Nyaminyami: Legend of the River God

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The Tonga people, the BaTonga, lived in the Zambezi Valley for centuries in peaceful seclusion and with little contact with the outside world. Simple folk, they built their houses in kraals along the banks of the great river and believed that their gods looked after them; supplying them with water and food.

In the early 1940s a report was made about the possibility of a hydro-electric scheme to supply power for the growing industry that colonialism had brought to the country and in 1950 the Kariba Dam project was started.

Heavy earth-moving equipment tore out thousands of hundred-year-old trees to build roads and settlements to house the workers who came to build the dam. The BaTonga’s peace and solitude was shattered. They were told to leave their homes and move away from the river to avoid the flood that the dam would cause.

Reluctantly they allowed themselves to be resettled higher up the bank. They believed that Nyaminyami, the river god, would never allow the dam to be built and eventually, when the project failed, they would move back to their homes.

In 1957 Nyaminyami struck. The worst floods ever known on the Zambezi washed away most of the partly-built dam and the heavy equipment, killing many of the workers.

Some of those killed were white men whose bodies disappeared mysteriously. The Tonga elders were asked to assist after an extensive search failed to find them. The elders explained that Nyaminyami had caused the disaster and in order to appease his wrath a sacrifice should be made.

The search party agreed because relatives of the missing workers were due to arrive to claim their bodies. A white calf was slaughtered and floated on the river. The next morning the calf was gone and the workers’ bodies were in its place. The disappearance of the calf holds no mystery in the crocodile infested river, but the reappearance of the workers’ bodies has never been satisfactorily explained.

The Tonga people waited for the final blow that would send the intruders scurrying back to wherever they came from. It very nearly happened; the next rainy season brought further floods nearly as bad as the previous year. However, the project survived and the river was eventually controlled. In 1960 the generators were switched on and have been supplying electricity to Zimbabwe and Zambia ever since.

The Tonga people still live on the shores of Lake Kariba. Many of them believe that one day Nyaminyami will fulfil his promise and they will be able to return to their homes on the bank of the river. They believe that Nyaminyami and his wife were separated by the wall across the river and the frequent earth tremors felt in the area since the wall was built are caused by the spirits.