Nyemba

Nyemba/ Nyembas or Vanyemba is a label applied by the Kavango people of northern Namibia to the immigrants from Angola fleeing the Angolan Civil War.

The Namibian term "nyemba" refers to a dialect of the Angolan language Ngangela/Nguangela, which is further divided into dialects like Lutjazi, Ciyauma (pronounced chi-ya-wu-ma), Nyemba, and Mbwela, to name a few.

Ngangela also refers to the eponymous ethnic group originally from the central southern part of Angola. When the war started many Ngangela sought refuge in Zambia and South West Africa (now Namibia), where they are called "Nyemba" by the local population.^[1] The term nyemba in the Kavango Region is used to collectively refer to the Ngangela people.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Inge Brinkman, "Violence, Exile and Ethnicity: Nyemba Refugees in Kaisosi and Kehemu (Rundu, Namibia)," Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Sep., 1999), pp. 417-439. JSTOR