the zambian cities series: kabwe part one — history and identity
the name: kabwe — or kabwe-ka mukuba — means "ore" or "smelting" in the local lenje language. the colonial name was broken hill — named by australian geologist T.G. davey after the broken hill mine in new south wales. renamed in 1966, two years after independence.
the founding: lead and zinc deposits discovered in 1902. the rhodesian broken hill development company formed 1903. the first railway in what would become zambia reached broken hill in 1906. broken hill was the largest mine in the country for approximately thirty years, until the copperbelt copper mines overtook it in the early 1930s. at its peak (1925-1974) it was anglo american's africa's largest lead producer. nearly ninety years of operation, 1906 to 1994.
the kabwe cranium: in 1921, workers discovered a fossilised human skull in a bone cave during excavation. sent to the british museum of natural history, studied by arthur smith woodward, named homo rhodesiensis — the first remains of an extinct human relative found in africa. dated in 2020 to approximately 299,000 years ago. the skull remains at the natural history museum in london. the zambian government has formally requested its return. the cave in which it was found no longer exists — destroyed by the mine's continued operations.
the political birthplace: 26 october 1958. kenneth kaunda and simon mwansa kapwepwe rallied at mulungushi rock, north of kabwe. it was there that UNIP — the united national independence party — was founded. mulungushi rock became known as the "birthplace of zambia's independence."
bwacha house, at number E1376 musuku road in bwacha township, is a national monument: it was here, on 8 march 1958, that kenneth kaunda was elected president of the zambian african national congress.
the birthplace of zambian politics is in kabwe. so is the founding of the independence movement. so is one of the most significant human fossils in the world. a city built on lead and zinc carries a history out of all proportion to its size.
the zambian cities series continues. 🇿🇲🏙
