Nakonde District
| Nakonde District | |
|---|---|
| District | |
 District location in Zambia |
|
| Country |
 Zambia
|
| Province | Muchinga Province |
| Capital | Nakonde |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 75,135 |
| Time zone | CAT (UTC+2) |
Nakonde District is a district of Zambia, located in Muchinga Province. The capital lies at Nakonde. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 75,135 people.
Nakonde is one of Zambia's major border post towns in the Northern province (second to Chirundu on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border) in terms of being busy) with high traffic of business taking place. It lies on the border with Tanzania. It is about 1000 km north of Lusaka the capital city. At least twenty bus coaches travel from Lusaka and the Copperbelt every day to Nakonde taking traders who go to buy various items from clothes, building materials to ordering cars from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Travellers can also travel by rail using the Tazara trains from Kapiri Mposhi in Central Zambia. The trains go right up to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Nakonde also has tourist attractions with the legendary Ngoni King Zwangedaba buried 35 km away from the town Centre. The major languages spoken in Nakonde are Chinamwanga and Chibemba. Kiswahili is also spoken by the locals due to interaction with neighbouring Tanzania. Nakonde is a growing town with a lot of potential. New infrastructure such as Government offices have been built in recent years as well as new guest houses and lodges and eating places to cater for the many travellers into the town.
Getting to Nakonde
Buses from Lusaka Inter-City Bus Station to Nakonde leave at 16 00 hours and reaches Nakonde at 07 00 hours. There are about eight (8) buses that leave Lusaka for Nakonde daily. The buses pass though the following towns: Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Mukushi, Serenje, Mpika, Chinsali and Isoka.
About Nakonde
Nakonde is still a village under Chieftainess Nawaitika except for a small portion of land which is under the council. Hence it is common in Nakonde to see huts within the town centre. If you want to buy land in Nakonde, you go through the chieftainess, who will then allocate you land and give you documents to take to the council for processing.
Life in Nakonde
The town is very active, among Zambia’s busiest border towns. Life in this small town starts at about 04 00 when buses from the Copperbelt, Lusaka, Kenya via Tanzania begin to arrive bringing mostly traders. Nakonde is full of cheap goods such as clothes, shoes, hand-bags, watches, cell-phones, electronics and foodstuffs like potatoes and beans.
History of the Namwanga people of Nakonde
The Namwanga people of Nakonde District are believed to have come from North East Africa together with the Tonga/Ila people of Southern province at about 900 BC. Hence some similarities in names between the Tonga’s and Namwanga’s such as Siame in Namwanga and Sianjunza in Tonga. Their lifestyle was a fugal system or nomadic life, meaning that they had no permanent residence. As they come down, some of the Namwanga’s decided to settle in Tanganyila now called Tanzania while others proceeded to Northern Rhodesia now Zambia. In Tanzania, they spread to places like Mbeya, while those in Zambia settled in Mwenzo area western part of Nakonde District, some parts of Chinsali, Kasama and Mbala. The Tonga’s however proceeded to Southern Zambia.
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