MORE than a century ago, the Ngoni people were a marauding, warring tribe marching through the eastern and northern parts of modern day Zambia. Ultimately, they won the war, but they lost their language, Zulu, when they married women from the conquered tribes such as the Nsenga and Chewa. Now, they want to regain their language. JACK ZIMBA reports.
A PRAISE singer bursts into isibongo (Zulu poetic praise) for Paramount Chief Mpezeni IV of the Ngoni people during the Nc’wala ceremony at Mtenguleni, and there are shouts of “bayethe inkosi!” from the half-dressed impis, shoving their spears and knobkerries in the air.
But that is just how far the Ngonis can go in imitating their ancestor, the great King Shaka.
They can stomp and howl like Shaka’s descendants, but they cannot speak like Shaka.
Instead, they sound like the tribes they defeated – the Nsenga, the Chewas and Tumbukas.http://epaper.daily-mail.co.zm/