30/04/2026
KIMYE KYAFIKA ✍️
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE KAONDE PEOPLE
ORIGIN
Before the year 1600, the Kaonde people were part of the Luba Empire in present day Congo DR. Oral tradition says that within that empire, they belonged to the Basanga group of people. In fact, in the 1970s, American anthropologist prof. Kate Crehan interviewed some Kaonde people about their history, and most of them responded: “Atweba twi baSanga” (“We are Sanga people”).[1] However, they were generally called ‘Baluba,’ the overall name of the kingdom.
Chief Kasongo and the Balonga Clan
The earliest known chief among the Kaonde was Chief “Kasongo.” Currently, there is no available book or script that explains who the first chief Kasongo was or when he became chief. Although Kasongo was of the Balonga clan, he was respected as chief by other clans. Kasongo had an elder brother named Mushima, and an elder sister named Ñonyi, who had four sons. Their names were Nyoka, Kayindu, Kapiji, and Mushima (Mubambe). It seems that Ñonyi was a woman of great authority, because her four sons were sub-chiefs of their clans. Ñonyi also had a village of her own, called Katokañonyi, which was located in the south-east of the Katanga area above the Lualaba River.[2Some history writers indicate that Ñonyi was also called ‘Kamuyange.’ If this is factual, then she was the first chief Kapiji, because the first known chief Kapiji was Kamuyange. What adds weight to this is that she had a son Kapiji. Kapiji had quarreled with chief Kasongo on a number of occasion, so he migrated in the north-western direction, following in the footsteps of Mushima, his mother’s elder brother. Ñonyi may have also migrated during this time. They lived with Mushima in the Lualaba basin, at a sream called Kaonde. Nyoka, Kayindu, and Mushima (the younger) remained in Chief Kasongo’s country, near the Kafue River..
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