PERSONAL INFORMATION
FULL NAMES: Mombotwa Afumba
CURRENT POSITION: Administrator General of Royal Barotseland
NATIONALITY: Barotse National
RELIGION: He is a Christian
BRIEF HISTORY
Mr. Mombotwa Afumba was born in 1955 and grew up in the villages on the banks of the Zambezi River in Mongu District. As a child growing up in the village, he participated in the activities of heading cattle with other children, helping parents in farming, fishing and playing tindi. Mr. Mombotwa is the eighth born in a family of 12 out of which 4 are males, the rest are females.
His Grandfather was born in 1833 and he was in the company of colonel Hudgings who were demarcating and making the boundaries of Barotseland at the time of scramble of Africa. His grandfather was also in the company of his Majesty King Lubosi Lewanika at Victoria Falls signing agreements that led to the establishment of Livingstone as a town in 1900.
EDUCATION
He started his school from 1963 in sub-A to grade 7 at primary schools in Kalabo and Mongu then continued and finished his secondary school at Sesheke Secondary School in the year 1978.
PROFESSIONAL ATTAINMENT
WORK EXPERIENCE
He worked for the Ministry of Agriculture as Cotton Officer for two years, and later on he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for sixteen years in the Department of Communications.
He is currently the Chairman of Linyungandambo; a liberation movement that came with a definite approach that has provided a clear path and direction and has made significant progress in the struggle of independence of Barotseland in our Barotse history, and he is also the first Administrator General heading the Government of Royal Barotseland.
POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
Mr. Mombotwa Afumba is a very reserved man who socializes very well with others and has integrity in public life, and he HAS NEVER participated in any Zambian politics because he didn’t feel to be Zambian and also because Zambian politics seemed dirty and full of tribal discrimination. He didn’t find himself fitting in the Zambian situation even when he was bearing Zambian credentials.
However, after he quit his job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he came to join a liberation movement called Barotse Patriotic Front (BPF) which was headed by Prince Mutangelwa Imasiku, as its secretary in 1999 to 2002. The dream of Barotse Patriotic Front was not achieved according to plan, and then, later on, he formed Linyungandambo in the year 2010 and Mr. Mombotwa became its first Chairman.
The purpose and dream of Liyungandambo’s formation was to liberate Barotseland from the Zambian rule. With his unequivocal kind of leadership skills and knowledge & experience in international law and politics, he successfully liberated Barotseland from the Zambian rule through his first Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) that took place on 08th September 2011.
Mr. Mombotwa’s interpretation about the Barotseland situation has brought new hope, new life and new meaning that has made so much sense to the people of Barotseland, and it put the independence dream into perspective and within sight.
Mr. Afumba Mombotwa is currently, and since the 5th December 2014, held captive by the Zambian state under their draconian laws of treason for his uncompromising stand against Zambian colonization of Barotseland.
He and two others, Pelekelo Likando and Inambao Kalima, are serving ten years jail sentences with hard labour for allegedly usurping the power of the Zambian Executive, considered as a treason-felony in Zambian laws. This was after the 'conspiring to secede the Western Province from the rest of Zambia' charge could not hold.
He, however, remains undeterred as he continues to urge all Barotse people to continue fighting for the total liberation of Barotseland to attain full self-determination and self-government in Barotseland!
PROFILE: Courtesy of Royal Barotseland Government RBG/BTG