MUMPEMA

Mumpema (circa 1880-1945) served as chief of the Mampoko people from 1910-45, during the colonial epoch.

Inhabitants of the lower Giri, the Mampoko formerly lived in the forests between the Congo and the Giri rivers, about 100 km (60 mi) north of modern Mbandaka. Originally they were known merely as the Tendele and the Bokwango people. Around 1850, some Tendele and Bokwango left the forest, the Tendele to settle on the banks of the Giri, at Ndjondo and Bokwekete, and the Bokwango to settle in the area around Ekongobololo, Bwanda, Mokoto, Bobole, Monono and Boyeka. Only after they had arrived on the banks of the Giri did they receive the name Mampoko, meaning “peoples from the vast banana plantations.”

When the Europeans arrived in the late 19th century, the patriarch and leader of the Mampoko was Ekonda. From 1891 onwards, the Mampoko were part of the Equateur region. Several years later, through the intermediary of the Bobangi chief Bolangwa, they entered into contact with the whites of Coquilhatville (now Mbandaka).

Thus, from 1908, the Mampoko, with their southern neighbours, the Bokongo and the Mobele, were included in Bolangwa’s vast chiefdom of the Bobangi. Soon, however, the Belgians decided to separate some of the semi-autonomous lower Giri river peoples, including the Mampoko, into sub-chiefdoms. Because of his advanced age, the government passed over Ekonda, the oldest member of the oldest clan, in favour of Mumpema, the oldest individual of the junior family in the clan.

Mumpema was invested in 1910 as the leader of the Mampoko sub-chiefdom. In 1918, the sub-chiefdom of Mampoko was detached from the Bobangi polity and made a separate chiefdom dependent on the territory of Bomana, whose headquarters on the Giri were located 160 km (100 mi) north of modern Mbandaka.

As a government official, Mumpema gained an excellent reputation for administering justice. His territories also had little difficulty in paying their taxes, perhaps because of the existing commercial ties with nearby French Equatorial Africa. In comparison to people further inland, Mumpema’s subjects were considered more advanced. Because of Mumpema’s outstanding abilities, the neighbouring chiefdoms of Bokongo and Mobele were gradually incorporated into his domain.

Not only were Bokongo and Mobele declining in population, but they also suffered from a lack of effective leadership. After Chief Bei of Bokongo died in 1922, no one was invested to replace him until 1927. In Mobele, the people were governed by the ineffectual Mompena. Thus, in 1929, Mumpema’s Mampoko chiefdom was enlarged to incorporate Bokongo, Mobele, and also Ndondo.

In 1940, Mampoko, along with Bomana and Mobena to the north, was organised into a new administrative unit, the sector of Baloi. Musoma, also known as Limania, the chief of Mobena, became the provisional sector chief with authority over Mumpema. By this time Mumpema was very old, and his power had decreased considerably. Nonetheless, his own subjects, as well as other Africans in the lower Giri area, and also the Europeans, all continued to hold him in high esteem.

One of the greatest chiefs of the Giri region during the colonial era, Mumpema died in 1945 after having governed his land for more than 30 years.

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