SUMMARY
The Bena Nkoma were one of the tribal communities within the Bakwa Luntu branch of the Luba (Baluba) ethnic group of the Kasai region. They resided in Dimbelenge territory of Kasaï-Central province, particularly in the Lubi sector, where they formed part of a wider cluster of Bakwa Luntu communities with long-standing customary claims to land and local authority. Like other Baluba groups, the Bena Nkoma traced their origins to the broader Luba cultural and political sphere but developed a distinct local identity linked to their specific village territories, kinship networks and customary institutions.
The Bena Nkoma were primarily agriculturalists. Households relied on small-scale farming of cassava, maize, groundnuts and other staples, with production largely geared towards subsistence, occasionally supplemented by petty trade or seasonal labour. Customary control over fields and village land was therefore central to community life and to relations with neighbouring groups. Disputes over access to farmland, boundaries between groupements and use rights in fertile areas of the Lubi sector were recurring sources of tension, especially where demographic growth and economic hardship increased pressure on available land.
Traditional authority among the Bena Nkoma was vested in a customary chief (chef coutumier) and associated lineage elders, who oversaw land allocation, mediated intra- and inter-communal disputes and represented the community vis-à-vis territorial and provincial authorities. These leaders also played a central role in negotiating with neighbouring groupements, including Basonge-linked communities, in efforts to manage or resolve land and chieftaincy conflicts. The Bena Nkoma spoke Tshiluba, a Bantu language common among Luba groups in the Kasai region, and religious life combined elements of Luba customary beliefs with Christianity; both Catholic and Protestant churches were influential in the area and interacted closely with customary structures.
In recent years, the Bena Nkoma were involved in recurrent land disputes with neighbouring communities such as the Basonge in Dimbelenge territory. These conflicts, centred on agricultural fields and customary boundaries, at times escalated into inter-communal violence, with youth from both sides mobilised in confrontations that involved house burnings, attacks on villagers and displacement.
