AFRICAN QUEENS Part1

                      Queen Lenshina's “A spiritual rebel”

Born in 1920 in Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Alice Mulenga was subsequently known as Lenshina in Bemba (meaning queen or Regina). A self-declared prophetess, Lenshina led thousands of people in her violent ways and would ultimately be dubbed a rebel.

  

It was thought that Lenshina became a prophetess in 1953 after contracting malaria and spending an indeterminate amount of time in a coma. Upon regaining consciousness, Lenshina claimed to have met Jesus and that he instructed her to teach the Africans a new form of worship. She later founded the Lumpa church in 1955–1958. Because of her church's opposition to witchcraft, it quickly gained more followers than both the Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland.

 
Because it was unheard of for a woman to lead at that time, especially spiritual leadership, her large following became a threat to other churches. She also posed a threat to male spiritual leaders and to the then-elect president Kenneth Kaunda, who was terrified of the influence she had over the people of Chinsali and other provinces across the nation.

Because Lenshina was awake and disinterested in the colonial relationships that Kenneth Kaunda was involved in, the two of them disagreed, fought, and argued. Lenshina was well aware of her enemies and was not the silent one. She openly spoke against Kenneth Kaunda's choice to run the country in a manner similar to colonial rule, against Western ways of governing, including their ways of worshiping God. 

When Kenneth Kaunda's ruling party attached Lenshina's members, burning their houses and eventually killing them, their battle turned violent and bloody. However, Lenshina retaliated against Kenneth Kaunda by carrying out the same act, burning his party members' houses and killing just as many people.

She would later be taken into custody and, in my opinion, assassinated in prison in 1978. Despite her passing, her church has continued to thrive and is still active throughout Zambia today. Despite living in a difficult time when women were marginalized in all spheres of society, Lenshina was a real queen of spirituality and bravery.


A genuine queen, Lenshina was born in Zambia.