OF SCARECROWS AND THIEVES

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.

Another form was a dummy to simply scare away human predators. This was put up by those who never knew effective medicines to use but wanted their property safe.

But there used to be Ulukayo, also known as Ikayi or Inkwamba, for humans as well, which turned out not just a mere dummy, but a lethal magical object.  They could use a concoction of leaves and roots, stuff it into a gourd or simply tie it to a reed or pole. They could then put it close to what they wanted to be secured.  And… boom! You pick anything, fish, cassava, or fruit, you are doomed! That was the easiest way to procure madness or other forms of sickness! To get out of this dilemma, you had to admit your sins publicly, offer an unreserved apology and pay ransom to the owner of whatever it was you got without his permission.

Once upon a time, a story circulated within and around Lunga that some man named Ntontonkanyeni (Think of me) had left his fish unattended at his fishing camp. He had put his magical medicine by the drying fish, from which several pied ravens "stole" the fish. It is widely believed that all the birds that gnawed his fish were found dead!

Ulukayo was that real! Recently, I asked one elderly man from the village about it and this is what he had to say:

"Unga and Bisa are friendly people. You can get along with them if you mark your limits. Should you steal from a Unga, you invite a life-long curse that will see you through to the grave. Some would cicatrize the medicine on their tongues such that their curse or blessing automatically became deed. Others used leaves from magical trees such as Musonga, Ichoni, Mutumpa, and Chunganunshi to create invisible poison."

Children from Bangweulu Swamps

Talking invisible, there were stories in Muwele, now under Lavushi Manda District, of incidents during UNIP's cha cha cha campaigns. Colonial police officers and their African assistants allegedly failed to locate a village because it had turned into a thicket. Another story was of police officers looking for rabble-rousers (freedom fighters) couldn't reach the villages in Ng'ungwa because the road had flooded in September (dry season) and had become impassable. These, they say, happened due to charms practiced by villagers.

I was but a boy when one lorry owner refused to give an old man mealie meal during a famine in Muwele. His lorry was full of mealie meal when an old man approached him asking for something to eat. The businessman declined and told the old man that everything he had was for sale!  Disappointed, Mudala quietly left and promised the businessman that he would pay for his action. Guess what? The vehicle couldn't move an inch when he needed to, even though it was mechanically sound! Until the businessman obliged to donate mealie meal to the Mudala and was told to go drive it, did it move without much ado!

As can be seen from the above, we have unique technology to exhibit in the Bangweulu Swamps Museum which can earn us some income? Maybe, it's time we started thinking about documenting some of these true stories for posterity.