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 MWANAMBINYI AND IMATONGO VILLAGE IN SENANGA DISTRICT 

MWANABINYI AND IMATONGO VILLAGE IN SENANGA DISTRICT.



Imatongo village, the village where Prince Mwanambinyi is believed to have sunk into the ground, the village still has supernatural powers of him up to date. When a person is in Imatongo village he/she requires follow strict rules and procedures failure to which one may find himself in trouble.
•In Imatongo village People are not allowed to pound at night, they not allowed to eat inside the houses. 
•At night people could hear voices of strange people not seen speaking, children playing and dogs burking depicting people living in a village set up and carrying out their normal duties.
• People especially strangers are not allowed to go fishing in the lake near and hut in the nearby bush without the blessing of the village elders to give them a go ahead. If a person went into the bush without asking for permission, such a person can get lost or something strange can happen to such a person. 
•Namulati (a place where Mwanambinyi's cattle used to be kept), today it's a small forest and you are not allowed to point at the forest with your finger unless with your elbow. If you point using your finger, then your finger will be chopped off. It is believed that all tree species which are in Barotseland can be found in that small forest. 
•There are a lot of birds which make nests in the trees in Imatongo village. You're not allowed to kill any bird. If you do so, your stomach will bulge.
•There is a lake near Imatongo village, and if you're lucky on any day when you go fishing with a hook, you can catch breams, but if Mwanambinyi is not happy, you'll catch nothing the whole day.
• You don't make grass fences (or lapa in Silozi) in Imatongo village. If you do so, you'll find that the grass fence has been burned in the night, but the house will be intact. 
• There is a guava tree near a big hole where Mwanambinyi, his cattle and his family just sunk in the ground. So when children climb at this guava tree to pluck some guavas or just play, sometimes they just get stuck, and it will require the Ñomboti (the person who looks after the grave site) to come and say some enchantment, and then he will offer a sacrifice by either pouring beer or milk in that hole, and if Mwanambinyi is appeased, the beer or milk will sink and the kids will come down, but if he is not appeased, the beer or milk will just gush out like a fountain of water, and then you'll have to look for a substitute sacrifice. 
• There are instances where you'll see that the forest across the Barotse plain seems so near, and when such a scenario happens, just know that Mwanambinyi is hunting.
• Sometimes, you can see the Nalikwanda on the river and you'll hear the sound of the maoma royal drums, but suddenly the Nalikwanda will disappear. 
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Mwanabinyi whose real name is 'Naawa' but commonly known as 'Mwanambinyi' (meaning a child who moves with spears) was nick named Mwanambinyi because of his love to fight with people. Prince Mwanabinyi was one of the young brothers of Mboo Muyunda (the first Male litunga of Barotseland) who lived in the 15th century. Mwanambinyi who is believed to be endowed with great powers of magic is credited with having been the first Luyi/Lozi leader to subdue peoples of the south Barotse including the Mbukushu on the bank of the Zambezi in what became Caprivi (Now Zambezi province of Namibia). Mwanabinyi is believed to be the founder of the Maoma Royal drums (Barotseland state drums), the Royal drums which are also used during the Kuomboka ceremony. The Maoma drums, were captured from Lukanga, a leader of the Mambukushu community by Mwanambinyi. After a succession dispute with his elder brother (Mboo Muyunda), Mwanambinyi decided to head to the South in what is known today as Senanga District at Imatongo. It is in Imatongo village where Mwanambinyi is believed to have sunk into the ground after fighting so many wars, he is believed to have sunk into the ground together with his cows, people and a number of his slaves. Mwanabinyi's cenotaph is still kept and visited by the  Litungas of Barotseland today. The symbolism of the site is expressed today by the existence of palm trees that are said to have grown from the poles to which Mwanambinyi’s cattle were tied so long ago in the 15th century.