NKANGA LUKENI

Nkanga Lukeni (ruled 1641-61) or Garcia II, was Mani Kongo (ruler of the Kongo) during a time of military conflict between the Portuguese and the Dutch. By manipulating the European rivalry, he was able to restore some of the Kongo kingdom’s former authority.

He came to power in 1641, following the death of Alvare VI (ruled 1636-41). This was in the same year that the Dutch occupied Luanda on the coast. Hoping to free himself from the Portuguese, who exercised their control through missionaries, Nkanga Lukeni concluded a military alliance with the Dutch. The agreement was political rather than religious in nature, for the Mani Kongo never abandoned his Catholic faith to become a Protestant. Nkanga Lukeni also attempted to use the Dutch in his ongoing struggle against rebellious officials in his land.

Nkanga first employed his Dutch allies to subdue the disloyal chief of Nsala, who ruled the area east of the Inkisi River, about 170 km (100 mi) southeast of the Mani Kongo capital of San Salvador. Then, in 1645, he waged war on the Mani Soyo-Soyo the territory just south of the Zaire River estuary which controlled the port of Mpinda. Known by his European name Daniel da Silva, the Mani Soyo had refused to ask for the traditional confirmation of his election from the Mani Kongo. But, the Mani Kongo’s troops were defeated on April 29, 1645, and again in July 1646. From that time onwards, the Mani Soyo became practically independent of San Salvador.

The Dutch occupation of Luanda enabled the Vatican to send non-Portuguese missionaries to Kongo. Earlier, the Catholic Church in the Kongo was under Portuguese protection, and any priests sent there had to have the approval of Lisbon. The Portuguese had consistently refused passports for any non-Portuguese priests appointed by Rome. Thus, in 1645, Nkongo Lukeni eagerly welcomed the Italian Capuchin Friars sent by Rome. Hoping to stabilise the dynasty, he appealed to the Vatican to make the office of Mani Kongo a hereditary right of his particular branch of the larger family that was eligible for election. When these efforts failed, Nkanga Lukeni accused the Capuchins of not supporting his cause. Relations between the missionaries and the Mani Kongo became strained when the Europeans began to criticise the king for reverting to paganism.

After the reconquest of Loanda by Portugal in August 1648, Nkanga Lukeni was obliged to sign a 1649 peace treaty in which he ceded to the Portuguese the island off the coast at Luanda from which the Kongo obtained its shell currency. The treaty also gave Kongolese mineral rights to the Portuguese.

When Nkanga Lukeni died in 1661, Vita Nkanga, known as Antonio I, took power. During Antonio’s reign, the Portuguese took advantage of the earlier treaty to invade the southern part of the Kongo kingdom, where they hoped to find silver and gold. Although ultimately unsuccessful, Nkango Lukeni managed for a time to free himself from Portuguese tutelage.

TSIMBA MABIALA