Locating the Bemba Kinship in 21st Century Zambia: A Historical and Futuristic Perspective

This article emanates from findings of a desktop research conducted to describe the historical and futuristic perspectives of the Bemba kingship. The details of the study were extracted from the data gathered from archives, interviews and literature reviewed on kingship. Findings point to a well-archived, once rock-solid Bemba kingship lineage to a degenerated Bemba kingship one today. Findings have revealed that the causes of the degeneration of the Bemba kingship are in print, electronic and oral tradition domains. Lifestyles interrogated point to a complete breakdown of the extended family system as one of the main reasons of the none-adherence to kingship ties. Other reasons established by the study include dynamics in the political, socio-economic, cultural practices and modernization. The study recommends various familial, community, stakeholder and government initiatives to support and restore the Bemba kingship.