Panos Report: Tales of Resettlement - Kariba Dam and the Tonga

 In the late 1950s, the Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe were subject to forced removal on a massive scale, to make way for the construction of a huge hydro-electric dam across the Zambezi River in Southern Africa. The Kariba Dam was the largest man-made dam in the world at that time. It was a powerful symbol for technological achievement and international cooperation. However, little attention was paid to the implications for the 57,000 Tonga who had to leave behind their homes and fertile land along the banks of the Zambezi, according to this Panos report, which was compiled with help also from Tonga.Online project Binga and Kunzwana Trust, Harare.

Read more in the Panos Report and below: 

http://www.panos.org.uk/files/ot_rst_kar_eng.pdf  

This booklet was compiled and written by Elisabeth Thomson, then curator of the BaTonga Museum, Binga, Zimbabwe, and Olivia Bennett of the Panos Oral Testimony Programme (OTP), with help from Mercy Khozi, Duncan Millar and Siobhan Warrington. David Mainza produced the Ci-Tonga version. Editing was undertaken by Sebastian Mainza, who edited the Ci-Tonga version, and Prof. Fackson Banda, Simon Mulumbi and Maambo Malawo of Panos Southern Africa who efficiently edited the final copy, coordinated Ci-Tonga translations and supervised the printing process.
The project was funded primarily by the Department for International Development UK, with additional support from NORAD and with help from the BaTonga Museum, Binga, and Kunzwana Trust, Harare. Mercy Khozi and Penny Yon – then Tonga.Online Coordinator in Binga - coordinated the interviewing teams in Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively.