Lest we forget, Nsingo the warrior prince

JACK ZIMBA, Chipata 

 BEYOND the cloud-covered Nyamfinzi Hills in Chipata, Eastern Province, not too far from Ependukeni Palace of Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people stands a museum and a statue erected in honour of Nsingo. 

The Nsingo Community Museum at Feni village was opened in 2017 as a repository of Ngoni history and culture, while the statue was unveiled in February this year. But who was Nsingo, and why is he being put on a pedestal now? 

By the close of the 19th century, the Ngonis had conquered all the tribes that stood in their way and established a kingdom around modern-day Chipata, under Ntuto, who was Mpezeni I, having succeeded his father Zwangendaba. 

But then came the British, searching for land and minerals, and the Ngonis had a new enemy. 

Ntuto is said to have given in to the demands of the Europeans, but his son Nsingo refused to give up the land. As a result, war broke out between the British soldiers and the Ngoni warriors led by the warrior prince – Nsingo. 

It is believed that Nsingo was in his teens when he became a general in the Ngoni army. “He was a huge man, powerful and he controlled the army of the Ngonis. 

All the 10 formations were mobilised by Nsingo,” says George Zulu, who is Paramount Chief Mpezeni’s advisor. His own great grandfather fought in Nsingo’s army. 

Zulu tells the story of Nsingo with relish, making it sound almost like a fairy tale. For six days, Nsingo resisted the British, until he paid the ultimate price. 

On February 6, 1898, the warrior Prince was captured and killed. “On this fateful day, Nsingo was betrayed by a Chewa man called Kamphelo. 

He went where the British had a garrison and told them he knew where Nsingo was hiding,” says Zulu. The British under a man called Young, who led troops, surrounded the village where Nsingo was hiding and captured him. “It was a painful day for all Ngonis,” says Zulu. “Many cried and followed him up to a point when the British decided that they should try him, convict him and then sentence him to death by firing squad.” 

There are varying narratives about Nsingo’s fate, but what seems indisputable is that he was tied to a mubanga tree and killed by firing squad. 

Today, the stump of the mubanga tree still stands as a memorial to the warrior prince. It is believed Nsingo was shot in full view of the soldiers that he commandeered. It was a big humiliation for the Ngonis. At that point in his narration, Zulu pauses and takes a deep breath. “Baba, it was a painful death,” he says. Although Nsingo has been dead over a century, Zulu fondly refers to him as “our prince”. “The story of our prince brings tears to us,” he tells me. “We bleed inside when we come to know what he went through at the hands of the British.” But do many Ngonis share these strong feelings about Nsingo? “Others feel worse than me,” says Zulu. “Some Ngonis cry to see how their own was humiliated, shot like you are killing a cow.” As if killing Nsingo was not enough, the British are said to have gone after Nsingo’s wife, Mkucwa, who had escaped with her son to the hills. 

They killed her, too, but spared Nsingo’s six-year-old son, Chiloa. 

With their gallant commander killed, the Ngonis had no more fight in them. The British had won the war. A memorial of that bloody episode still exists in Ngoniland. 

“Yes, we were defeated by the British, but we were not destroyed,” says Zulu. When Chiloa reached the age of 18, he was enthroned as Mpezeni II. He is buried in the royal burial grounds. 

As for Nsingo, his burial place is not clearly known. About 30m from the mubanga tree, where he was killed, is an anthill where some believe the warrior prince was buried. There is no memorial of any sorts. Zulu doubts Nsingo might have been buried there. He says no-one knows exactly where Nsingo was buried. 

There is also a common belief that the British cut off Nsingo’s head and carried it to England. 

Zulu thinks Nsingo was buried by the Ngonis under the supervision of the British, but made sure his burial place remained a secret. 

“They didn’t want that grave to be a rallying point for the Ngoni’s resistance,” he says. “I don’t think he was buried there [in the anthill], because if his son knew that that is where his father was buried, he would have protected that place in honour of his father,” he adds. 

Thus, the British had almost managed to permanently erase an important chapter in the history of the Ngonis and Zambia. Today, however, Nsingo has assumed a new political significance – symbol against capitalism of the West. 

Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe usually mentions Nsingo at public fora, and somehow has helped to bring the spotlight on the warrior prince who history almost forgot. 

“I must pay special gratitude to Fred M’membe, because he has been consistent on Nsingo, and he has chosen Nsingo philosophy as his symbol,” says Zulu. 

For Ernest Zulu, who is chairman of the Nsingo Community Museum, Nsingo is a source of inspiration and a true patriot who sacrificed for his land. 

“He was a general who fought colonialists. He lost his life at a young age for the good of this country,” he says. “He wanted to make sure that the Europeans did not step foot in this land. He became a stumbling block to the Europeans.” 

Ernest describes Nsingo as “a true patriot and fearless leader, a good example of a Zambian youth who does not get bought with beer.” 

When asked about Nsingo’s grave being in the anthill near the mubanga tree, Ernest replies: “We may have been told lies.” 

Today, a primary school stands at the place of Nsingo’s execution, named after the warrior prince. But to locals, it does not erase the injustice that took place here more than a century ago. 

“We thank the government that they built a school here, but they killed an innocent man,” says James Chibwe, who is supervisor at the Nsingo Community Museum.