The Lufuko River (or Lufuku) is a river in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

that empties into

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

beside the village of

Mpala Mpala is the location of an early Catholic mission in the Belgian Congo. A military station was established at Mpala on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in May 1883. It was transferred to the White Fathers missionaries in 1885. At one time it was hop ...

Tanganyika Province Tanganyika () is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Tanganyika, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Lualaba provinces are the result of the splitting up of the former Katanga province ...

(formerly

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

Geography

The Lufuko drains part of the

Marungu highlands The Marungu highlands are in the Tanganyika Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the west of the southern half of Lake Tanganyika. Location The highlands are divided by the Mulobozi River, which flow into the lake just north of M ...

. There have been proposals to conserve the forests above that border the Mulobozi River and Lufuko River into

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

areas.

Theo Kassner Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root ''Theo-'' derive from the Ancient Greek word (), which means God, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, Theophano and The ...

travelled through the region in 1909. He reached the Tanganyika watershed at Mount Giambe. He recorded:

Fish

A species of catfish locally called ''ndjagali'' use the river for spawning from September to November. The fish are considered a delicacy by the people of the region. In the past they were owned and caught communally, and traded with other communities for salt or iron. The people considered that the spirit of the earth, ''Kaomba'', caused them to multiply. The catfish were a major source of food for the villagers, but over-fishing around the end of the nineteenth century significantly reduced the numbers. In the mid-1970s the local villagers still caught the fish in weirs until the rainy season began, when the weirs were destroyed and the fish could pass to breeding areas higher up the river. Captain

Émile Storms Émile Pierre Joseph Storms (2 June 1846 – 12 January 1918) was a Belgian soldier, explorer, and official for the Congo Free State. He is known for his work between 1882 and 1885 in establishing a European presence in the regions around Lake Ta ...

established a station named "Mpala" at the mouth of the Lufuko River in May 1883. The station was established at the village of Lubanda, and was named after the local chief. When missionaries took over the post in 1885 they recognized the beliefs about ''Kaomba'' and identified the sacred parts of the river. For many years they controlled access to the river, using it for their own food or to reward those loyal to them. With technological advances at the start of the twentieth century it became possible to fish the lake far from the shores, and fishing became an individual occupation.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{refend Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Tanganyika Province Tributaries of Lake Tanganyika