Kapanga, an agglomeration and a territory of the province of Lualaba, stronghold of the Lunda Empire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The largest city in the country is today Musumb, with nearly 100,000 inhabitants (in 2007).
Geographical data
The territory of Kapanga is crossed by many rivers.
The territorial boundaries are as follows:
• West: The Kasaï river with the Angolan Republic.
• To the south, it is limited by the territory of SANDOA,
• To the north by the territories of Lwiza (Central Kasai province) and Lwilu (in Lomami province )
• And to the east is the territory of Kaniama in the province of Upper Lomami.
This territory is located in the southern tropical zone, which gives it the existence of two seasons including the dry season and the rainy season. The rainy season runs from September to June.
Particularities and riches of the territory
• The territory of Kapanga has a single chiefdom which extends over the extent of its territory,
• Shares its borders with four provinces, including the province of Kasai Central, Lomami, Haut Lomami, but also the Angolan Republic.
• The absence of a public company,
• The presence of minerals in the subsoil such as gold, copper, diamond, and cobalt but unfortunately unexploited, unfortunately,
• The existence of important rivers for fishing, such as the Kasai River, Lulua, Kaungej, Rushishi, Nkalanyi,
Cultural data
The culture of the Kapanga Territory is tied to only the Lunda Empire. It will be necessary in particular to remember that this culture is abundant and founded with songs, dances, sculpture and fetishes. Christianity and the dominant religion. Catholicism and the methodist are the most spread in the territory. They intervene in several sectors of social life such as education, health, water and electricity. The mission will be recognized Salvatorian of Ntita to have initiated in partnership with the European Union, the electrification project Kapanga by posting a barage hydroelectric river Rushish.
The uruund is the language mainly spoken in the territory to more than 80%, it is the official language of the Lunda Empire and therefore, the Mwant Yav chieftaincy, the only one of which the territory abounds.
Hormi, the French which is the official language of administration, the arrund speak the mixed Kiswahili, the Tshokwe, the linga, the uruund is the symbol of the unity to the chieftaincy, the affiliation to the empire and the sharing of ancestors values. The arrund remain attached to their custom and the customary authority, this attachment would constitute, according to certain sources, a brake to development because the word of the leader is golden and cannot be the subject of any contradiction.
A power considered sacred by the people and thus making a place between God and the people with regard to the rites that accompany the enthronement of the chief to places like Nkalany. It’s people with a sense of power.
The territory of Kapanga is inhabited mainly by the arrund and in the minority by the Tchokwés in the Ntend grouping. The main clans are Ayipak, amalas, amatab, ambac, atulac but also the Kasai and Katanga baluba.
The cultural events in the chieftaincy are investiture of a customary chief, the birth of a child and especially twins, circumcision, marriage, the death especially of a chief or twins. In the Mwant Yav chieftainship, there are places whose visits are forbidden and that according to custom, depending on the customs of a village to another. It is an example of the palace of Mwant Yav, places of excision,
In the territory, there are two matrimonial regimes whose matriarchy gives more importance to the maternal uncles and the patriarchate giving paramount importance to the paternal uncles. A frequent practice is the existence of makoj, which is a catch by breaking the offence of adultery, a woman of others with a man. A deposit is required to author the next state of anger of the married woman, in default of payment, death can ensue. A practice that turns into business for some families in view of the amount required and sharp justice people in the territory.
Languages spoken in this territory
1. The urund (80%) of the total population of Kapanga territory ;
2. Kiswahili (6%) of the inhabitants and for the most part those coming from Lubumbashi;
3. The Tshokwe (4%) of the population, to the north-west of the territory.
Main activities
1. Agriculture: 75% of the population,
2. Livestock : 15% of the inhabitants,
3. Fishing : 3% of the population,
4. Small business: 2% of the population,
5. Services: 1% of inhabitants.
Agriculture is the main activity of the rural population of Kapanga territory, it is linked to two growing seasons following the rain and crop frequencies. The territory has fertile soil and where the production of cassava, peanuts, beans, plantains, amaranth, and squash is easy and possible. By cons, a production linked to artisanal farming practices, lack of crops and large areas of agricultural mechanization not remain bottlenecks for agricultural development and agricultural diversification in the territory of Kapanga.
Despite the plague that razed small ruminants in 2014, a few heads have survived this crisis without mercy, pigs and goats are the most dominant regardless of the precarious conditions of accommodation and supervision, hence the ultimate need of supervision of the breeders of the territory.
In outside of agriculture, Kapanga applies fishing. History tells us that the flagship species were swept away by the 80-day war.
Number of hospitals 2
Number of health centers 42
The territory of Kapanga has two hospitals that are distributed in both zones, these hospitals are:
1. Samuteb in Musumba in Kapanga Health Zone,
2. Nzamb Mupandish in the health zone of Kalamba.
The health sector in the Kapanga territory, like other DRC territories, is administratively divided into health zones. In addition, there is a lack of skilled laboratory and pharmacist, a low number of skilled birth attendants in health facilities, a deficit in sanitary equipment except some endowment in cold rooms of some health centres by UNICEF in 2016.
Beyond that,
Education
Primary and secondary education
Primary schools 169
Secondary schools 90
The territory of Kapanga has two sub-divisions, that of Kapanga and the sub-division of Kalamba. The Kapanga Division has 135 schools of which 84 are primary schools. Of these schools 20 schools do not have latrines, more than 375 classes are built-in straws, 352 classes are made in semi-hard and 109 classes are hard.
In this territory, there is a timid intervention by national and international partners, because the various organizations involved in the school infrastructure financing sector have been able to rehabilitate in the last three years only 3 schools including a school on financing of PRISS.
The actions of the Social Fund of the Republic, the International Rescue Committee with its program of equitable access to education and many others are almost non-existent in the areas of education in Kapanga.
In the secondary schools of this sub-division, the courses organized are general pedagogy, commercial sciences, and medical technology courses.
Education superior and university
universities 0
Higher Institutes 2
In the territory of Kapanga, we currently have two higher institutions after the ministerial decree of the minister of higher and university education of two other university institutions whose conditions of viability were precocious.
The two operational institutions are, inter alia:
1. The Higher Pedagogical Institute ;
2. The Higher Institute of Medical Techniques.
These institutions created by the public authority operate under difficult conditions because they do not have viable libraries, professors or visitors. In addition, there is an absence of buildings that can serve as audiences while, in most cases, local and customary authorities have been able to provide land to these institutions but the construction work; either by private or state initiative, are not felt.
While these institutions have raised the hope of having a qualified and competitive workforce, there is rather a paradox of the level of quality of education they provide in terms of the means at their disposal for their functioning. , the non-mechanization of the administrative staff as a scientist and above all, to invite the visiting professors given the distance to travel and the costs related to their stay.
NGOs and projects
Number of NGOs 123
Main activities
1. Health (10%),
2. Agriculture (50%),
3. Communication and promotion of gender (30%),
4. Savonnerie (5%),
5. Manual Banding (4%).
The extent of NGO activities is very small in Kapanga territory, which slows association activities, local development initiatives and mutualisation within the territory. However, a few national and international structures exist and comfort the distress of the population in the health sector, manual road blocking, communication, soap and agriculture.
This is the ATPM, ADIK, DYFPAD, FOUNDATION, ADEBANK, ADKP, and OSDK. The actions of these organizations being limited to the center of the territory in the city of Musumba, they do not manage to serve all the furthest corners of the territory and yet the need is felt there.
Major development projects financed by the Government
1. PARSS (Health Sector Support Project, Kapanga Health Center in Kapanga );
2. construction of the MUSHIKO school in Pandamwila ;
3. Kambamb Primary School ;
4. ADAPA, ( JOSEPH KABILA KABANGE School of Excellence in Musumba );
5. Hydroelectric Power Plant of Kapanga Electricity.
The central government of the DRC initiates development projects in the area of education and health in the Kapanga territory. Among them is the project to build a modern technical school.
There is also the Kapanga health center funded by PARSS which is a Congolese state agency that supports the health sector.
Major development projects under financing other than Government
The territory of Kapanga currently has some projects under AfDB financing in partnership with the Rural Infrastructure Development Support Project, PADIR in acronym, particularly in the context of the construction of 5 water sources in Kapanga, the rehabilitation of the Pandamwila-Musevu road, and the rehabilitation of the Masanze Manzenz water catchment network with the aim of increasing the start of the Musumba water supply.
Accessibility and tourism
Accessibility of the territory
routes Yes
Routes airlines Yes
Navigable Briefs Yes
Train No
The national road which crosses the territory is of capital importance by the fact that it facilitates the movements of the people and their goods, but unfortunately, its state of very dilapidated decay does not favour commercial transactions and yet, it is the corridor that supplies fuel to the province of Lomami and only central Kasaï where young people on a bike make more than a month of walking to leave the territory of DILOLO in the south of the province of Lualaba and reach Lwilu in Lomami or Lwiza in central Kasai.
And this journey under indescribable suffering ponds of water, sand along the road and endless cuts in the territory of SANDOA as in the territory of Kapanga.
Beyond the roads, there is an airport runway which is a property of the Methodist church and where the interventions of the Congolese state are almost absent, which makes obscure the official control of the movements, the holding of statistics airport operations operating there.
Communication networks
Africel No
Airtel No
Orange No
Tigo No
Vodacom Yes
The territory of Kapanga is watered at its center by the telecommunications company Vadacom which provides its services on the city of Musumba and extends them to Kalamba in the northern part of the territory and also to Musev to the south. But its services remain precarious with disruptions and interruptions of the connection, which does not facilitate the customers to be able to communicate well and to carry out efficiently their activities.
Tourist attractions
Parks No
Botanical gardens No
Zoological garden No
Falls waters Yes
Sites tourist No
Sacred sites No
The Tshikamba reserve is the only domain reserved by the territory’s environment department. It is thus required not to penetrate or to apply hunting. This reserve was created by Ministerial Decree No. 52/34 of 15 April 1954.
However, it should be pointed out that due to the lack of mechanisms for the protection and conservation of this site, it is subject to occupation by citizens who apply the hunting and felling of trees despite the decision of the territory prohibiting hunting, slaughter on this protected reserve.
This reserve extends from SANDOA territory by the Kaungej river to the Kasaï river (from Masend-Moij , ruyemb , Chikamb to Mboko where it ends).
Flagship species of wildlife
1. The hippopotamus,
2. The buffalo,
3. The elephants,
4. The Lions,
5. Crocodiles,
6. The antelopes.
These species are localizable in the grassy and woody savannas of the Kapanga territory; but, according to the authorities, the 80-day war that had linked the territory under the Mobutu fire had killed many of these wild animals, making these species increasingly rare. It was pointed out that even fish have also borne the brunt of this war. This is why the population is currently dependent on the SANDOA territory and the neighbouring country for fish products.
In addition, it remains to be noted that the practice of poaching and bush fire makes elephants and hippopotamuses take refuge in the north of the Angolan Republic and in the south of the Kasaï River.
The protected species :
1. The hippopotamus,
2. Buffaloes,
3. The antelopes,
4. The gazelles,
5. Lions.
Unprotected species
1. Monkeys.
Flagship species of flora
1. Kalenga ,
2. Tshamba ,
3. Pandamwila .
These species can be located in a sawmill site for those who exploit them as these woods are used for processing into commercial logs, and this is authorized by the environment department.
Development opportunities
The Kapanga territory presents enormous development opportunities, for example:
• The presence of natural resources (gold, diamond, cobalt, wood-rich forests),
• Fishing rivers and on which can be built dams,
• An active population and able to work.
Economy of the territory
Data updated on September 29, 2018
Next data collection: November 30th 2018
Basic food products
In this territory, for the period, here are the basic staple foods:
Basic food products %
In this territory, for the period January-March 2016, here are the basic food products:
• Cassava
• But
• Peanut
• Bean
• Banana
Products consumed
Here are the products consumed in this territory for the period:
Products consumed and %
Here are the products consumed in this territory
• Cassava (95%)
• Corn (45%)
• Peanut (40%)
• Amaranth (25%)
• Fish (20%)
Imported commodities
The following basic food products were imported during the period:
Imported products Proportion Origin
The following basic food products were imported during the period January-March 2016 :
products Proportion Origin
Rice (15%) Lubumbashi and Angola
Vegetable oil (14%) Lubumbashi and Angola
Flour of wheat (10%) Lubumbashi and Angola