserved through his efforts through producing and recording.

During World War 2, he was stationed in Burma. It is here that he began his musical career shortly after returning to Northern Rhodesia as a field recording engineer for ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in 1946.
Nkhata went on to work with the Central African Broadcasting System (CABS), where he oversaw the recording of traditional music and rose to the position of deputy director of broadcasting and director of Zambian cultural services.

He made his presence felt as a musician with the late-'1940s music quartet, which evolved into the larger Lusaka Radio Band which performed regularly on Zambian radio during the 1950s. He continued to balance his radio and music careers until 1974 when he retired to his farm in Mkushi to devote his attention to singing and writing new tunes.
Four years later, he fell victim to raids by South Rhodesian forces during a cross-border raid against Zimbabwean liberation fighters.

One of his best known songs for Alick Nkhata include "Shalapo" and Other Love Songs.