DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70004#0087
85
Copperbelt and were subsequently suppressed by the prohibition of their liter-
ature and meetings and by the destruction of several of their churches (QUICK
1940). Nevertheless, the movement grew considerably during the years that
followed. That only a few small African independent churches had been estab-
lished in Northern Rhodesia by 1950 is due mainly to the absorption by the
Jehovah’s Witnesses of the majority of the potential.
Conflicts between the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Government did not end
with Independence. On the contrary, between 1967 and 1969 there were clashes
with members of the leading political party, UNIP, as the Witnesses refused
to accept the new flag, to sing the National Anthem, to become party mem-
bers or to vote in elections. The party, however, attached great importance
to these symbols of the newly-won independence. As a result the few Eu-
ropean missionaries were expelled and there were riots in which 45 churches
and hundreds of houses were burnt and at least 12 Witnesses killed. In many
areas the children of the “Watchtower” people were banned from schools, so
the church began its own educational programme. In all the states of eastern
and central Africa where the Jehovah’s Witnesses played a large role, similar
events took place and they were either forbidden from carrying out their activ-
ities, or strongly restricted and controlled. Most serious was the persecution
in neighbouring and more authoritarian-ruled Malawi in 1971 - 72 from where
20,000 Witnesses fled into Mozambique and Zambia, and hundreds were killed
(CROSS 1978, 305 - 311). It is thought that a further 5,000 were imprisoned.
Despite repression in Zambia (although the denomination is not forbidden),
the church has continued to grow. It is, however, difficult to obtain informa-
tion as to the exact strength and organisation of the church21. It has operated
since 1968 without any foreign personnel. The approximately 1200 local so-
cieties are divided into 50 circuits served by full-time superintendents. In
Fig. 33, which shows the spatial distribution of the church, no particular area
stands out, although the traditional strongholds, the Luapula Valley, Serenje
and Mkushi Districts, show slightly denser concentrations. The southern part
of Eastern Province also has a large number of Jehovah’s Witnesses societies
yet one must take into account the generally high population density of this
area. The percentage of Witnesses in the population of Southern Province is
clearly less than elsewhere, due to the competing activities of several other
denominations in this area, giving the Witnesses only limited opportunity to
establish themselves. It is for this reason that the “Watchtower” is not pub-
lished in Tonga, one of Zambia’s four main languages. EPSTEIN (1986) points
out that both the Watchtower movement before the Second World War and
the “proper” Jehovah’s Witnesses organization after the War which he dis-
tinguishes as two strands mainly spread among those ethnic groups like the
Lenje, Lamba, Kaonde and Lala in the centre of the country which had not de-
Copperbelt and were subsequently suppressed by the prohibition of their liter-
ature and meetings and by the destruction of several of their churches (QUICK
1940). Nevertheless, the movement grew considerably during the years that
followed. That only a few small African independent churches had been estab-
lished in Northern Rhodesia by 1950 is due mainly to the absorption by the
Jehovah’s Witnesses of the majority of the potential.
Conflicts between the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Government did not end
with Independence. On the contrary, between 1967 and 1969 there were clashes
with members of the leading political party, UNIP, as the Witnesses refused
to accept the new flag, to sing the National Anthem, to become party mem-
bers or to vote in elections. The party, however, attached great importance
to these symbols of the newly-won independence. As a result the few Eu-
ropean missionaries were expelled and there were riots in which 45 churches
and hundreds of houses were burnt and at least 12 Witnesses killed. In many
areas the children of the “Watchtower” people were banned from schools, so
the church began its own educational programme. In all the states of eastern
and central Africa where the Jehovah’s Witnesses played a large role, similar
events took place and they were either forbidden from carrying out their activ-
ities, or strongly restricted and controlled. Most serious was the persecution
in neighbouring and more authoritarian-ruled Malawi in 1971 - 72 from where
20,000 Witnesses fled into Mozambique and Zambia, and hundreds were killed
(CROSS 1978, 305 - 311). It is thought that a further 5,000 were imprisoned.
Despite repression in Zambia (although the denomination is not forbidden),
the church has continued to grow. It is, however, difficult to obtain informa-
tion as to the exact strength and organisation of the church21. It has operated
since 1968 without any foreign personnel. The approximately 1200 local so-
cieties are divided into 50 circuits served by full-time superintendents. In
Fig. 33, which shows the spatial distribution of the church, no particular area
stands out, although the traditional strongholds, the Luapula Valley, Serenje
and Mkushi Districts, show slightly denser concentrations. The southern part
of Eastern Province also has a large number of Jehovah’s Witnesses societies
yet one must take into account the generally high population density of this
area. The percentage of Witnesses in the population of Southern Province is
clearly less than elsewhere, due to the competing activities of several other
denominations in this area, giving the Witnesses only limited opportunity to
establish themselves. It is for this reason that the “Watchtower” is not pub-
lished in Tonga, one of Zambia’s four main languages. EPSTEIN (1986) points
out that both the Watchtower movement before the Second World War and
the “proper” Jehovah’s Witnesses organization after the War which he dis-
tinguishes as two strands mainly spread among those ethnic groups like the
Lenje, Lamba, Kaonde and Lala in the centre of the country which had not de-