Draft – not for citation The changing face of the Zambia/Angola border Paper prepared for the ABORNE Conference on ‘How is Africa Transforming Border Studies?’ Hosted by the School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 10-14 September 2009 Oliver Bakewell International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, UK [email protected] August 2009 Abstract The establishment of the border between Zambia and Angola by the British and Portuguese at the beginning of the 20th century changed the nature of migration across the upper Zambezi region but did not necessarily diminish it. The introduction of the border was an essential part of the extension of colonial power, but at the same time it created the possibility of crossing the border to escape from one state’s jurisdiction to another: for example, to avoid slavery, forced labour, accusations of witchcraft, taxes and political repression. In the second half the 20th century, war in Angola stimulated the movement of many thousands of refugees into Zambia’s North‐Western Province. The absence of state structures on the Angolan side of the border and limited presence of Zambian authorities enabled people to create an extended frontier reaching deep into Angola, into which people living in Zambia could expand their livelihoods. This paper will explore some of the impacts of the end of the Angolan war in the area and will suggest that the frontier zone is shrinking as the ‘normal’ international border is being reconstructed. Draft – not for citation Draft – not for citation DRAFT – not for citation or circulation Introduction About a century ago, the British and Portuguese finally agreed on the line for the border between the northern portions of their colonies in Zambia and Angola,1 in the area known as the upper Zambezi. For much of that time the border has marked a line of refuge from colonial taxes, forced labour and – for over forty years from the start of the Angolan revolution in 1961 to the death of the rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002 – war. For much of the war, there was no effective state on the Angolan side of the border, especially since 1982. In some respects the border has appeared to be the frontier between the world of nation states and the chaos of the wild‐west, with resources galore – ranging from diamonds to bush meat – for those who dare to face the tremendous risks and try to retrieve them. The people living on the borderlands of the upper Zambezi have adapted to living on the edge of this world, and incorporated into their daily lives both the dangers and opportunities that it brought. The end of the Angolan war, the rehabilitation of the country and the normalisation of the border are inevitably bringing rapid changes to the area, which are profoundly affecting people’s movements, their livelihoods and their national identity. In this paper, I review the changing role of the border in the lives of the people of the the upper Zambezi. I start by looking at the migratory origins of the Lunda people who moved to the area from the upper Kasai in present day Congo. I then show how the imposition by the colonial powers of the border cutting across ethnic boundaries, changed the nature of movement across the region but did not necessarily diminish it. In particular, throughout the colonial period, people crossed the border in both directions in search of refuge: a pattern which foreshadowed the massive movements of refugees that crossed from Angola during its long war to settle in Zambia. I then reflect on how the end of the conflict in Angola and resumption of state control of its borders is affecting people’s relationship with the border. The paper draws on a study started in 1996 which initially focused on self‐settled Angolan refugees living in Mwinilunga District of Zambia’s North‐Western Province. The research was conducted in villages among Lunda (Lunda‐Ndembu) people under Senior Chief Kanongesha near the border with Angola. The study used a range of methods to investigate the nature of the cross border linkages and movements, people’s contacts with Angola, the integration of refugees and views towards repatriation. The dataset included interviews with 195 people, both Zambian and Angolan, in which I enquired about any plans to move to Angola once the country was at peace.2 1 Throughout this paper, I refer to the countries concerned by their modern names. At times this is anachronistic but it avoids any confusion. 2 In 1996/7 the Angolan government and UNITA rebels were still slowly implementing the 1994 Lusaka Protocol and UNHCR was actively planning for repatriation in anticipation of a lasting peace. These plans were abandoned in 1998 when the country returned to full‐scale war. 1 DRAFT – not for citation or circulation In March 2008, I had the opportunity to follow up on this study with a very brief field visit to the same area. In the short time available, it was possible only to gather information on the whereabouts of 181 of these respondents (among which there were 21 deaths) and conduct open interviews with a small, unrepresentative sample of people who were present in the village while I was there. I plan to conduct further work to build up a more robust and detailed picture, to verify the details about people’s locations and to find out their rationales for moving. However, despite its rather limited nature, this follow up study started to suggest some interesting and unexpected shifts in people’s relationship with the border. Before moving back to the history of the borderlands, it may be helpful to set the scene in more detail. The focus of this paper is the northern half of the border with Zambia’s North‐Western Province to the east and Angola’s Moxico Province to the west, often known more generally as the upper Zambezi. The river Zambezi rises in Mwinilunga district north of the town and flows west into Angola before turning south and re‐entering Zambia at Chavuma in Zambezi district after which it starts its eastern flow to the Indian Ocean. The fieldwork was carried out over one year in Mwinilunga District of the North‐Western Province of Zambia in a village approximately 50km west of the district town and 8km from the border with Angola. This is a remote area of Zambia about 300km from the provincial capital, Solwezi, and over 850km from Lusaka. The people of the area are predominantly Lunda (Ndembu), an ethnic group that extends from across the nearby borders into Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The village was set within the area of the Lunda Senior Chief Kanongesha. Large numbers of refugees who fled the war in Angola had to settled in Mwinilunga District among people of the same ethnic group and the process of integration and their interest in repatriation were the main focus of my study (see Bakewell 2000). The study started when the violence in Angola was ebbing, while there were still some efforts to implement the 1994 Lusaka Protocol that had ended the extreme violence of the “war of the cities,” which followed the 1992 elections. While there was an uneasy stalemate during this period, the country remained effectively divided between the patchwork of government controlled areas focused on the west and the provincial capitals across the country, and the extensive area controlled by UNITA, whose strongholds were in the south and east, including the area of Moxico Province, Alto Zambeze District, that borders Zambia. From 1996 to 1998, UNHCR was making plans for the imminent repatriation of refugees from Zambia. Unfortunately, these preparations had to be abandoned as the situation in Angola deteriorated further and the country returned to full scale war in late 1999. The government launched a major offensive in UNITA’s heartland in the south and east of Angola and managed to capture its administrative centre, Jamba. This displaced tens of thousands more refugees into Zambia in December 1999 and throughout 2000, including many UNITA functionaries who had been based in Jamba. With the fall of Jamba, the focus of the conflict shifted to Moxico Province and it was there that the UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was killed in February 2002. It was 2 DRAFT – not for citation or circulation only with his death that the war in Angola came conclusively to an end – a peace agreement was reached six weeks later – and the country held parliamentary elections in 2008 and presidential elections are planned in 2009. Constructing the Lunda borderlands There are many uncertainties and disputes about the history and origin of the Lunda people of Kanongesha but all agree that they have deep links with the ancient Luunda kingdom of present day Congo. All the stories of their origins are concerned with migration and reaching new lands where they settle. In common with other peoples of the upper Zambezi the narratives look back to journeys rather than a particular place, an ancestral promised land. In response to any enquiry about the roots of the Lunda people and their contact with Angola, many older people will usually start with the tale of the departure of Kanongesha from the court of their paramount chief Mwanta Yavwa, a story shared with all the peoples of the upper Zambezi. Chieftainess Mwanta Yavwa was married and had children. When her husband died she remarried. When she had to go for menstruation she had to take off the bracelet of office (likanu) but one time instead of giving it to her sons she gave it to her husband.