Cultural Heritage Research Journal : Introduction of Name Policies in Zambia: A Cultural Preservation Perspective

Background

“What does my name [Chanda] mean?”

“Ask your grandmother” mother would reply

“Ask your mother” was grandmother’s reply

The above was my usual experience from as far back as twenty-five years ago, when I was doing my primary schooling. I grew up with a strong unfulfilled longing to know the meaning for my name. I remember in my toddlerhood being called by my sweet African name Chanda Penda. The most vivid memories I have of being addressed solely by my African names on an official basis are from my pre-school years in 1990 to 1992 and during our ‘unpleasant’ days at the local clinic, Five Clinc, in Roan township, Luanshya. Recently, during my study to quantify the relationship between usage of local and foreign first names in Zambia in 2017, I was shocked to find that over 71% of Zambian first names were foreign, only about 28% were African, not necessarily Zambian. I also took an extra step to investigate the usage of foreign names as place names. I have yet to quantify this, but the data have so far been overwhelming. I wondered why we still called our most treasured heritage possession the Victoria Falls instead of Mosi-O-Tunya or Shungu Namutitima. To what extent is cultural colonisation (acculturation) at play in Zambian society? Have we truly gained independence? Do we really have to use foreign names? To what extent can we ensure posterity gains back our lost identity?

Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Zambia

“I am not here to hand out distinctions, I want to see your work making real life impact” stressed our late former professor of history, Dr. Bennett S. Siamwiza, during my third year at the University of Zambia. This day, in late 2010, marked a significant turning point in my pursuit. He challenged us to look within ourselves and find our true passion to contribute meaningfully to society. We linked up with colleagues and passionately discussed the idea of compiling a dictionary of Zambian names. While the iron was still hot, we discussed the idea with some of our professors. They linked us to relevant personalities and institutions in the field of culture. I have since been collecting African personal names (anthroponyms), their meanings, brief histories and pronunciations.

In retrospect, my mother included my baptism name, Oswald on in my registration as I reported ‘late’ to school in my first grade. My first day at school was Friday, when everyone had already reported. So officially, I became Oswald Chanda Penda. By fifth grade, I could not take the mockery from peers anymore. They always teased me by calling me ukupenda – a Bemba word for ‘counting’. So, I discarded Penda and changed my name to Osward Chanda in 1997. Well, changing the name here means on my books and in my school records. After writing my exams at grades 7, 9 and 12, the name Osward Chanda became authentic because it was on official government records – transcripts. This is not unusual in Bembaland. Siblings sharing both parents can opt to have different last names. Both my parents, Mr. Peter Penda (deceased) and Mrs. Theresa Mulenga Penda, hail from the Bemba ethnic group, the most widely spoken local language in Zambia.

Unfortunately, over the last decade, my longing and attempts to officially regain my lost purely African identity have been met with futility. Though I am not a legal expert, I know that Zambian law is flexible on such matters. In our search for Zambian legislation on names, we only found the National Registration Act and the Deed Poll. The former is a requirement for a citizen who attains the age of 16 to acquire a National Registration Card (NRC), while the latter is on name change. There are Zambians who have legally effected changes of their names. However, that my case has been met with lack of success is not unusual too.

HRH Chief Ntambu, Chairperson (l), Clerk (r), House of Chiefs

House of Chiefs 50 Chiefs Representing all 10 Provinces

New Paradigms

Importantly, I would like to shift this quest to a new level by proposing introduction of an elaborate policy governing Zambian nomenclature. There should be introduction of laws regulating name giving in Zambia, with a bias toward cultural preservation by promoting the use of indigenous forenames and surnames. This is not something entirely new to Zambian society. After my presentation of our lifelong encyclopedic research and publications of African names at the House of Chiefs (a parliament of all traditional leaders in Zambia), the House challenged us to provoke such a public debate. Their Royal Highnesses, the chiefs, expressed immense surprise that our entire team of five persons (four Zambians and one Kenyan) sounded European [with European first names]. They challenged us to ensure that Zambians revert to using only Zambian names by the year 2030. Afterwards, they wrote to us that the House had officially adopted the Encyclopedia of African Names research as Patron. Countless other members of the general public who use our Encyclopedia of Zambian Names™ have also resoundingly suggested that we foster a debate that promotes use of indigenous names. In addition, the long-range goal of the Institute of Economic and Social Research (formerly Institute of African Studies) of the University of Zambia is to establish a national cultural profile. My final conviction to take this direction came when I was invited to present a paper on Zambian names at the International Congress of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS2017), held at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. There I met several professionals and scholars from Central and Eastern European countries whose papers focused on how they were implementing naming laws to preserve their cultural heritage.

Author - House of Chiefs

In the last weeks leading to my reporting at CEU, I authored two ten-paged brochures after being officially contracted by the Ministry of National Guidance and Religious Affairs. One focused on the value of culture for economic development while the other was on building a national identity for Zambia. The new government ministry is soliciting content from specialists in different fields. When they gather these materials, they print copies for mass distribution. I trust that pursuing this thesis topic will enable me to significantly contribute to the preservation of Zambia’s intangible cultural heritage by proposing laws promoting the use of indigenous anthroponyms and toponyms.

Conclusion

Zambian society has lost its authentic identity by yielding to widespread use of foreign names. The foregoing applies both to personal names and place names. There are no laws that govern naming in Zambia apart from the National Registration Act and the Deed Poll. The National Registration Act focuses on the requirement for citizens to be registered upon their attainment of age 16, whereas the Deep Poll’s thrust is on name change procedures. Through our wider corporate work in documenting African names, even people who have no parents or grandparents to ask for names and their meanings drawn from their respective languages will have the chance to have readily available reference books. Zambian society is ready to head in a new direction of preserving culture through names. Through the current work, I seek to contribute significantly to the preservation of intangible cultural heritage in Zambia through a proposal to introduce laws which promote the use of indigenous names in naming persons and places.

Links:

http://ukzambians.co.uk/home/2014/07/12/encyclopedia-of-zambian-names-book-review/