The Garanganze, Yeke or Bayeke are a people of Katanga, in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. They established the Yeke Kingdom under the warrior-king Msiri, who dominated the southern part of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...

from 1850 to 1891 and controlled the trade route between

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and

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from his capital, at

Bunkeya Bunkeya is a community in the Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on a huge plain near the Lufira River. Before the Belgian colonial conquest, Bunkeya was the center of a major trading state under the ruler Msir ...

. Msiri and his people were originally Nyamwezi traders from around

Tabora Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,999. ...

who migrated to Katanga to reach the source of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

and slaves to trade. They took over and merged with a Wasanga chieftainship and established a powerful base by conquering neighbouring tribes. In 1891, Msiri was killed by the Stairs Expedition sent by King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

to take possession of Katanga for his Congo Free State. Many of the Yeke dispersed, with some settling in the

Luapula The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...

Valley and the western shores of

Lake Mweru Lake Mweru (also spelled ''Mwelu'', ''Mwero'') is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up of the total length of th ...

around the Garanganze Missions of the Plymouth Brethren, led by Dan Crawford. Others who had been regarded as the Yeke were reabsorbed into the Wasanga ethnic group. Consequently, the Yeke or Garanganze now number only about 20,000 and speak Kisanga and Swahili, Yeke (Kiyeke) now being a language that is used only for ceremonial occasions.''De l'Aleph à l'@: Les Peuples Yeke''
website accessed 7 May 2007.

Mwami Mwenda chieftainship

The Garanganze still maintain the Mwami Mwenda chieftainship at Bunkeya, after it was exiled by the Belgian colonial authorities for some years to the Lufoi River. The chieftainship is named in honour of Msiri whose full name was ''Mwenda Msiri Ngelengwa Shitambi''. The current chief who was enthroned in 1997 is Mwami Mwenda VIII, named Mwenda-Bantu Godefroid Munonga.''Mwami Msiri, King of Garanganze''
Website accessed 7 May 2007 The official history of the Garanganze claims that the chieftainship survived despite neglect and opposition from the Belgian colonial authorities. However other sources say that the Belgians, whose first treaty in Katanga was with Mwami Mwenda II Mukanda-Bantu whom they had installed after killing Msiri, used the chieftainship to bolster colonial rule, conferring on the chiefs an importance which the Yeke, a relatively small tribe, did not warrant from their numbers. Mwami Mwenda VI Godefroid Munonga was involved in the Katanga secession crisis and was appointed Minister of the Interior of the breakaway state. After Katanga was reunited with the Congo, he was imprisoned by

Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

for a few years and after his release he was enthroned as chief in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garanganze People Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo People from Katanga Province Chieftainships

Mwami Mwenda chieftainship

See also

References