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Kalabo Town, Mongu (2026)

07/10/2026

10-YEAR-OLD PUPIL SEEKS K62 MILLION AFTER SCHOOL GLASS ACCIDENT

LUSAKA-7 OCTOBER 2026: A 10-year-old pupil has sued the proprietors of Celines Academy in Lusaka West, seeking more than K62 million after suffering a serious injury to his dominant right hand in an incident that allegedly occurred during lunch break.

The pupil, through his guardian and next friend Bruce Mulenga, has taken legal action against Fredrick Lihusha and Levina Namalambo Chobana, trading as Celines Academy, accusing the school proprietors of negligence.

According to court documents, the incident occurred on March 10, 2026, when the boy and five other pupils reportedly approached a teacher during lunch hour seeking an activity to occupy themselves.

They were allegedly informed that the school grounds were not open for use and were left to find something else to do.

And, as children sometimes do when adults run out of activities for them, the pupils reportedly invented their own.

They began playing “Pomo Dinda”, a traditional chasing game involving a bottle, kicking and plenty of running—an innocent-looking pastime that, on this occasion, allegedly ended with a devastating injury.

The court documents state that the children were playing without supervision when the pupil was chased and beaten by his friends. As he attempted to touch a classroom window, he was allegedly pushed into the glass.

The window shattered, causing a deep laceration to his right forearm and hand.

A medical report cited in the claim reportedly found that the injury involved transected tendons as well as radial and ulnar neurovascular injuries, leaving the boy with significant damage to the hand he uses for writing.

The claim alleges that the pupil was not taken to hospital promptly following the accident, resulting in substantial blood loss and ischemia.
He later underwent surgery to restore blood circulation to the injured hand, including the harvesting of a vein graft from his right leg.

A second operation was performed on April 7, 2026, to repair damaged flexor tendons and nerves.

The child remains under physiotherapy and clinical follow-up and, according to the claim, has been unable to return to school because the injured hand is his dominant writing hand.

For a 10-year-old whose biggest concerns should ordinarily be homework, games and perhaps negotiating an extra serving of lunch, the injury has introduced much more serious questions about his education and future.

His guardian fears that the impairment could affect the boy's educational and vocational prospects, particularly if he eventually chooses a career requiring fine motor skills and dexterity in his right hand.

The pupil is seeking more than K1 million in special damages, reportedly covering medical treatment, transportation and other expenses associated with his recovery.

He is also claiming K60 million in general damages for disability, future loss of earning capacity, future medical treatment and rehabilitation, pain and suffering, psychological trauma and emotional distress.
The claim additionally seeks exemplary and punitive damages.

The school's proprietors have denied liability, following a demand for compensation reportedly issued in June.

The matter is now before the High Court, with the plaintiff seeking compensation, interest, legal costs and any other relief the court may consider appropriate.

The allegations contained in the claim have not been finally determined by the court, and the defendants will have an opportunity to present their defence.

What began as a lunchtime children's game has become a serious legal battle, one that places a much bigger question on the table than the K62 million being claimed: how much responsibility should schools bear for children's safety when the school bell rings and supervision gives way to play?

07/10/2026

Makwamashi Kwa buloi

07/10/2026

Good morning from Lusaka

04/10/2026

With Vinicius Jr – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

03/10/2026

THE NKOYA OF KAOMA: A PEOPLE, A LAND AND A COMPLEX HISTORY

Tracing the settlement of the Nkoya, their traditional kingdoms, the Lozi connection, the Kamusongolwa campaign and their place in modern Kaoma

By Likando Mukanwa Esq

Few districts in Zambia carry a history as layered as Kaoma in Western Province.

Known during the colonial period as Mankoya, the district remains one of the principal centres of Nkoya history and traditional authority.

Today, however, Kaoma is a multi-ethnic society in which Nkoya, Lozi, Mbunda and other communities have lived together through generations of migration, intermarriage, commerce, administration and cultural exchange.
The historical significance of the Nkoya is nevertheless difficult to dispute.
The Government of Zambia describes Kaoma, formerly Mankoya, as the centre of an Nkoya minority and identifies Mwene Mutondo and Mwene Kahare as the principal Nkoya traditional leaders. It also recognises Kazanga/Kathanga as the major annual cultural ceremony of the Nkoya.
But the history of the Nkoya is much older and considerably more complicated than the modern description of them as simply an "ethnic minority".
It is a history of political organisation, migration, royal dynasties, warfare, incorporation into larger political systems, cultural survival and interaction with neighbouring peoples.
Most importantly, the history of the Nkoya cannot be separated from the history of the Lozi political system.
Their relationship was neither one of permanent hostility nor one in which Nkoya identity simply disappeared into Lozi identity.
It was a relationship of political incorporation, resistance, allegiance, military cooperation, cultural interaction and continuing separate identity.

The Nkoya are a Bantu-speaking people historically associated with the wooded plateau of central-western Zambia, particularly the area around present-day Kaoma and neighbouring territories.
However, it would be a mistake to imagine the pre-colonial Nkoya as one centrally administered kingdom occupying exactly the territory of today's Kaoma District.
Historical research indicates that the Nkoya political world consisted of several royal establishments or lukena, with dynastic lines associated with such titles as Mutondo, Kahare, Momba and Kabulwebulwe. These political formations developed from earlier dynastic traditions and interacted through diplomacy, marriage, sanctuary, succession disputes and other political mechanisms.
The Mutondo dynasty was particularly associated with the territory corresponding broadly to present-day Kaoma during much of the nineteenth century.
The Kahare dynasty had a more mobile historical geography, with connections to areas that today fall within Mongu, Lukulu, Kasempa and the Kafue-Zambezi watershed.
This is important because it demonstrates that Nkoya history predates the present district map.
The Nkoya political landscape was much larger and more fluid than modern administrative boundaries suggest.

Perhaps one of the strongest historical markers of Nkoya presence is the old name of Kaoma itself.
The district was formerly known as Mankoya.
Research by University of Zambia scholar John Simwinga notes that Mankoya was named after the Nkoya language and its speakers, whom he describes as having founded the present-day Kaoma area.
Academic research on Nkoya traditional institutions similarly explains that the name Nkoya originally referred to a geographical area and subsequently became associated with a dynasty and, later, with the wider ethnic identity associated with the Mankoya district.
Thus, Mankoya was not an arbitrary colonial name.
It preserved the historical association between the territory and the Nkoya political and linguistic community.
When the district was subsequently renamed Kaoma, the administrative name changed, but the historical association did not disappear.

One of the most important corrections to popular perceptions of Nkoya history is that the Nkoya were not historically an unorganised collection of villages.
Research into the Nkoya political system identifies several small-scale states with royal courts, dynastic succession and systems of political authority.
The rulers were known as Myene, and the royal institutions possessed political, economic and ritual significance.
Of these political establishments, the traditions of Mwene Mutondo and Mwene Kahare survived the major political transformations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Government of Zambia continues to recognise the two as principal traditional leaders of the Nkoya in Kaoma and surrounding areas.
Their survival is historically remarkable.
It means that despite the incorporation of Nkoya territory into wider political structures, the Nkoya royal tradition was not completely dismantled.

The nineteenth century transformed the political map of western and central Zambia.
The rise of the Kololo state, followed by the restoration of the Luyana/Lozi monarchy, brought neighbouring political communities into a wider political system centred on the Barotse floodplain.
The Nkoya states were among the political communities affected by this expansion.
Historical research indicates that the Mutondo political establishment was attacked and incorporated into the expanding Kololo system around the middle of the nineteenth century. Following the restoration of the Lozi dynasty, Lozi patterns of political overlordship over Nkoya territories continued and expanded. By the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Lozi state had substantial influence over the constitutional and economic affairs of the Nkoya states, including the prominent Mutondo and Kahare establishments.
This is the point at which the history of the Nkoya and Lozi becomes particularly important.

Modern discussions sometimes reduce the relationship to a simple formula:
"The Lozi conquered the Nkoya."
That statement is too simplistic to capture the historical reality.
The evidence points to a more complicated process.
There was political incorporation, but Nkoya royal institutions survived.
There was Lozi overlordship, but Nkoya rulers continued to govern their own communities.
There was resistance, but there was also political allegiance.
There was military conflict, but there were also occasions when Nkoya rulers participated in military activities under the authority of the Lozi monarch.
The relationship should therefore be understood as a changing political relationship rather than an uncomplicated ethnic war.
This distinction is crucial.
Political subordination did not necessarily mean ethnic assimilation.
A Nkoya ruler could recognise the authority of the Lozi king and still remain Nkoya.

One of the most interesting examples of this relationship is the Kamusongolwa conflict of 1898.
Accounts preserved in Kaonde historical material describe a confrontation between King Lewanika's political forces and Chief Kasempa Jipumpu of the Kaonde.
According to that account, before the major confrontation at Kamusongolwa, Lewanika had sent Kahari, identified as a Nkoya subordinate chief, with an army against Jipumpu.
Kahari and his forces were defeated.
Lewanika subsequently sent a larger coalition, resulting in the major 1898 confrontation associated with Kamusongolwa Hill, remembered in Kaonde tradition as the "Hill of Skulls."
The Kamusongolwa account should be treated with appropriate source criticism because much of the accessible narrative is preserved through local historical and oral traditions.
Nevertheless, the episode is valuable because it illustrates the wider political structure of the period: a Nkoya ruler could operate as a subordinate of the Lozi monarch and participate in a campaign undertaken under the authority of Lewanika.
This is a significant piece of evidence for understanding the relationship between Nkoya and Lozi political institutions.

The participation of a Nkoya ruler in a campaign under Lewanika does not mean that the Nkoya ceased to be a separate people.
Rather, it demonstrates the political complexity of the nineteenth century.
A ruler could simultaneously possess:
his own ethnic identity;
his own traditional constituency;
his own royal lineage;
his own local authority; and
a political relationship of allegiance to a more powerful monarch.
The modern concept of nationality or a centralised state should not be projected backwards onto this political environment.
The Nkoya could remain Nkoya while operating within the wider Lozi political order.
That is precisely what makes their history so fascinating.

Historical evidence also records periods of resistance.
Research into the Nkoya states describes the destruction or raiding of the Mutondo royal establishment by Kololo forces and records the complex political relations among the different Nkoya royal courts.
There were therefore moments when Nkoya political establishments defended their autonomy and moments when particular Nkoya rulers operated within a wider political hierarchy.
The history is best described as negotiated power, rather than permanent friendship or permanent warfare.
This is an important distinction when writing the history of Western Zambia.

Despite the political changes of the nineteenth century, two Nkoya royal institutions emerged from the period with particular prominence:
Mwene Mutondo
and
Mwene Kahare.
Their survival was extraordinary because many other smaller political institutions in the region were absorbed into wider systems of authority.
Academic research describes Mutondo and Kahare as the two royal titles that survived the incorporation of the region into the wider Lozi political system as senior royal chiefs.
The modern Zambian Government likewise recognises the two traditional leaders as the principal Nkoya chiefs of Kaoma and surrounding areas.
This continuity connects contemporary Kaoma directly to its pre-colonial political history.

The arrival of British colonial administration introduced another political transformation.
The colonial government increasingly converted indigenous political relationships into formal administrative arrangements.
The Barotse/Lozi administration was given considerable influence over the western region, while the traditional institutions of communities such as the Nkoya became incorporated into the colonial administrative framework.
This did not destroy the Nkoya royal institutions.
Instead, their political powers were progressively transformed.
Traditional rulers who had once operated within dynamic pre-colonial political systems increasingly became recognised as office-holders within a modern administrative state.
This was part of a much broader process occurring throughout colonial Africa.

Perhaps the most visible contemporary consequence of the historical Nkoya–Lozi relationship can be found in language.
A substantial University of Zambia sociolinguistic study examined the relationship between Nkoya and Lozi in Kaoma.
The research involved 150 survey participants, 20 key informants and direct observation of language use in public settings including health facilities, police stations, markets, churches and political gatherings.
The study found significant language shift from Nkoya toward Lozi.
Lozi had become dominant in many public domains, while Nkoya was increasingly concentrated in family and informal settings. The study associated this development with historical political relationships, language policy, education, economic factors, migration and the wider demographic environment.
This is an important finding.
It means that the historical relationship between the two communities is not merely something found in old stories about chiefs and wars.
Its consequences can still be heard in Kaoma today.

The decline of Nkoya in some public domains should not automatically be interpreted as the disappearance of Nkoya identity.
A person may be ethnically Nkoya and speak Lozi as their principal language.
Another person may be multilingual.
A family may preserve Nkoya traditions while using Lozi in commerce, education or public administration.
Therefore, language statistics cannot automatically be converted into ethnic statistics.
This is particularly important when discussing the demographic question.

There is no authoritative national census table that provides a definitive percentage breakdown of Kaoma's population by ethnic group.
Consequently, it would be irresponsible to declare that Nkoya constitute a specific percentage of Kaoma without a properly designed district-wide demographic survey.
Some smaller academic studies provide useful snapshots of ethnic identity, but these should not be mistaken for census results.
For example, a small research sample cited in discussions of Kaoma's ethnic composition produced a higher proportion of Nkoya respondents than Lozi respondents.
Nkoya remain one of the principal historical and contemporary communities of Kaoma, but the precise ethnic percentages of the district cannot responsibly be established from the currently available census tables.
That is the position that should be maintained in serious historical writing.

Modern Kaoma includes substantial Lozi communities as well as Mbunda and people from numerous other ethnic backgrounds.
Migration, marriage, employment, farming, commerce, government service and settlement have progressively changed the demographic character of the district.

Zambian districts have been shaped by population movement throughout the colonial and post-colonial periods.
Consequently, historical ownership and contemporary demography are not necessarily the same thing.
The fact that Nkoya history is central to Kaoma does not mean every contemporary resident of Kaoma is Nkoya.
Equally, the presence of large non-Nkoya communities does not erase the historical Nkoya character of the territory.

Another important fact is that the historical Nkoya world extended beyond Kaoma.
The different Nkoya dynastic lines were associated with territories stretching towards areas that today form parts of Mongu, Lukulu, Kasempa, Mumbwa and the Kafue-Zambezi watershed.
This means that the modern district boundary cannot be used to define the complete historical extent of Nkoya settlement.
The pre-colonial landscape was more fluid.
People moved.
Royal dynasties moved.
Political influence expanded and contracted.
And communities interacted across what are today provincial and district boundaries.

The survival of Nkoya identity is perhaps most visibly expressed through Kazanga/Kathanga, the major annual Nkoya cultural ceremony.
The Government of Zambia recognises Kazanga/Kathanga as a principal Nkoya traditional ceremony held in Kaoma.
The ceremony provides a platform for preserving:
Nkoya traditional leadership;
oral history;
music and dance;
traditional knowledge;
cultural practices;
language;
food;
historical memory; and
intergenerational identity.
In that sense, Kazanga represents more than entertainment.
It is a cultural archive.
It allows a community whose political environment changed dramatically over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to continue telling its own story.

The history of the Nkoya and Lozi offers a broader lesson about Zambia's ethnic history.
Ethnic communities did not exist in complete isolation from one another.
They traded.
They intermarried.
They competed.
They fought.
They formed alliances.
They migrated.
They entered political relationships.
And sometimes they served under the authority of rulers belonging to another political community.
The Kamusongolwa episode illustrates this particularly well.
An Nkoya ruler could participate in a military campaign under the authority of the Lozi monarch.
At another time, another Nkoya political establishment could resist Kololo or Lozi expansion.
There is no contradiction.
It is simply the reality of pre-colonial political history.

There is a temptation in contemporary discussions to turn historical questions into arguments over which community "owned" a particular district.
That approach can easily distort history.
The more useful question is:
Which communities established political institutions, settled in particular areas, interacted with their neighbours and contributed to the development of the territory?
In the case of Kaoma, the answer clearly includes the Nkoya.
But it also includes the many communities that subsequently settled and established themselves in the district.
History should therefore give the Nkoya their rightful place without denying the legitimate presence and contribution of others.

The transformation from Mankoya to Kaoma is therefore symbolic of a much larger historical journey.
Mankoya carried the name of the Nkoya people and their language.
Kaoma is now a modern Zambian district with a diverse population.
Between those two names lies a history of:
royal dynasties, migration, political expansion, warfare, alliance, colonialism, language shift, cultural adaptation and national integration.
The name changed.
The political system changed.
The demographic composition changed.
But the Nkoya historical memory survived.

The history of the Nkoya of Kaoma should neither be romanticised nor diminished.
They were not an isolated people untouched by their neighbours.
Nor did they simply disappear into the Lozi political system.
They developed their own political establishments and royal traditions.
They occupied and shaped the territory that became associated with Mankoya.
They experienced the expansion of the Kololo and Lozi political systems.
Some resisted.
Some became incorporated.
Some participated in wider political campaigns.
The Kamusongolwa episode provides a striking example of an Nkoya ruler operating under the authority of King Lewanika.
Yet Nkoya identity survived.
Mwene Mutondo survived.
Mwene Kahare survived.
Nkoya culture survived.
And Kazanga continues to provide a public expression of that identity.
The relationship between the Nkoya and Lozi should therefore be understood not as a simplistic story of one people defeating another, but as a long and complicated encounter between neighbouring political and cultural systems.
There was domination.
There was resistance.
There was allegiance.
There was military cooperation.
There was cultural exchange.

About the Author
Likando Mukanwa Esq is a Zambian Educationist, Business Executive, Sports Administrator, Governance and community-development practitioner, writer and advocate for cultural preservation, inclusive communication and social cohesion. His writing focuses on education, governance, culture, community development, sport, media and matters affecting Western Province and Zambia.

03/10/2026

What could be happening in the video?👇

01/10/2026

CHEKE FM AND THE LANGUAGE QUESTION

Can Western Province's Radio Exclude Lozi?

A community radio station, linguistic diversity and the responsibility to keep Western Province's common voice on air

By Likando Mukanwa Esq

There are some debates that appear, at first glance, to be about programming schedules.

But beneath them lie questions of identity, representation, culture and belonging.

The reported exclusion of Lozi from the language programming of Cheke FM in Kaoma, while providing programming space for Nkoya and Mbunda, is one such question.
It should not be approached as a contest between tribes.
It should not become Lozi versus Nkoya.
Nor should it become Lozi versus Mbunda.

The real question is considerably bigger:
Can a community radio station based in Western Province adequately serve its community while excluding the province's principal language of wider communication?
That question deserves an informed public discussion.

The Zambia Statistics Agency's Western Province analytical report based on the 2010 Census found that Lozi was the most widely used language of communication in Western Province, spoken by 69.6 percent of the population. Mbunda followed at 10.1 percent.

Even more significant is the geographical spread.
The census recorded Lozi speakers across all seven districts that constituted Western Province at the time:
Mongu — 90.4%
Senanga — 88.2%
Sesheke — 96.1%
Shang'ombo — 76.3%
Kalabo — 57.5%
Kaoma — 41.8%
Lukulu — 38.1%
This gives a clear picture on how Lozi stands out.

Moving on, let us correct the language of numbers
Western Province is one of Zambia's most ethnically and linguistically diverse regions.
It is therefore misleading to say that Western Province has merely "24 tribes."

The frequently cited figure of 24 comes from the description of the Lozi as a collection of 24 subgroups. The Western Province Government itself describes the Lozi as the province's major ethnic group and identifies the Lozi as a collection of subgroups under the traditional institution of the Litunga.

But those 24 subgroups do not represent every ethnic community in Western Province.

Academic literature provides a considerably broader picture of the historical Barotse cultural sphere, identifying more than 38 interrelated ethnic groups associated with the wider Lozi/Barotse cultural system.
And even that figure should not be mistaken for a definitive census of every tribe currently living in Western Province.
Why?
Because tribe, ethnic group, language group, dialect, clan and traditional political community are not interchangeable categories.
Different researchers and institutions therefore produce different counts.

What cannot reasonably be disputed is that Western Province contains a very large number of distinct communities and languages.

Among the communities associated with the province and its historical cultural sphere are Lozi, Nkoya, Mbunda, Luvale, Luchazi, Chokwe, Subiya, Totela, Mbukushu, Mashi, Nyengo, Simaa, Mwenyi, Imilangu, Kwangwa, Kwandi, Mbowe, Makoma, Shanjo, Lukolwe/Mbwela, Lushangi, Mashasha and others.
That diversity should be celebrated.
But it also makes the role of a common language even more important.

Lozi is not synonymous with one tribe
This is perhaps the most important point in the entire debate.
To say that Lozi is widely used in Western Province does not mean that everyone in Western Province is ethnically Lozi.

It does not mean that Nkoya people should abandon Nkoya.
It does not mean that Mbunda people should abandon Mbunda.
It does not mean that Subiya, Totela, Mashi, Simaa, Nyengo, Luvale, Luchazi or any other community should surrender its linguistic identity.
Quite the opposite.
The importance of Lozi lies largely in its function as a language of wider communication.

A person can be ethnically Nkoya and speak Lozi.
A person can be ethnically Mbunda and speak Lozi.
A person can be ethnically Luvale and speak Lozi.
A person can speak Lozi in the marketplace while speaking another language at home.

This is how lingua francas work in multilingual societies.
They do not necessarily erase the languages beneath them.
They provide a bridge between them.
The census evidence cannot simply be ignored

The argument for retaining Lozi on Western Province's airwaves is supported by demographic evidence.
The 2010 Census recorded Lozi as the language of communication for 69.6 percent of the population of Western Province.

That is a particularly revealing statistic.
The ethnic Lozi population was substantially smaller than that percentage.
The implication is obvious:
Lozi was being used beyond ethnic Lozi identity.
It had become a language of communication among different communities.

The same census recorded Lozi use throughout the province, including substantial usage in Kaoma.
That matters enormously to the Cheke FM discussion.
Because the argument cannot simply be:
"Kaoma is Nkoya territory, therefore Lozi has no place on the radio."
That conclusion does not follow from the demographic or linguistic evidence.
Kaoma is Nkoya — but Kaoma is not linguistically monolithic
Let there be no misunderstanding.
Nkoya identity deserves recognition.
Nkoya history deserves recognition.
Nkoya traditional leadership deserves recognition.
Nkoya music, ceremonies, oral history and language deserve protection.
Kaoma is an important centre of Nkoya identity, and any responsible community broadcaster operating there should give Nkoya meaningful space.
But Kaoma is also part of Western Province.
And its population does not communicate exclusively in Nkoya.
Research into language use in Kaoma has examined the interaction of Nkoya with Lozi and other languages, including the role of Lozi as a language of wider communication.

That reality should inform broadcasting policy.
The choice should therefore not be:
Nkoya OR Lozi.
It should be:
Nkoya AND Lozi.
And, where appropriate:
Mbunda AND other local languages as well.

Cheke FM's own regulatory category is important
The Independent Broadcasting Authority currently lists Cheke Radio as a Community Free-to-Air Radio station in Kaoma, Western Province, operating on 93.7 FM.

That classification is important because community broadcasting carries a distinctive responsibility.
According to the IBA's ethical guidelines, programming by a community broadcasting service should reflect the needs of the people in the community, including their cultural, language and demographic needs.

The guidelines further state that community broadcasters should be informative, educational and entertaining, highlight grassroots community issues and promote a sense of common purpose and improved quality of life.

These principles provide an important framework for considering the language question.
They do not mean that a community station must broadcast every language equally.

Nor do they automatically establish that excluding a particular language constitutes a legal violation.
But they do establish a compelling principle:

Community broadcasting should reflect the linguistic and cultural reality of the community it serves.
And Western Province's linguistic reality includes Lozi.

The IBA also monitors language
This is not merely theoretical.
The IBA says it monitors radio and television content, including presenters' and announcers' language, and the language and messages contained in songs, to ensure conformity with Zambia's cultural environment.

It also monitors programme schedules and states that where a licensee permanently changes programming, the licensee is expected to notify the Authority before implementing the permanent change.

This creates a legitimate public-interest question:
If a community broadcaster substantially changes its language programming policy, how does that policy reflect the linguistic and demographic needs of the community it is licensed to serve?

That is a question for the broadcaster, its listeners and, where appropriate, the regulator.
It is not a tribal accusation.
The case for Nkoya is strong
It would be unfair to discuss this matter without acknowledging why Nkoya programming is important.
Minority languages throughout Africa face serious pressures from dominant regional and national languages.

Urbanisation, education, migration, social media and popular culture can accelerate language shift.
Radio can either contribute to that decline or help reverse it.

A regular Nkoya programme on Cheke FM could therefore be immensely valuable.
It could preserve:
Nkoya oral history;
traditional knowledge;
proverbs;
music;
folklore;
traditional leadership discourse;
children's language learning;
cultural ceremonies;
community development information.

That is precisely what community broadcasting should be able to achieve.

But protecting Nkoya does not require eliminating Lozi.
The case for Mbunda is equally legitimate

The Mbunda community is another important part of Western Province's social and cultural landscape.
Mbunda cultural expression deserves space.

Mbunda speakers deserve to hear their language on local radio.
Their musicians, elders, traditional leaders, teachers, farmers, young people and community organisations should have opportunities to participate in broadcasting.

Again, however, the principle should be:
Addition, not substitution.
Give Mbunda a voice.
Do not silence Lozi to create that voice.

There is an equally important warning for Lozi speakers.
The argument for Lozi must never become an argument that Lozi should dominate every programme and every institution simply because it has the largest number of speakers.
That would be wrong.
A majority language has a responsibility to coexist with minority languages.

The future of Western Province should not be one in which smaller languages gradually disappear beneath Lozi.

The goal should instead be multilingual Western Province.
A Western Province where children can learn their mother tongue.
Where cultural programmes preserve minority languages.
Where Lozi facilitates wider communication.

Where English facilitates national and international communication.
That is linguistic harmony.
The extraordinary reach of Lozi
What makes Lozi different is its geographical and social reach.
It is deeply rooted in the Barotse cultural heartland around Mongu, Limulunga and the surrounding floodplain communities.
It is widely spoken in Kalabo, Senanga, Sesheke and Shang'ombo.
It is also used substantially in Kaoma and Lukulu.

It therefore crosses administrative and ethnic boundaries.
Lozi is not merely a language heard in Mongu.

It is a language heard across much of Western Province.
It has become one of the principal linguistic bridges between communities that retain their own distinct identities.

That is why removing it from a Western Province community radio schedule is not an insignificant decision.
From Mongu to Kaoma, from Kalabo to Sesheke
Consider the ordinary Western Province citizen.
A person may be born in Kaoma.
Travel to Mongu.
Trade in Senanga.
Visit relatives in Kalabo.
Attend a ceremony in Limulunga.
Travel to Sesheke.
Interact with people from several ethnic communities.
The individual may speak different languages at different moments.
But Lozi may provide the common linguistic ground.
This is the practical importance of a lingua franca.
It is not about tribal ownership.
It is about communication.
Western Province's radio should sound like Western Province
A community radio station should be a mirror.

When people turn on the radio, they should hear their society reflected.
They should hear their languages.
Their stories.
Their traditional leaders.
Their farmers.
Their teachers.
Their women.
Their young people.
Their artists.
Their challenges.
Their aspirations.
Their history.
And their common identity.
That means a station such as Cheke FM should not be forced into a false choice between cultural authenticity and wider communication.
It can do both.

There is a practical solution.
Cheke FM could develop a transparent multilingual policy along the following lines:

LOZI
Provincial news, current affairs, civic education, public-interest programming and programmes intended for the wider Western Province audience.

NKOYA
Dedicated cultural and community programming, traditional leadership, heritage, music and language preservation.

MBUNDA
Dedicated cultural, social and developmental programming for Mbunda-speaking communities.

Scheduled programmes or segments according to audience size, community need and available broadcasting resources.

ENGLISH
Education, specialised information, national affairs and programmes requiring wider national/international communication.
Such a model would make Cheke FM an example of inclusive community broadcasting.
The bigger issue: who gets to hear themselves?
At its heart, this debate is about representation.
When a person hears their language on radio, they hear more than words.
They hear recognition.
They hear belonging.
They hear:
"We matter."
That is why language matters so much in broadcasting.
And that is why excluding a major language of communication from a community broadcaster deserves scrutiny.

This should not become a tribal war
Western Province has enough political, social and economic challenges without allowing language to become another fault line.

We should reject inflammatory claims such as:
"Lozi is trying to dominate everyone."
Equally, we should reject:
"Nkoya and Mbunda are trying to remove Lozi."
Those narratives are unnecessarily divisive.
The more mature position is:
Every language deserves dignity.
Every community deserves representation.
Every listener deserves access to information.
No language should have to disappear for another to survive.
What should happen now?

Rather than mobilising communities against one another, stakeholders should invite Cheke FM to publicly clarify its language policy.

Four simple questions would be sufficient:
1. What is Cheke FM's current language policy?
2. What demographic and audience considerations informed that policy?
3. How does the policy address the IBA's requirement that community broadcasting reflect cultural, language and demographic needs?
4. Is there room within the schedule for Lozi alongside Nkoya, Mbunda and other languages?

These are legitimate questions.
They are not attacks.
They are questions of public accountability.

The IBA has an interest in the conversation
The Independent Broadcasting Authority describes itself as responsible for monitoring broadcasting content and ensuring compliance with the broadcasting framework. It expressly states that community broadcasting should respond to cultural, language and demographic needs.

If a significant section of the community believes its principal language of wider communication has been excluded, there is nothing inappropriate about asking the regulator to examine the issue.
That does not mean demanding punishment.
It means asking for clarity.
It means asking whether the station's programming continues to reflect the community it is licensed to serve.

The principle should be simple
Do not remove Nkoya.
Do not remove Mbunda.
Do not remove Lozi.
Do not make one community's cultural recognition dependent on another community's exclusion.
That is the principle Western Province should defend.

A province with many voices needs a bridge
Western Province is not 24 tribes.
It is not 38 tribes.
It is not one tribe.
It is a complex historical and contemporary society comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic communities.

The number changes depending on whether one is counting tribes, ethnic groups, linguistic groups, subgroups or traditional communities.

That complexity is precisely why Lozi's role as a language of wider communication matters.
Lozi does not need to claim ownership of every community.
It only needs recognition for what it has demonstrably become:
One of Western Province's principal bridges across ethnic and linguistic boundaries.

And bridges are not built to replace the communities on either side.
They are built to connect them.
Conclusion: Let Western Province speak in all its languages
Cheke FM has an opportunity.
It can become a station remembered not for dividing Western Province's languages, but for bringing them together.
It can demonstrate that Nkoya can be promoted without suppressing Lozi.
That Mbunda can be celebrated without excluding other communities.

That minority languages can be protected without creating a new linguistic majority-minority conflict.
And that Lozi can remain a language of wider communication without becoming an instrument of cultural domination.
That is what responsible community broadcasting should look like.

Western Province has many peoples.
Many histories.
Many traditional institutions.
Many languages.
Many identities.

But it also has a shared social space.
And in that space, Lozi has played, and continues to play a profound role as a language of communication across community boundaries.

So the call is not:
"Remove Nkoya."
It is not:
"Remove Mbunda."
And it is not:
"Give Lozi everything."

The call is much simpler:
LET EVERY LANGUAGE HAVE A VOICE.
Let Nkoya speak.
Let Mbunda speak.
Let Lozi speak.
Let Luvale speak.
Let Luchazi speak.
Let Subiya speak.
Let Totela speak.
Let Mashi speak.
Let Simaa speak.
Let Nyengo speak.
Let every other indigenous language of Western Province speak.

And let the language that millions across the province have used to communicate across ethnic boundaries continue to perform that bridging role.

Because when every language is heard, every community is recognised.

And when every community is recognised, Western Province speaks with one voice, without losing its many tongues.

About the Author
Likando Mukanwa Esq is a Zambian Educationist, Business Executive, Sports Administrator, Governance and community-development practitioner, writer and advocate for cultural preservation, inclusive communication and social cohesion. His writing focuses on education, governance, culture, community development, sport, media and matters affecting Western Province and Zambia.

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