EDJUMBU

Edjumbu (circa 1880-1937), an extremely wealthy polygamous trader of the Ndolo people, used his riches, geographical location, and local influence to gain an important position in the government of the Belgian Congo. As a government functionary, his career spanned 20 years and he eventually achieved the rank of chief of the sector.

Inhabiting the swampy grounds between the upper Giri and Moeko rivers, the Ndolo (an ethnic group located not far north of the Congo River, midway between Mbandaka and Lisala) live primarily from fishing, trade, and agriculture. Their villages and fields are built on land reclaimed from the marshes.

In addition to their main crops of bananas and yams, they also exploit the natural palm groves of the region for wine and oil. Although for years the Ndolo regularly had sold palm oil to other river peoples, in the 1880s, with the help of their neighbours the Beka and Sengo, they participated in the “great river trade” whose principal commodity was ivory.

In traditional Ndolo social structure, wealth and power were measured in numbers of “wives.” Influential men acquired dozens or even hundreds of women who were then given to less prominent individuals in return for regular payments and work. Thus, ordinary men desiring a wife were dependent upon a few very wealthy Ndolo plutocrats who had legal control over much of the female population.

Born around 1880 in the village of Bokala, located 45 km (25 mi) north of the Congo River, Edjumbu became rich by assembling a large court of women, some whom he got from other Ndolo families. Although often these wives brought dowries from their maternal kin, Edjumbu gained most of his wealth by transferring his women to other men who were then obligated to give him periodic gifts in return. As he grew more prominent, people seeking special favours gave him women who provided Edjumbu with an ever growing source of income.

Edjumbu’s fortunes were also aided by the strategic location of his village, Bokala, which served as a stopping place for many Ndolo and Saw (neighbours immediately to the east) people who were going to the Zaire River port of Moeko. Portuguese, trading for palm oil and palmettos, established their first commercial house at Bokala, which later became the site of the first oil works in the region.

Bokala was also an important village for white administrators coming from either Nouvelle-Anvers, the present Makanza located 200 km (120 mi) north of Mbandaka on the Zaire River, or Budjula, 80 km (50 mi) north of the Zaire River where it is joined by the Mongala, to visit the Ndolo or their northeastern neighbours, the Mwe.

Edjumbu quickly took advantage of his location and prominence to offer his services as a guide and supporter to the whites, who were consolidating their authority in the area. A significant figure in breaking Ndolo opposition to European seizure, Edjumbu used his alliance with the whites to advance himself in the colonial government.

Around 1910, the Ndolo region, largely dependent on the sector of Nouvelle-Anvers, was visited by state agents who established the sub-chiefdom of Dolo Botila, which was administered by the chief Basoko. Basoko, in turn, was under the jurisdiction of the larger chiefdom of Engumba (the future chiefdom of Malundja). On September 25, 1915, Edjumbu was invested as a “deputy-chief” of Dolo Botila. Six years later, on September 25, 1921, Edjumbu became actual chief of Ndolo-Bokala, at that time dependent on the Budjala territory.

In 1925, when the first steps were taken to organise the Ndolo into a sector of  ‘’Water Dwellers of the Ndolo’, Edjumbu because of his excellent record of service, was encouraged to become chief of the sector. He had to wait ten years, however, before the projected sector of the ‘Water Dwellers of the Ndolo’ became a reality.

In 1935, when Edjumbu was recommended for the post of chief of the sector, the Belgian territorial administrator described his candidature in these terms:

“Edjumbu, is a chief of efficiency rare in his region. Through his 350 wives, he wields power comparable to one of our high financiers. And he knows how to use it. I believe, however, that it would be preferable not to confer upon him the permanent presidency of the Sector’s tribunal. He is too interested in palaver, and his cupidity and cunning mind could chase plaintiffs from the court.”

Thus, Edjumbu became the chief of a vast sector which included the chiefdoms of Moniongo, Lisombo, Tandu, Dolo-Bokala, Mosangi, and the chiefdom of the Saw. In 1936, Edjumbu had his village, Bokala, named as the sector’s seat. Edjumbu, however, served as chief of the sector for only two years before he died in 1937.

His successor, an adopted son Bilolo, had been born to one of Edjumbu’s wives by her first marriage. Bilolo, who grew up at Bokala, ruled only temporarily, as he proved unsatisfactory in the office of head of the Sector. He was accused of lacking tact and having no notion of justice. No doubt, Bilolo merely wanted to use the means earlier employed by his father to increase the number of his wives.

Bilolo, however, succeeded only in gaining the hatred of the chiefs and dignitaries of other groups. When Bilolo was relieved of his duties in 1940, the administration of the sector was turned over to Djala, a judge of the sector and a native of Bokala. Edjumbu is remembered as a rich, ambitious, but very able African chief and colonial administrator.

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