Luapula Province Border Dispute - Origins in The 1894 Treaty

Origins in The 1894 Treaty

Zambia's formal northern frontier boundary was legally signed in the Anglo-Belgian Treaty of 1894, long after the 1884 Berlin Conference. This showed that the triangle of land at the northwestern point of Eastern Rhodesia from Pweto to as far south as the Lunchinda River was under Northern Rhodesia even though the Belgian Congo had administered it for many years. Belgians administered it as a matter of local convenience under a gentleman’s agreement. Much of this administration was facilitated by the Belgium missionary work in education and health, particularly the Roman Catholic Church and Greek fishermen who wanted more fishing points to supply the reported increase in demand for fish in the emerging mine town of Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi). Later, the Belgians wanted to claim this land. Over the years, during British colonial rule, District Commissioners and Provincial Commissioners were asked to provide information on the affected areas by central government authorities in Lusaka.

The real border issue for the Northern Frontier was reported to be on Lake Tanganyika's Cape Akalunga, mentioned in the treaty and described as the point of reference. In reality, officials had found it difficult to locate this cape. British maps show the boundary meeting at Cape Pungu (Chitankwa) whilst Belgian maps of 1955 show the meeting point at Cape Kipimbi which is far south of Cape Pungu, thereby cutting deep into assumed Northern Rhodesian territory.

During the time of the Central African Federation, the Northern-Rhodesian Federal government’s Assistant Secretary Fraser, believed that there may be mineral deposits in Pweto area and therefore all the more need for the Federal Government to protect sovereignty. Weedens Minerals & Chartered Exploration held prospecting rights in that area. These have never been challenged. There is documentation that in 1936, Belgians had asked for 180 acres (730,000 m²) of Northern Rhodesian land apparently where Belgian colonial residences were built. However, no evidence exists that Britain conceded to this request. In 1957, A V Ellison, an official in the Ministry of Lands & Local Government reported to the Federal government of Northern Rhodesia that triangulation surveys had been made by the Anglo-Belgian Boundary Commission from 1911–1913, when eventually a de facto boundary for the northern frontier was agreed upon. That boundary clearly indicates that Pweto was the northwestern point of reference for the northern frontier.