SWAMPY TALES

"Ubufumu buucindika abeene," literally meaning, customary commoners, must honour their traditional leaders. So said our wise forefathers. Why is it important to do this? Because the traditional leaders are custodians of all that we are. They symbolize our culture; they mirror our tradition and are an insignia of what we call TRIBE (which means a group of persons having a common character, or interest.) They represent not only our history but are the emblem of our struggles, our triumphs, our evolution, our beliefs! And, most important, they hold in trust what belongs to us, our heritage, OUR LAND, AND ALL THAT IT HOLDS. As such, every tribesman must honour what we have.    Yes, we honour and respect our chiefs, headmen, and Guardians' of Nature. Therefore we should not allow anyone or anything to erode this esteem? Is it possible for the state and privatizers to undermine their authority while we look helplessly on? Can we do something? Why should we bother to do so? What

Naturally, honest people hate thieves. As people created in God's image, like their creator, they abhor anyone with long fingers.  One of the shortest verses in the Cibemba Bible is Exodus 20:15 which is a single word, ‘ Wilaiba ,’ emphatically prohibiting stealing. However, some have always crossed this line and helped themselves with something that belonged to someone else. Men with such behavior are all over, including Lunga. Often, it is difficult to pin down the thief, especially the pretentious impostor who disguises himself as the holiest of the tribe. How do you trace or identify the thief from a crowd of innocents? Not so hard with the natives of Lunga. Lunga forebearers used three kinds of scarecrows, one for animals and two others for people.   The former being a mere dummy. Usually, mannequins were put by nets and weirs to scare away otters and other riverine predatory animals from feasting on fish, thereby preventing them from damaging the fisherman’s equipment. An