The Tonga, the Kariba Dam, and the Angry God

International Rivers' Africa Program Director Rudo Sanyanga tells a powerful story about the Tonga people of the Zambezi River.
Learn more about our work and the Zambezi at www.internationalrivers.org/no...
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[@charleschirwa4113]

I'm a full blooded Tonga Man and we exist very well here in our mother Land

[@user-sh3tr8cm1v]

Great progress comes with great price

[@givenchobe1977]

The question is without the dam only with their nyamu nyamu god, were they going to be happy nobantu?

[@Malacigla]

"The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error." (Voltaire) Great story, thank you for posting

[@limesquared]

Thank you so much.

[@andysvikiro157]

I once met one Tonga, old man in Zambia who also told me this story. He has some of his relatives on the Zimbabwean side, he says the lake separated them.

[@taitha4680]

I have teenage memories of sneaking onto the wall and then hearing bullhorns, men with guns pointed at us from one side and , over us from the other, so we run away laughing hoping they would not shoot. Pretty dumb thing to do looking back.... But then I was just a boy and they did let us go in the end.

[@tikuhabasonda1953]

Have you ever seen the nyami nyami?

[@mambo5476]

U had the experience,I really would love to hear more.

[@PaulSexton-jc5md]

I helped make a Documentary on Lake Kariba three years ago. Whilst we were filming,l traveled to Siavonga, and met with the Chief of the Tonga in Zambia. We spent the day together,one very interesting question l asked him was, If the Kariba Dam disappeared would you and your People be Happy. His answer was very surprising he said a definite No! he said myself and the Tongas realize the growth and benefits the Dam has brought to both Zambia and Zimbabwe. We most certainly would not want to see the Dam disappear!

[@Akirachnnl]

Andito para sa assignment omcm

[@zeph6439]

Nyami-Nyami forever!

[@natashalungu9621]

Zeph no

[@thomaspritchett3972]

Rhodesian never die

[@Braveheartthelovely]

@@thomaspritchett3972 It’s gone pal.😂 Where have you been hiding.

[@hatinachitiyo1669]

Beautiful told. ❤

[@rosellas4251]

Mio caro padre lavorava sotto la impresa girola tra 50-60 era un grande lavoratore ce altri lavoratori che vogliono racontare e fa vedere foto da questo tempo saluti cari

[@Ava-oc1dg]

I wish I knew why the dam was constructed for power generator?

[@biggiekasemeka5053]

IT is the main source of power in zambia....

[@Magumbo58]

main sourse of power in Zimbabwe too

[@anthonyswart5748]

Families were not separated. They were given a choice of which side of the river / lake they wanted to live.

[@mambo5476]

They were separated,stop been Eurocentric.

[@anthonyswart5748]

@@mambo5476 I assume you were there ??

[@Gordoneu]

Very few facts in this video. What's with the "Men without needs"? The Tonga people did not live in the gorge, they lived a long way upstream of the dam here the valley was wide and habitable. Even today nobody lives in the gorge downstream of the dam.

[@Gordoneu]

@Noah Therriault Something new every day, never heard that before. Thanks.

[@nenyashakaylayolandamlambo585]

You are actually the man without knees coz u come to Africa wearing a trouse covering your knees, 😀😀😀😀😀😀white people u are very clever guys ... U come and change 3verything and take everything

[@dzingaimlambosnr219]

That was u white people😁😁😁😁you came wearing trousers so we couldnt see your knees lol

[@danielcoetzee5793]

@@dzingaimlambosnr219 He he he, they still had knees but you just could not see them....They covered their knees because their knees were no one else's bees-knees....! (PS. I heard they were referring to the locals as the "Three-knees-people".. ...; because they didn't cover their bees-knees and their bees-knees was plain for everyone to see...!)

[@stahmunyuki45]

We have never told you about white men history please allow us to tell our stories and myths as we please !

[@neseed_yt6463]

We study this in school

[@vienzbaldd4338]

Hi nandito ako dahil sa module

[@amobyte2372]

there is one God. Ephesians 4:5

[@N68199]

Uyanya wena that white man you pray to 😅

[@amobyte2372]

@N68199 in any religion, God is not human, His nature is not human. That should mean you cannot allocate any race to Him or skin color.

[@N68199]

Busy believing in a book written by greedy white men 🚮🚮🚮continue praying the gay white man with blue eyes and suffer

[@TactaGhoul]

The Kariba dam and others like it supply 93% of Zambia's power, without hydroelectric dams the whole country would be in the dark. The dam is currently in a state of disrepair, however, since erosion of the foundation has severely weakened it. If the Tonga get their wish and the dam collapses, their land will likely be rendered unusable by the floodwaters and thousands will be killed.

[@Gordoneu]

The development of the plunge pool was expected at time of design as it develops downstream of all spillways of this type, of which there are many. Whilst it is true that no others have required the 'improvement' work as is being carried out at present at Kariba the adjective "disrepair" seems rather harsh for maintenance work being carried out on a structure which has performed its function adequately for 60 years. The same can be said about the work being done on the spillway gates.

[@PaulSexton-jc5md]

I met with the Tonga Chief in Siavonga Zambia, a few years back and asked him whether he and his people would welcome the Dam disappearing. He said a definite No,we appreciate the development that it has bought to Zambia and Zimbabwe.

[@desihalse1946]

did you say 'men without needs or knees came? Whichever, what did you mean?

[@rakefarm]

You heard Correctly. The Europeans where wearing Long Trousers and there knees couldnt be seen, so they were referred to as 'Men without Knees' .

[@desihalse1946]

rakefarm nnh I see...but what about the cultural rule of Batonga that knees should be covered; also that the Italian workers in the great heat wore shorts. Was the comment then referring to the original 'negotiators' who flew in in suits? Wondered too if having knees means one is able to bow and be humble to authority?

[@tondemhuru]

all wyt pple back then were referred by the tame (vasina mabvi) men without knees

[@tendaimpofu9453]

Men wothiut knees is in reference to europeans. Since they always wore triusers no one saw their knees

[@ujayet]

I wonder if the Tonga God sent in the Mami watta because of its disproval of the dam....hmmm that cant be.. the mami watta was around for thousand years.

[@saywhatchelsea1224]

The manupalation on people is on a level of evil.

[@jacqueshughes3085]

Nyam Nyam - those kapenta are mighty tasty.

[@promisendlela2559]

Yes

[@tendayikwaramba2432]

Ooooo tasty kapenta... Tried other versions from Asia etc.. AHHH yak...

[@Huskyzilla]

"One side of the family was on one side of the river, and other sides were on the other side of the river. They had been separated. " There's this thing called a boat... might wanna research what they are.

[@arotogtech]

No principality or power is equal in might to that of God, the Greatest of all. At God's single word of command, all things obey Him, including nyami nyami and the forces of chaos in the water.

[@thomaschiruka9518]

The nyaminyami God did not cause that flood

[@proverbs31woman18]

adjust the title to small letter g "god" there's only one and true God worth of that honour ,the creator of all things the God of Abraham,Isaac&Jacob....l can't believe people carried on the legacy of ancient Egyptians too much idolatry

[@Ganzie2000]

Proverbs 31 woman we don't accept your blue eyed Jesus.

[@emmashamuyarira42]

True that

[@zeph6439]

Any God who is good, cares about global warming and the effects of dams on the environment.

[@zcanine]

Notice how that is a title and all words are capitalized

[@zeph6439]

Yes, it's undeniably true that the symbolism of the people of ancient Kemet carries through into just about all Religions. Take the iconic image of Isis and Horus for example or any of the other pagan Mother and Child imagery, such as that of Athena and Ericthonios or Cybele and Attis and compare it with that of the Christian Mother of God, Mary and the Christ child. The symbols of Aphrodite, Persephone and Mary are the same. Yet the ancient people of Kemet did not have a word for "religion" at all in their hieroglyphic texts. They were not Religious, just deeply spiritual people who lived by the Ideals of Maat, the Goddess of Truth and Right. On that point, you will find that most of the Ten Commandments originate from these ethical ideals.Moses was an initiate of the old Mystery tradition as was Jesus by all accounts. The differences between ancient indigenous spirituality and certain contemporary Religions are mainly that the ancients did not fear death and did not have a concept of an eternal hell of punishment - and that the Divine Feminine (and women by extension) was given equal billing. Nature was very highly venerated and animals were held to be sacred, as is all life. Unfortunately, certain of the old Deities were demonized by the medieval Religious authorities, such as Set, the god of the natural night and the desert, who was made to be the Biblical Satan. Later on in Europe, the Divine Feminine was cast as the Queen of Demons and Her devotees as "evil witches" in league with the Devil. Evidently these false stereotypes still exist and some misguided folk still reinforce these stereotypes. Truth is that no indigenous people of the world knew about a Devil or a demonic host. They had better things to do with their lifetimes, such as setting a good precedent for the next.

[@user-hs2cj8yv6r]

The Tonga and Subia people are cousins

[@zodwancube3874]

She doesn't Know what she's Talking about cause Tonga people are still breathing in Motherland Kwathwakazi

[@N68199]

I’m Tonga I’m still alive ❤

[@tripodxxx1]

I am tonga I don't belong to mthwakazi or shonaland. We are unique in our own way. I live in Kariba and we are a lot here. Probably more than those in your so called mthwakazi. Its unfortunate that Kariba is under mashonaland west. We don't belong to neither shona or ndebeles..this should be renamed tongaland

[@thomaspritchett3972]

WE'LL KEEP THEM NORTHERN ZIMBABWEANS TILL THE RIVER RUN EM DRY FOR THE RHODESIAN NEVER DIE

[@tvs9978]

Very soon you'll all be gone and good riddance

[@Braveheartthelovely]

😅 It’s gone. 😂

[@user-bp6qo8gw6w]

Aparantly, the Kariba wall is structurally flawed and indeed moves about 1 inch annually. The Italian architect designed 3 dam walls in his life and committed suicide after one catastrophically failed. I have read that Kariba, too, will collapse one day. Due to its inherent instability. Knowing ZANU-PF I'm sure that they are well ahead in dealing with this! Haha! So the Tonga Gods will prevail. Nobody mentioned any specific time line. Don't forget Ecclesiasties: all man's efforts are in vain.

[@biggiekasemeka5053]

hahahaah which happy ever after, are you saying since 1960's those people are still in need of that undeveloped land?. that dam collapse the nation (Zambia) will suffer for decades

[@tafimadzi9118]

The problem with the story, my sister, is that you are saying that these kneeless people prevailed over the Tonga Gods just by increasing the height of the wall?!?! Surely that was foreseable by those gods. Not so? Then you are saying that the Gods ran out of options, and resorted to shaking the tectonic plate once in a while, but ever so gently as not to crack the dam wall. Dont we need a new story?

[@nikanaughty]

Imagine how that dam improved life in Zimbabwe. The jobs it created. Well worth having the Tonga people move. The number of people who died building the dam is nothing compared to the number of people the ZANU PF government of Zimbabwe starves to death every year.

[@famousmwansa1073]

Don't even use a capital G cause it represents a real God.

[@flavorflav6629]

Rubbish

[@mablemasuzyochibuye6353]

Liar.

[@muchachandra3938]

Primitive stories without attraction. Wena, Tell us something that can put your country on top of the recognized countries not naming 'people without knees'

[@kattieNcube]

What did I just watch 😭 I wasted 3 minutes of my life

[@rabeccatembo7327]

It seems like a fake story but once you visit the place you will believe.

[@jennybanks5988]

Thank you for saving my data and time 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉was about to watch it before I saw your comment kudos to you ❤❤

[@jean-pierrefourie1120]

Biggest load of rubbish ever propagated about Kariba. Get your facts correct if you want to intertwine it in a fantasy story.

[@micaiahnjanje6991]

Thts a blatant lie

[@washiemakuwe400]

Thanks teacher, but you are a very poor story teller very boring could easily get a U+, I rest my case.

[@user-wf7xx4el4o]

Sorry complete Mythical superstition

[@thomaschiruka9518]

The nyaminyami God did not cause that flood

[@nigel5634]

thomas chiruka nyaminyami is a demon

[@muchachandra3938]

Nyami Nyami is a deamon the from gods of lucifer. Put yourselves in that position

[@wesleywhata1482]

Rubbish