KIKOSO GIBANDA MAFU

Kikoso Gibanda Mafu (circa 1875-May 21, 1955) ruled the Pende chiefdom of Shimuna, located on the left bank of the Kwilu River in the present Kasai Occidental region. Installed by the colonial authorities, Kikoso owed his power to the whites rather than to traditional political structures. Not respected by the people he supposedly ruled, Kikoso abused his subjects and, towards the end of his life, even disregarded the commands of the Belgian administrators who had placed him in office.

The Belgians installed Kikoso Gibanda Mafu at the head of the Shimuna chiefdom, which contained about 7,000 people and which extended southwards from Gungu, 100 km (60 mi) southeast of Kikwit. Kikoso was chosen to replace Shimuna Mukimba Mugamba, alias Mukulunzambi, who had been dethroned on December 8, 1922 because of disobedience to the colonial administration.

Although Kikoso received his official investiture on March 2, 1923, the Shimuna generally saw him only as an administrative official responsible for collecting state taxes, and for executing governmental orders. In fact, Kikoso was detested by the people who remained loyal to the former chief Mukulunzambi. Although Kikoso belonged to the Manda clan of the Akwa Mbangu family, and technically could have succeeded Mukulunzambi, he was regarded as a usurper who had sold out to the whites.

Thus, when Mukulunzambi returned from prison, he continued to exercise his traditional power.

Before dying, Mukulunzambi forbade his subjects to confer the royal insignias on Kikoso. Thus the traditional power of the chief was given, after Mukulun-zambi’s death, to Sasaposo of the Manda clan of Kahunga. This situation was a source of constant tension because the traditional chief Sasaposo was supported by the people from whom his power came, while the official chief, Kikoso, was protected by the colonial authorities. Kikoso represented the power of the state and, at times, succeeded in overshadowing the traditional chief.

Kikoso was one of the few Pende chiefs who was not dismissed or executed following the revolt of 1931. At the start of the uprising, he sent a letter to the colonial authorities declaring that he would never join forces with the rebels. When the troops ordered to repress the revolt in his village, they found, together with a small flock of goats, pigs, and hens, a note written by Kikoso in which he stated he was not a rebel but that he and his people had fled out of fear.

Later, he was the first Pende chief to surrender to the district commissioner, Van der Hallen, at Kakobola. Because of Kikoso, many other Pende chiefs were induced to give themselves up. The government’s appeal to surrender was, however, a ruse. Some of these chiefs were placed in a concentration camp and massacred by the soldiers of the Force Publique while others were tried at a drum-head court at Kandale where they were condemned to death or banished to the western part of the province.

Chief Kikoso’s loyalty during the Pende rebellion of 1931 won him many favours from the colonial authorities. This led Kikoso, however, to think himself safe from all chastisement. Consequently, he committed violent and reprehensible acts without fearing punishment. In particular, he freely employed the whip against his subordinates, using it to vent his rages.

In 1934, when asked by Father Jacques Délaere, then superior of the Catholic Mission of Muhaku, why he behaved in this manner, Kikoso answered without hesitation: “But I have always used the whip. If I am not obeyed, if someone steals, if someone does not work, I use the lash. I have the right to use the lash.”

In July 1934, he arrested the Pende chief Mutundu of the upper Kwilu, because the latter had crossed Kikoso’s land without permission. Mutundu, who was traveling in response to the summons of the local Belgian authorities, was imprisoned and whipped on Kikoso’s orders, thus, provoking a long and bloody conflict between Mutundu’s people and the Shimuna. Although he was clearly in the wrong, curiously, Kikoso was not chastised in this affair.

From 1932 on, Kikoso had many disputes with the territorial administration. Due to the intervention of the district commissioner, however, he never received more than a simple admonition. Thus, he began to see himself as stronger than the colonial authorities and he constantly mocked the remarks of the territorial agents whom he came to regard as lesser chiefs.

An avaricious man, Kikoso used the chiefdom’s treasury for himself. Often large sums were missing and frequently he forced his subjects to pay tribute in cash. Having never been installed in the traditional manner, he could not receive tribute in kind, which was reserved exclusively for the customary chief. Thus, during the tax collection of 1939, he demanded that 50 centimes per taxpayer be paid into his account.

By 1936, Kikoso had completely lost his prestige with the Africans. Members of the Mboka clan were particularly hostile to him and reacted violently against his illegal exactions. His authority was respected only because people feared the laws imposed by the whites.

During the 1940s, however, the agents of the colonial administration began to monitor Kikoso more closely, pressuring him to end his abuses. Resenting this new situation, Kikoso worked to counter these agents’ orders and, as a result, he completely neglected the administration of his chiefdom.

Although colonial authorities imposed disciplinary sanctions on him, Kikoso never changed his basic attitude. After he died, on May 21, 1955, he was remembered as a chief proudly conscious of his own authority, who abusively used the powers entrusted to him.

SIKITELE GIZE a SUMBULA