NGONGO LETETA

Ngongo Leteta (circa 1850-September 15, 1893) was a powerful slave trader from the Tetela ethnic group, located in the Lomami river region east of Lusambo. An auxiliary of the Swahili merchants, he transferred his loyalty to the Congo Free State in 1892 and helped in the campaign to defeat the Swahili Arabs in the eastern Congo (now Zaire).

Ngongo Leteta, whose real name was Mwanza Kasongo, was probably born between 1850 and 1862 in the village of the chief Pena Mwimba, on the right bank of the Lomami River. He was to take the two names Ngongo and Leteta much later. “Ngongo” was the name of a great rival Tetela chief east of the Lomami, a chief who fiercely opposed Mwanza Kasongo before yielding to him. Leteta was a nickname in Otetela (the Tetela language) that the people gave him to indicate that he never remained in the same place but that he was always traveling or on a military expedition.

While still very young, Mwanza Kasongo accompanied Pena Mwimba’s daughter to the Songye village of Kilembwe, on the right bank of the Lomami, where he grew up in the chief’s court. Soon, he gained a reputation as an outstanding warrior, being characterised by exceptional bravery, ability, and speed on military expeditions. In spite of his youth, he was named military chief of the region. He was then adopted by chief Kilembwe, who regarded him as one of his own children.

Around 1874, Tippu Tib, the great Swahili Arab trader from East Africa, arrived in the region to purchase ivory tusks, parrots, and slaves. At that time chief Kilembwe delegated Mwanza Kasongo and several other men to go to Tippu Tib with gifts, and to make an act of submission. Afterwards, Mwanza accompanied Tippu Tib to his headquarters at Kasongo, located on the Lualaba River, about 110 km (65 mi) north of Kongolo, where he entered the Swahili merchant’s employ.

Shortly thereafter, Tippu Tib placed Mwanza Kasongo under the orders of his representative in Tetela territory, Dadi ben Ndoe, known by his African name, Tshungu. Mwanza gained favour with his new patron, who made him his alternate. To put Mwanza’s honesty to the test, Dadi ben Ndoe entrusted him with a great quantity of salt, beads, and cloth, which he was to barter for elephants’ tusks, parrots, leopard skins, and slaves in his home region. Mwanza took the trade goods and exchanged them for the desired products. After this, Dadi treated Mwanza henceforth as his son.

Receiving more and more trade goods, and increasing his territory, Mwanza Kasongo went to settle with the Tetela chief Kitate, on the right bank of the Lomami, where he lived for some time. Bartering his goods for the local products Mwanza surrounded himself, little by little, with ambitious young men, among them his successor Ngongo Luhaka.

When he had completed his purchases, Mwanza Kasongo returned to Dadi ben Ndoe, telling him of the abundance of wealth and goods which were to be found in Kitate’s region. Although, at first, Dadi was skeptical, he eventually gave Mwanza trade goods as well as rifles and munitions, and men who knew how to use weapons. From this time on, Mwanza Kasongo was no longer a simple merchant, but also a slave dealer. While continuing to trade with the local population, he also stole their property and ambushed the roads. On several occasions, he traveled through all the Tetela regions between Kibombo (located about 200 km or 120 mi north of Kongolo, near the Lualaba River) and the Lomami River, raiding for slaves and ivory. It was at this time that he received the name “Leteta”.

When Dadi, who had been Tippu Tib’s representative in the Lomami area, died in about 1889, Leteta immediately took his place. Shortly thereafter, however, he faced a general uprising of the population, who wished to profit from Dadi’s death to escape from the domination of the Arabs and their lieutenants. The ease with which Leteta put down the revolt caused Tippu Tib to appreciate his new agent’s talents as a warrior. Soon after this, Leteta received a large number of rifles and ammunitions. After Tippu Tib he thus became the possessor of the largest quantity of weapons in the area. Aware of his superiority and strength, Leteta decided to conquer all the chiefs from Kibombo to the Lomami River. Having subdued the region, he settled in Ngongo l’Okole, where he took the surname, Ngongo.

Mwanza Kasongo, now Ngongo Leteta, then crossed the Lomami, made a first incursion against the Tetela of Sankuru, and went to settle at Kitenge Ngundu, his future capital which was located on the Lomami River directly east of Lusambo. By settling here, Ngongo Leteta hoped to control both banks of the Lomami. This aim, however, was not to be realised as his rule was challenged by the arrival of the Europeans.

Around 1890, emissaries brought Ngongo Leteta news that a strangely shaped boat had transported men called “the white spirits” to Lusambo on the Sankuru River. The newcomers were agents of the Congo Free State, who were setting up a station in order to halt Arab expansion towards Kasai. Curious about the whites, Ngongo decided to travel to Lusambo. He was accompanied, according to custom, by a large entourage, marching to the sound of drums and tom-toms. The whites interpreted this pomp as a declaration of war and attacked Ngongo who, surprised by this unexpected reception, suffered a defeat and returned to his capital.

Since settling at Kitenge Ngundu, Ngongo Leteta and pursued policies somewhat independent of those of the Arabs. To guarantee his freedom, he then determined to find new sources of supply for rifles and munitions. Thus, he resolved to contact the Cokwe (Chokwe) traders from Angola, who were operating in Kasai. In the meantime, at the beginning of 1891, he was visited by the wife of Kasongo Kiniama, who wished to avenge the death of her husband, the great slave-raiding chief from Musakatshi, (near modern Gandajika), who had been killed by an uprising of his sub-chiefs. Invited by Kasongo Kiniama’s wife to punish the rebellious vassals, Ngongo Leteta made an incursion against the Luba of Kasai, where he received a submission from several chiefs.

Having captured thousands of slaves, he believed that the proper moment had arrived to enter into contact with the Cokwe, through the intermediary of Mukenge Kalamba, chief of the Bena Lulua. Ngongo hoped to sell his captives for arms and thus free himself from Arab tutelage. But when Kalamba refused to deal, Ngongo was forced to set up a slave market where he sold thousands of Luba slaves. Returning to Kitenge Ngundu, Ngongo Leteta then went to Kasongo to deliver the products of his incursions into Kasai. There tradition reports, that the Arabs were so surprised by the great quantity of goods that they advised Sefu, Tippu Tib’s son living in Kasongo, to put Ngongo to death as his power could overshadow theirs. Although he was not killed, Ngongo Leteta was arrested, severely judged, and punished. This incident ended his alliance with the Arabs, and when he returned to Kitenge Ngundu at the beginning of 1892, he ceased trading with the Arabs.

Until this time, he had paid tribute to the Arabs in exchange for arms. Now, Ngongo revived his old project and sought to enter into relations with the Cokwe. But, this time, avoiding Kalamba, the great chief of the Bena Lulua, he mobilised his forces and took the route to the south. During this journey, the troops of Ngongo Leteta were attacked twice and beaten by the troops of the Congo Free State. Finally, Ngongo Leteta gathered his men in an attempt to end, once and for all, interference from the Europeans. But when he faced the forces of the Congo Free State at Batubenge, near the confluence of the Lubilash and Mbuji-Mayi rivers, his army was defeated on May 9, 1892. Humiliated by the Arabs, beaten at the head of his army, having failed in his attempt to contact the Cokwe, and abandoned by his two most powerful allies, Penya Mutombo and Lupungu, who had surrendered to the whites, Ngongo halted his resistance and allied himself with the Free State. Since the Arabs probably intended to kill him, Ngongo had no other choice.

On September 19, 1892, Ngongo Leteta finally broke with the Arabs and signed a treaty with the Congo Free State. His alliance with the Europeans had disastrous consequences for the Arabs. The State began a campaign against Sefu, which ended in the capture of the Arab posts at Nyangwe and Kasongo, on the Lualaba River. Ngongo Leteta actively participated with his men in the Belgian troops’ efforts, and, according to Hinde, it was “in large part due to his vigilance and to his energy, that success was won during the first phase of the campaign against Sefu.

A year after the conclusion of his alliance with the Europeans, however, Ngongo, who had rendered innumerable services to the Congo Free State, was accused of treason, arrested, and incarcerated by the head of the post of Kitenge Ngundu. Judged by a hastily assembled court-martial, he was condemned to death on September 14, 1893, and executed on September 15.

The legitimacy of this execution was immediately and sharply criticised. Perhaps the whites, no longer needing Ngongo Leteta, preferred to eliminate him. Whatever the reasons given to justify his execution, it would remain an unfortunate episode in the history of European penetration. But it was a gross political error which resulted in violence and bloodshed for a decade. Among the consequences were the military mutinies, commonly called the Batetela revolts. These revolts, of Ngongo’s former soldiers, took place in 1895 at Luluabourg (now Kahanga) in 1897 on the Uele River in the northeast of the country, and in 1900 at Shinkasa Fort, at Boma on the Congo River (now Zaire).

Ngongo Leteta will be remembered as a conqueror who, because of his extraordinary energy, his rapid marches, and his highly disciplined bands, created for himself a large military and commercial domain.

TSHUND’OLELA EPANYA SHAMOLOLO and LOHAKA ΟΜΑΝΑ