'100' years old

In wishing Ndola “Many Happy Returns of the Day” on its “Happy Birthday”, we light 100 candles and blow them off, one by one and as we sing “ Happy Birthday to You!” All the residents of Ndola give a big smile to the city and shout: “You are now 100 years old!” In anticipation, we wait for the eating of the birthday cake -- in terms of planned development.

A century of existence is not a joke, but something worth writing home about.

From a drab and bushy British Overseas Management Agency (Boma) administrative post and a slave trading centre occupied by less than 1,000 Europeans as at July 18, 1904, the place has now developed into a modern city with a population of close to 600,000. In 1994, the city had a ratable value of K304 billion and this has, over the years, risen to well over K850 billion and it is still rising as more and more new properties are being built. Ndola was 10,000 in 1949 but rose to 41,000 in 1952.

The name of the city of Ndola is derived from a stream called Kandola in the local Lamba dialect. The name was later shortened to Ndola. The stream, Kandola is still there and this is the one that motorists cross just before the rail-crossing near the airport on the Dag Hammarskjoeld Drive or Causeway in the southern direction of the city as they come in from Lusaka or Kabwe.

Hardly 14 days from the date when the Centenary celebrations start, a special organising committee under the auspices of Ndola Tourism Association (NTA) ably run by the Savoy Hotel Food and Beverages manager Crispin Mbolela in Liaison with the Ndola City Council and the office of the Copperbelt deputy minister through the Ndola District Commissioner’s office, has gone flat out to make the Centenary celebrations a huge success they must be.

The Centenary celebrations coincide with the Ndola City Council’s decision to confer the freedom of the city of Ndola on President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.

The honouring of the President has also come at the time when the Namibian Head of State Sam Nujoma was in the city to officially open the fortieth Zambia International Trade Fair which started in 1956 as Northern Rhodesia Show which eventually became the Zambia International Trade Fair in 1964.

Ndola has conferred similar honour to both the first president of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda and the Second Republican president Frederick Titus Jacob Chiluba. Other recipients of the honour include the Zambia Army.

Ndola has been in the forefront of freedom fighting since 1952 when the veteran Harry Mwaanga Nkumbala took charge of the National African Congress. In fact, it was from the Thom’s library in Kabushi where the cream of Northern Rhodesia’s politics: The late Reuben Chitandika Kamanga (Zambia’s first vice-president), the late Wesley Pillsbury Nyirenda (first speaker of the National Assembly, later Education minister), the late Justine Musonda Chimba (Labour minister), the late Jasper Axon Soko (Eastern Province minister), Mr Hyden Dingiswayo Banda (at one time minister of Labour, the late Jonathan Chinunga (ZCTU president one time), the late Arthur Wina, first Zambia’s Finance minister) his brother Sikota Wina (first Local Government minister), Mr Ackson Chalikulima (former Copperbelt minister) Mr Valentine Kayope and that firebrand Munukayumbu Sipalo (first Labour minister), had engineered the late Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe and the first Republican president Dr Kaunda to split from Nkumbula’s African National Congress (ANC) and for the Zambia African National Congress (ZANC). Sipalo had incited the mob at the Chifubu rally by angrily declaring: “ If there is a god who sent the white to torture Africans. If such god is there he must scram with his white brothers.

Ndola has since produced two Republican presidents, Dr Chiluba and Mr Levy Mwanawasa who first worked as lawyer for Cave-Malik and Company Limited and later formed his own law firm called Mwanawasa and Company Limited.

According to Mr Mbolela, the chairman of the special Centenary Celebrations Committee, the preparations have reached a feverish peach with many prominent Ndola residents offering to be involved in the preparations.

Mr Mbolela told me that the Centenary celebrations committee comprises men and women drawn from a wide spectrum of the city’s population. The members of the committee include businessmen and women, ministers and pastors of religion from most of the churches in Ndola.

Said Mr Mbolela: “We shall have so many activities taking place on that special day. The Centenary celebrations will include a special thanks giving church service at one of the city’s churches. This will be followed by cleaning of some of the city’s dirty spots. There will a group of people cleaning Ndola Central Hospital wars, Arthur Davison Children Hospital and other places.

‘‘Of course there will be drinks and food given out in the townships for people to celebrate the occasion.

Football matches, traditional dances and other forms of celebrations will go on in the townships. It will be a big day for Ndola.

“We have put everything in place to make the Centenary celebrations as lively and memorable as possible. I can assure you that we are all set to make the Centenary celebrations a big success they must be.”
Both the mayor of Ndola, councillor Hamson Chisenga and his town clerk Charity Nanda Mpande and the whole council are geared to ensure that the Centenary celebrations succeed.

Mr Rutherford, a former Northern News and Times of Zambia employee said when asked to comment on Ndola’s 100 years of existence:

“Our children do not believe that Ndola was a very small place once upon a time. They think it was like this. I have lived here since 1952.

“My advice to the young people, as well as other citizens is that ‘Rome was not built in a day. We must all, as good citizens and residents, make Ndola a better place by contributing in any way to the betterment of our city.”

Another resident Whiteson Banda of Ndola, who has lived in the city since 1943, says: “When I arrived in Ndola to look for a job at Bwana Mkubwa, townships like Chifubu, Lubuto and Ndeke were not there. The place has been growing rapidly, especially after independence. I salute the UNIP government.

“I live in Mine Masala, the township I moved to in 1958 and I like the place. I appeal to councillors, especially the mayor and the town clerk, to work hard.

The mineralisation of the Bwana Mkubwa mine and the construction of a railway to the Democratic Republic of Congo and a Nkana branch rail line opened up the early settlements of what was known as Indola ya Fyani because early compounds in Ndola comprised grass-thatched houses.

When the British colonial government assumed control of the Northern Rhodesia territory in 1924, all the administrative functions were entirely based at the Ndola Boma. Ndola, in essence became the administrative centre for both the immediate area and the Western Province (Copperbelt Province). The Ndola Boma offices were the present Ndola Golf Club premises. This explains why the senior provincial commissioner’s residence is within this proximity. With King Copper’ discovered, Ndola grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1932.

The motto of the city in the “Coat of Arms” adopted at that time was “ Indole Nec Indolentia” meaning diligence not difference -- typified the spirit of the residents during the time. It is quite clear that the same spirit has been maintained. The first mayor of Ndola Mr John Thom, was a prominent businessman who owned departmental shop where ‘Hungry Lion’ Fast Foods shop is. There have been about 62 mayors with probably a smaller number of town clerks.

The great economic depression of 1932 coupled with the start of the Second World War slowed down urban growth, but rapid growth related to the expansion of copper mining enabled Ndola to increase its commercial and communications services to the Copperbelt.

Ndola won its city status in 1967 with its first African town clerk, well-known lawyer Julius Bikoloni Sakala (popularly known as JB) who also became the first town clerk in Zambia in October 1968. The city’s first black mayor was the famous and prominent Ndola businessman Alderman Thomas Madandaulo Mtine. Alderman Mtine had been one of the two African councillors on the council, the other being the late Peter Mukanzo, the father of Doreen Mukanzo, the television personality. The title of Alderman is given to a councillor who clocks 10 continuous service to the council.

The boundary of the city’s original council area was extended by the local government (City of Ndola alteration of the area) order 1970, to cover 277,500 acres or 1,124 square kilometres. This is now the area over which Ndola City Council exercises planning power under the terms of the town and country planning Act, Cap 475.

Originally Ndola was the centre of African and Arab slave trade which was mainly carried out in the shade of the Fig Tree (Umukuyu) still sanding near the Zambia Railways goods-shed in Makoli Avenue in the second class. This tree is now represented in the “Coat of Arms” of The city of Ndola

Slave trading was brought to Ndola through Senior Chief Chiwala, a Yao (Abachawa) from the then Nyasaland (now Malawi) a British protectorate like Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) on the Eastern side of the country who had settled in that part of Ndola. Historically Senior Chief Mushili of the Lamba became Senior Chief Chiwala’s best friend and became of this friendship Mushili gave him all the land from Kanyange (Misundu area) to Mwatishi near Chief Nkambo’s area.

In appreciation Chiwama gave Mushili yarns or rolls of cotton cloth known as calico and other clothing materials, salt, beads, soap, guns, gun powder and other things. The area between Makoli Avenue and Bwana Mkubwa was known as Itabwa named after Itabwa in Mporokoso. The Yaos had, during their slave trading “escapades” settled near Lake Tanganyika and had named this settlement as Chiwala. The name Itabwa is an area in Chief Nsama in Mporokoso district and is also the name of the tribe in that locality. The Europeans corrupted the name Itabwa to Itawa.

The fig tree in Makoli Avenue also known as the slave tree was situated near Senior Chief Chiwala’s village just where the Luanshya rail line passes. Some historians have recorded the fact that the Mbali slave traders (the Mbali were Portuguese coloureds), the most notorious slave traders who always met the wrath of Dr David Livingstone, used to do business at the Makoli slave tree and the Mofu tree slave camp on the Ndola-Kitwe road. Both trees are national monuments now.

Ndola’s importance was established at the beginning of the twentieth century, both by virtue of its geographical position as the centre of communications and transport system of the region and by the existence of mineral resources at Bwana Mkubwa (very important person).

Ndola is the government’s provincial administrative headquarters of the Copperbelt Province and was essentially evolved as an administrative, communications distributive and commercial centre. It may well be that these factors will continue to be the basis for the continued existence of Ndola as a viable entity.

It is notable that the growth factors of Ndola are historical, geographical and distinct from those of other Copperbelt towns which have been based on the exploitation of natural resources.

Thus, the prosperity of Ndola is based on its proximity to the nation’s copper mining towns and its geographical position as a gateway to trade and traffic between the Copperbelt Province and the rest of the country.

Despite the geographical anomaly of the Congo pedicle which effectively divorces the Luapula Province from the Copperbelt, Ndola remains the regional centre for rail and air transport, several government departments, parastatal and private firms and newspaper publishing, the Times of Zambia being the nation’s biggest daily newspaper published here since 1950. The Northern News, the Times of Zambia forerunner, started in Nchanga, Chingola, in 1942 and later sold to Lonrho and the newspaper moved to Ndola.

Nature has also endowed Ndola City with a lot of beauty some of which can be seen in the following Sunken Lakes: 

Chilengwa Lesa (which means made by god) is less than 20 kilometres from the city. It is in Senior Chief Chiwala’s area in Ndola rural and is located less than 10 kilometres from the border with Sakania in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) near a village known as Mbomfu. The lake has no obvious water supply. Both geology and the Lamba legend suggest that it has connection with Lake Ishuku which is 80 metres deep underground. Local legend has it that the ancestral spirits, particularly the first Lamba chief Chipimpi resided here, it is believed fish killed from here cannot be cooked. It is connected underground with:-

Circular lake about 80 metres deep while Lake Chilengwa Lesa is 30 metres above sea level and is 20 metres deep. This sunken lake passed through Kafubu River whose tributary Kandola (now Ndola) the city is named after. Lake Ishuku was the first source of water for the city; Kafubu which is a tributary of Kafulafuta which passes through another sunken lake called:

Kashiba Ka Bena Mbushi, which is found in Chief Ndubeni’s area, a Bulima chief in Mpongwe near St Antony’s Catholic Mission. It is 3.5 hectares in area and is about 100 metres deep. The water level is about 10 metres below the surrounding. Like in the Chilengwa Lesa Lake, fish in this lake was said to be a miracle of nature and even if this fish was left on fire the whole day it could not be cooked.

The local Bulima elders who are part of Lamba people say that a legendary monster known as “I Chitapa” or “ Insoka Ikulu” used to kill people as a ritual to feed the ancestral saints. One son of “Chipimpi” by the name of Kabunda, the chief who came from the west (Kola in the Congo) to plant maize and Kaffir-corn seeds for the people in the first gardens, had finished plastering a grain store (Ubutala), gave thick porridge (Nshima) to Chipimpi’s people but he gave Kabunda and his nephew a got (Mbushi) so that they might was off the mud with the goat’s blood. But Kabunda demanded the blood of a slave. Kabunda killed the slave with his hoe (Ulukasu or in Lamba Ise). The people belonging to Kabunda became “Abena Mishisi” because they killed man with her and Kabunda killed “Chipimpi and it is believed that blood is still or was at the time the whites came, oozing.

Hungry, the Chipimpi members of the goat clan tied all their goods, personal belongings, goats, chickens, ducks, dogs and tied themselves and all on a long rope and threw themselves and the lot into the lake, but there a “ Leopard clan” man cut it in presence of his wife who became the mother of “ abena Mbushi”.

Bwana Mkubwa Lake: This is a lake that was formed by the abandoned copper mining business venture. Unlike Bwana Mkubwa Lake, the three lakes earlier referred to were caused by the action of water on the rocks which were dissolved and formed caves which eventually, as a result of being over-burdened, collapsed leaving deep holes that were filled with water. But these, with the passage of time, have become beautiful tourist attractions that can earn Ndola a lot of money if catering and decent accommodation were provided by Ndola City Council in conjunction with Ndola Rural Council.

As stated earlier, Ndola started in a humble way and has grown from “Ndola ya Nyani” to a modern city with modern facilities. With the discovery of copper at Bwana Mkubwa in 1906, the town grew rapidly and in 1934, a compound which was intended to house general workers, was built and at the time I was born in he same year, new location, now main local was already occupied by residents from “Ndola Ya Fyani” which was on the site in 1946 soon after the second world war.

Kabushi was put in place between 1948 and 1952 as the cemetery had to be closed to give way to Kabushi.

Wells suck in Kabushi in 1948 to 1952 were said to have “run” into human bones and as a result taps were urgently laid on.

Masala Mine and later Chifubu compounds were built in 1955 and 1956, respectively., During this time, the Kansenshi residential area ended in Chintu Road. All roads in Ndola as was the case in every city in the country had foreign names. For example, Petauke Crescent, while the main road was named after John Cecil Rhodes, the British empire builder and the founder of the two Rhodesia - Northern and Southern Rhodesia. Itawa (Itabwa) took shape in the early sixties.

Early European residences in the city were Manners township (this is the area from Broadway to Chintu) and this township included the town area covering the railway station. The Northrise area was predominantly a European railway workers area housing mainly shunters and firemen. Ndeke, Mushili, Bonano and Mushili Bonano and Lubuto are a new breed of townships. Twapia African township was a government creation to settle mine and government retirees. Luanshya had Fisenge while Kitwe had Chibuluma with Mufulira having Kansuswa and Chingola had Kasompe. These townships had management boards of their own and some kind of “town clerk” known as board secretary. The late Wesley Nyirenda was the first African townships’ local government officer-in-charge.

Health services were good although there were two separate hospitals.

The European Hospital (which is now the psychiatric department) enjoyed better facilities than the African Hospital which used to be where the Ndola Central Hospital is. The two hospitals were run by two ministries, the Department of African Medical Services and Department of European Medical Services. The same applied to education. All European schools, education and the one secondary school Ndola secondary school were under African education.

Schools for Asians (Indians), Euro-Africans (coloured people) all came under the Department of European Education but the syllabus was the same. The council had opened up residential areas for Asians in Kanini and coloureds in Hillcrest in the late forties and early fifties. Government had opened up the suburb compound in Hillcrest for senior civil servants.

Ndola became the first Copperbelt town to have serious commercial farmers in the Misundu, Mufulira Road and Kang’onga areas.

Most of the buildings in town are in the original sites, for example, the police district headquarters, the post office, Thom’s Stores (where Hungry Lion is), George Brown stores were the current Shoprite store.

The deputy minister’s office used to belong to British African Company (and was called Charter House) regional head office as all mineral rights were in the hands of the BSA first and then ceded to the British Government.

The discovery of copper at nearby Bwana Mkubwa is said to be quite extensive in Zambia and is only comparable to the revived Kansanshi copper-gold mine in the North-Western Province. It was discovered and pegged by William Collier and Jack Donohe in 1902. Bwana Mubwa was a name given to a young hunter and trader Robert Wright by the local Lamba people. He became a big trader in Ndola and joined the British “Asikaris” during the 1914 world War 1.

By 1912, a concentrator was erected to treat the high copper ore and in 1913 Bwana Mkubwa became the first Copperbelt mine to produce copper on commercial basis.
It closed in 1914 due to World War 1. Re-opened and closed many times, it was privatised in 1998, Bwana Mkubwa is now wholly owned by First Quantum Mineral Group.

During the first quarter of 2004, Bwana Mkubwa produced 9,689 tonnes of copper (2003:4,359 tonnes).

The 122 per cent increase in copper production over the 2003 production levels came as a result of increased output or throughput from the plant after completing the commissioning exercise. Bwana Mkubwa also produced 34,344 tonnes of sulphuric acid (2003-32,385 tonnes).

At one time Ndola had more than 350 big viable industries ranging from beer-brewing (Northern Breweries limited wholly owned by London Rhodesia and land company (Lonrho), Zambia Breweries, Montery Printers, Zambia Sugar limited (now moved to Mazabuka, Crown Cork limited, Lever Brothers Limited (now Uniliver Limited), Ndola Lime, Funcoz, Dunlop Zambia Limited.

Others are Ndola Lime Company, Copper Refinery (Now Zambia Gemstones Limited), Indeni Oil Refinery (Zambia’s only oil refinery), Tazama Pipelines (Zambia’s only lifeblood), Kawambwa Tea Factory, Swarp Spinning Mills, Mukuba Textiles, Drum and Can Limited, Atlas Copco Zambia Limited (this is the company where the Second Republican president Dr Chiluba worked as credit controller, one of the top jobs in that company). This is a Swedish interrelation company and specialises in manufacturing and sale of mining equipment while Ndola Lime produces quality limestone quicklime, hydrated lime and agricultural lime.

Education Facilities

Ndola’s educational facilities are extensive and are second to none. Originally the University of Zambia (UNZA) Copperbelt campus was allocated land between the Rehabilitation Centre in Hillcrest and the monkey fountain small holding on Ndola-Kitwe road for the construction of the UNZA campus in Ndola. It was moved to the Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT) in Kitwe where infrastructure was already in place.

Other institutions of high learning sited in Ndola include ZESCO Training Centre, Northern Technical College (Nortec) in Kansenshi, NIEC School of Business Studies in Northrise. There are 46 primary and seven secondary schools in Ndola. The first secondary school for Africans was Ndola Secondary school (Later it became Chiwala secondary school where Mr Mwanawasa was educated) and European high school was Llewellin (now Kansenshi High School).

Ndola has now formed a water utility company known as Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company with a board of directors to superintend the running of the firm. The town clerk is the chairman of the board. The city is well catered for in as far as water and treatment of sewerage is concerned.

Community Development

The council provides community boasted programmes by running pre-schools, adult literacy and women programmes .

Sports

Ndola is self-sufficient in as far as sports and recreation is concerned, There are facilities for football, rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis, boxing and athletics to mention but a few.

Health

The government runs two hospitals in Ndola, one of them being the only children’s hospital in the whole country. The city has Ndola Central Hospital and Arthur Davison built with the funds provided by Mr Davison who had his house on the same site where the hospital is built. He also had a big farm near Fatima secondary school.

Mr Davison was nicknamed Yengwe because he used to buy blood from healthy African for sale to the red cross, mostly in South Africa during world War ll and made huge sums of money. Africans called Yengwe Nyamwa, which means a person who sells human beings. But he was selling donated blood and he used to pay donors.

Although Kitwe is the largest city in the province, it ranks second to Ndola in regional significance: Firstly because of the leading role Ndola plays in provincial administration as the seat of the deputy minister of the Copperbelt; secondly, because Ndola is the headquarters of a large number of parastatals, national and international organisations; and thirdly, the fact that Ndola serves as the country’s commercial, industrial, distributive and communications centre as well as the provincial hinterland north of Kapiri Mposhi.

On the international scene, Ndola has sister city relations with the Borough of Aldershot in the United Kingdom, Blantyre in Malawi, Bentol in Liberia, Oporto in Portugal, Mkhachkal in Russia (formerly USSR) and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Even before independence Ndola had quite a number of good hotels such as the Savoy Hotel which was built in 1956. The areas where the Savoy Hotel, Workers Compensation Fund Board building and the coach station used to be a town market. On the site where Chapasuka bar is was a plush three stars hotel known as Selborne Hotel. Annesley Hotel, renamed later as Coppersmith Arms Hotel was situation where the Royal Hotel is now.

Other good hotels that were highly rated in Ndola before independence were Ndola Hotel situation in the place where Independence Service Station is now, along Cecil Avenue, renamed Independence Avenue.

Rutland Hotel which was before independence rated the best hotel in Central Africa and had four stars, was later bought by Mrs Queen Thom Bate, who was the first born daughter of the first mayor of Ndola, Councillor Thom, (situated at the very end of Tusha Street and the Elephant and Castle. The Elephant Hotel (now Ambassador Hotel) was owned by Mr Len Catchpole who was at one time mayor of Ndola.

Currently Ndola has the following hotels: The New Savoy Hotel (three stars) Mukuba Hotel (three stars), Ambassador Hotel (owned by Ndola City Council) Royal Hotel (formerly Naaznina) and Kafubu Inn (also property of Ndola City Council). The Savoy is the biggest with more than 100 while Mukuba has 55 rooms.

Most of the shops in Ndola especially those in the second and part of the first class wee built in the thirties while some were constructed after world War ll. The city of Ndola is second in beauty after Livingstone. With the Kafubu River passing almost through the middle of the city, the river, had it been properly tamed and looked after, would have been an identical twin of London’s River Thames.

Ndola with an International Airport is the only place that can handle big jumbo jets and caters for the North-Western, Luapula and Northern provinces.

The famous Dag Hammarskjoeld crash site, some 15 kilometres on the Ndola-Kitwe Road continues to attract hundreds of tourists to the city. The late UN secretary general died in mysterious circumstances in Ndola.

Being a predominately Christian country, Ndola has many traditional churches, the Catholic, the United Church of Zambia, UCZ the Anglican church (The English Church) is the consideration for conferring city status on Ndola. According to British Tradition, every city must have a Cathedral, normally an Anglican Cathedral. Lusaka for instance, had to build one in a hurry in 1964. Kitwe and Ndola had to do the same. Population is the other consideration before a city gains city status.

Ndola City Council has 89 councillors with a town clerk and has the powers to run the council affairs. As Ndola’s motto goes “ Indole NEC Indulentia”, Diligence Not Difference should be the keyword by the councillors and the residents as we look forward to another 100 years.

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