MABERA BENOIT

Mabera Benoit (circa 1890-1922), the Vui (paramount chief) of the Nguii people living along the Kasai River north of Kikwit, cooperated with colonial authorities in their attempt to transform African cultural, economic, and religious patterns.

Born at Nkuriam, 130 km (75 mi) north of Kikwit, Mabera was a member of the family eligible to hold the Nguii office of Vui. At an early age Mabera converted to Christianity, and was baptised as Benoit by the Scheat missionaries at Mpangu, near Brabanta (now Mapongu), about 20 km (12 mi) downstream from Ilebo on the Kasai River. While still at Mpangu, Mabera was called upon to become the Vui by the Nkuriam notables who, acting at the instigation of the colonial authorities, were removing the regent who had held power since the death of the last Vui, Ekwong e Biar.

Although still quite young, Mabera was enthroned as Vui by the kingdom’s dignitaries according to customary rites. Shortly afterwards he was decorated with a chief’s medallion by the state authorities. At the request of the government, the young Christian Vui moved his court from Nkuriam to Owong, along the Kasai River not far west from the budding center of Mangai. This move was to facilitate access to the Vui’s court by missionaries, European traders, and state agents who could only travel by river since there were as yet no roads in the area. Mabera’s accession to power opened a new era for the Nguii people, since, from the time of his enthronement, the new Christian Vui undertook an ambitious programme of social, economic, and political reforms.

A confirmed Christian, he fought an ardent battle against sorcerers. A good number of his subjects converted to the new religion and came to live in the new capital where they could sell the products of their harvest more easily. On the economic level, Vui Mabera urged his people to cultivate corn (maize), pineapples, sugarcane, peanuts (ground nuts), and sweet potatoes plants which were already known but which had not yet been brought into local cultivation. He also urged his people to make their products more marketable, for example by breaking open coconuts for the white traders who increasingly navigated the Kasai. By this time, about half a dozen white traders had already settled in nearby Mangai. At the request of the state, Mabera built roads making the outlying areas of his kingdom more accessible and, therefore, more attractive for settlement. Politically, the Vui’s court was reinforced by the presence of “messengers,” put at his disposition by the state and recruited, for the most part, among the new Christians.

In Nguii tradition, Mabera is either seen as the valiant young Vui who tried to modernise his society or as the traitor who served the invading whites. His efforts to impose the new culture were greeted with enthusiasm by the majority of the population. Certain factions, however, particularly people of Oveke and other peripheral villages to the west of Nguii territory, were unhappy with the new ideas, for example with the corvée (forced labour) required for road construction, and especially with new taxes which had just been levied. Oveke discontent culminated in Mabera’s assassination.

When Mabera went to enforce tax collection at Oveke, the inhabitants of the village revolted and killed the Vui. The colonial administration, took advantage of this incident to dismantle the traditional Nguii political structure. After having organised a punitive expedition to prevent the spread of the Oveke rebellion, the government partitioned Nguii territory into several autonomous chiefdoms. Thus, the Vui of Nkuriam simply became one chief among many.

NDAYWEL ë NZIEM and ELAGNA IVARI