Frightening Waters

Barotseland is today only a region in Zambia’s Western Province. But the Lozi people still have their own king and parliament and there is evident conflict between the local traditional authority and the central government in Lusaka. Against the allegory of the Kuomboka ceremony – in which the king and his people move to safety on dry land from the flooding Zambezi - this is an African grassroots drama, typical for an age of change and modernisation.