The annual Lwiindi Gonde ceremony of the Tonga people of Southern Province has been put off this year on account of incarcerated patron Hakainde Hichilema.
Senior Chief Monze has informed his subjects that the ceremony cannot go on as according to him "half the country is in mourning".
The traditional leader said that the ceremony was celebratory in nature therefore could not go ahead in the absence of its patron who is facing treason charges and has been in incarceration for over three months.
Lwiindi is an annual festival of the Tonga people of southern Zambia. It is a thanksgiving ceremony which attracts people from around the country. It takes place at a Place called Gonde, near Chief Monze's place in Monze District.
The dates for this ceremony are normally, the first weekend of July during the country's Heroes and Unity holidays.
