Case of the Bembas' Beer

In the bustling copper town of Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, the. High Court deliberated the fate of two native Africans, Joseph Mubanga and Fitaliano Sakeni. They were members of the Bemba tribe and converts to Roman Catholicism. Their crime: acting on orders of Catholic priests, they had persuaded other Catholic Bembas not to contribute grain to the local Bemba chief. Fined by a native court, they had taken their case to the Bemba court of appeal, which increased their fines. The district commissioner's court upheld the conviction. The two dissatisfied Bembas had finally appealed to the Northern Rhodesia High Court. Behind the seemingly minor and local case was a problem that might affect the religious future of large parts of Africa.

The Issue. By age-old tradition the Bembas had been required to offer their chiefs small amounts of grain to be made into a kind of beer for use in tribal ceremonies honoring the spirits of the chief's ancestors. This custom was an essential part of the tribe's pagan religion, and when the two Catholic Bembas urged defiance of it--following their consciences and the guidance of their white priests--their purpose was to combat paganism.

In court, the Bembas had massive support. To plead their case, topflight Barrister Charles Russell, Q.C., carefully briefed by Catholic churchmen, had flown in from London. Listening intently in the tiny courtroom was Catholic Bishop Francis Mazzieri of Ndola, and packed beside him were clergymen of many denominations. All the Christian missionaries in the territory knew what might be at stake. There are only about 9,000 white missionaries in Africa (pop. 233,775,000). This means that native converts must carry the main burden of spreading Christianity, and they cannot function effectively if native courts can punish them for giving religious advice to other natives.

The Future. British officials were not necessarily on the side of the missionaries; colonial administrators like to preserve native institutions in order to govern through them. But virtually all missionaries in Africa, Catholic or Protestant, agreed with London's Catholic Tablet that 1) Christianity should have the same freedom of action in Rhodesia that all religions have in England; 2) in religious matters, native missionaries should be as immune from tribal laws as white missionaries.

As decided, the case did not establish the far-reaching precedent that the clergy wanted. Barrister Russell took the cautious line that the two Bembas had really done nothing to offend native law because, he showed, in modern Rhodesia the grain tribute is no longer really considered essential. If an individual's refusal to contribute was no longer an offense, then persuading others to refuse could not be an offense. The court agreed, rescinded the fines. But it did not decide what will happen if priests in future advise their converts to defy recognized and living native laws.

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