MOTENGO

Motengo (circa 1890-1941), a chief of the Monia people who lived on the upper Giri River, became famous for his many wives and children.

The area north of modern Mbandaka is inhabited by numerous small ethnic groups, renowned for their fishing. The Monia, located about 250 km (150 mi) north of Mbandaka in the Giri marshes, belong, with the Bonyange of the Moanda region, to the Waku ethnic group. Their language and customs unite them with the kato or Libinza to the south, although they live adjacent to the Jando and the Mwe who are settled on both sides of the Giri.

Motengo, born around 1890, is considered by many inhabitants of Monia and the surrounding area as the son of the notable Ekwakola, who was a leader of the Monia people when the Europeans reached the region in 1900. In truth, Motengo was of Ngombe origins for he was born in Molei, a village about 50 km (30 mi) north of the Monia.

It is reported that he was purchased by a Mwe man from Limpoko who was at Molei to sell bananas. Because young Motengo earlier had committed petty theft, he had been reduced to servitude and legally could be sold. His new master from Limpoko gave him to Likumbelo, chief of Bomole, among the Mwe people.

Limpoko, in turn, gave Motengo to his friend, Ekwakola, a Monia notable who had gone to Bomole to take part in a “kola” fellowship meeting there. Obedient and intelligent, Motengo soon was integrated into Ekwakola’s family as a son. Although Motengo eventually gained a high place in Monia society, he never forgot his Molei origins. Throughout his life, he regarded the inhabitants of Molei as his brothers and his descendants consider themselves members of the Molei family.

In 1900, the Congo Free State official Sommelier, known as Limpanya, together with his Libinza allies: Molonga, Nzamba, Mungembe, and Loweya, attacked the Monia, who had refused to accept European occupation. Panic-stricken, the Monia made an accommodation with the Belgians through the intermediary of chief Monoko na Ntaba, who ruled the Mampoko living at the confluence of the Giri and Ubangi rivers.

A certain Lilamba, who led the Monia delegation, was selected by the Europeans as capita (sub-chief) over the Monia, but he died soon afterwards. Lilamba’s replacement Ebamba was soon killed in a battle against the Djando Maboko. Thus the old chief Ekwakola-Motengo’s master was designated by the colonisers to receive the chief’s medal. From 1904 to 1913, the Monia were attached to the Giri sector, whose chief-town was Musa. Both the Monia and the Mwe came under the authority of Chief Molonga, a Libinza man sent by the European administrator at Musa to subdue the Monia people.

Thus, Molonga was invested as chief of the Monia and the Mwe. With his Libinza henchmen, Molonga ravaged the area by seizing chickens, goats, and crops, capturing young men whom they sent to Libinza villages as slaves, and taking the wives and daughters of those who refused to pay their taxes. The name, Molonga, became, among the Monia and Mwe, a symbol of the hatred they felt for all the Libinza people.

Although Chief Ekwakola married Molonga’s daughter Mwamolanga so as to live in peace with the Libinza ruler, the Monia never accepted the Libinza. In 1913, the sector of the Giri was divided into three parts, the Monia being attached to the Upper Giri sector. This provided an opportunity for the Monia to rid themselves of Molonga, who was from the Lower Giri. Molonga lost his power following a general revolt in the Mwe region, an uprising instigated by Ekwakola and his son Motengo. With help from the whites at Musa and Nouvelle-Anvers (now Makanza), Ekwa-kola defeated Molonga and gained much prestige among the peoples of the Upper Giri area.

Ekwakola’s adopted son Motengo received the chief’s medal in 1915. From that time on, he helped the Europeans organise the Mwe, who were then attached to the Monia, into administratively viable chiefdoms. Soon Motengo became known as the greatest chief of the region. Hoping to cultivate his friendship, or merely to avoid his wrath, people brought him presents and offered him their daughters in marriage. When individuals could not pay the taxes required by the colonial government, Motengo paid in their place. Then, in compensation, he demanded a woman.

Even though Motengo had only two wives when he became chief, eventually he was able to assemble a “harem” of more than 300 women. Some of these he offered as wives to his nephews and sons. Those remaining women were permitted to take “lovers” in the village and to have children. Although these relationships were actually marriages, the children were customarily and officially recognised as Motengo’s offspring. Thus, he was able to acquire an immense family of supporters.

In 1940, the colonial government created the Bamwe sector with Bomole as its chief town. Although Motengo was appointed chief of the sector, he served only a short time before his death in 1941.

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