MATEMU, a KELENGE

Matemu a Kelenge (circa 1895- September, 1931), popularly known as Mundele Funji, led the famous 1931 Pende revolt against the colonial government.

Matemu belonged to the Pende chiefdom of Mushinga, centred at Lutshima about 50 km (30 mi) south of Kikwit in Kasai. This area had been greatly affected by colonial exploitation. Early in the 1900s, the Compagnie du Kasai and the Force Publique (the colonial army) acted in harmony to force the Pende people to collect and sell wild rubber. In the 1920s the Lever Brothers’ Huileries du Congo Belge (H. C. B., Belgian Congo Oil Works) began operation of its palm oil concession. Pende men were obliged to hire themselves to the company where they received low wages and were subjected to harsh working conditions. For the Pende, the oppression became intolerable when the Great Depression of the 1930s reduced the already low prices and wages the Pende received for their produce and labour from the Huileries du Congo Belge.

Sustained by the people’s sufferings, a religious-political movement, the Tupelepele, arose in Pende communities in 1930 and early 1931. Tupelepele leaders proclaimed that dead ancestors would return to liberate the oppressed, that the Europeans would soon leave, that Africans should no longer work for the Europeans nor pay taxes, and that all objects of European origin should be destroyed. From May 13-16, 1931, some taxpayers in Matemu a Kelenge’s village of Kilamba, located near Lutshima, refused to accept work as palm nut gatherers from H. C. B. recruiters. Furthermore, they stopped supplying palm nuts to the Compagnie du Kasai. In retaliation, Burnotte, the territorial agent from Kandale, 120 km (70 mi) southeast of Kikwit, Van Hombeek, the H. C. B. recruiting officer, and Collignon, the Director of the Compagnie du Kasai depot at Bangi, took severe measures against Kilamba. Local villagers were whipped, arrested, raped, or taken hostage, and several huts were burned.

Outraged by the abuses, Matemu a Kelenge joined the Tupelepele sect and encouraged the growth of Tupelepele in Kilamba village. Taking the name Mundele Funji (white-wind) Matemu made Kilamba the main centre of Tupelepele opposition to the colonial regime. Mundele Funji, now leader of the entire sect, preached open revolt against the Europeans. Late in May 1931, violence erupted. On May 29, on orders from the Kikwit territorial agent, soldiers at Kinsenzele village fired into a crowd assembled to protest tax collection. After this attack, which killed more than ten people, the Pende resolved to arm themselves against the state. This determination resulted in the death of territorial agent Maximilien Ballot at Kilamba on June 8. Ballot had come to Kilamba to supervise tax collection in the rebellious village. When a provocative crowd assembled, Ballot’s men shot at the gathering badly wounding two villagers. Immediately, the Pende reacted by firing arrows.

In the melee, Ballot’s entourage fled and the agent faced the people alone. As principal leader of the Tupelepele sect, Mundele Funji rushed at the European, striking him twice on the head with his machete. Someone else shot Ballot with an arrow while a man named Musoso Shagindungu cut off his head. For the people, Ballot’s murder signalled the liberating power of the ancestors and proved the truth of the Tupelepele message. Thus, the entire Pende region between the Lutshima and Kwilu rivers actively revolted. So serious was the uprising that it took the colonial government from June 1931 to February 1932 to put down the disorder. More than 4,000 Pende lost their lives in these months.

During the military operations, Mundele Funji led the Pende warriors in a courageous resistance. According to oral history, he cut off the hands of several policemen by using his long double-edged knife. Supposedly he ran as fast as lightning. Official reports say that Mundele Funji died at Kilamba in August 1931. The most important battle of the Pende revolt, the Kilamba engagement involved thousands of Pende warriors who fought for an entire day. Pende general opinion, however, maintains that Mundele Funji was not killed at Kilamba, but merely changed his identity and lived until about 1965.

Mundele Funji’s exploits against European occupation became legendary and were frequently recalled in song and dance. Among the Pende, the 1931 revolt is known as the Mundele Funji War.

SIKITELE GIZE a SUMBULA