Copperbelt employment contracted and national problems had an effect. However, the construction in the late sixties of the 'Zambia Way', a road connecting Mansa to Nchelenge-Kashikishi through Mwansabombwe, and its surfacing and linking to Kawambwa, Samfya and Serenje over the next two decades, has funnelled trade through Mwansabombwe, the population of which has risen to around 50,000. The Mwata Kazembe chieftainship has endured and though originating in war and being surrounded by countries that have experienced much conflict, it has presided over peace on the eastern shores of the Luapula and Lake Mweru for more than a century. Mutomboko Festival In the last two decades the Mwata Kazembe chieftainship has experienced something of a cultural if not an administrative or economic resurgence, through the Mutomboko Festival, now the second largest of its kind in Zambia and a model for the strengthening of indigenous culture. It is held at the end of July and may attract 20,000 visitors, including the president of Zambia. Drawing on previous ceremonies and traditions, it was started in its present form in 1971 to mark the tenth anniversary of the instalment of Mwata Kazembe XVII Paul Kanyembo Lutaba (whose photograph appears at the top of the page). It includes dances symbolising the migration of the Luba-Lunda and the conquest of the Luapula valley by the first chiefs. See also Luapula River Alfred Sharpe David Livingstone Mwansabombwe Lunda Kingdom Luba Kingdom Bemba people References and further reading History of Zambia Zambian culture Traditional rulers in Zambia Former countries in Africa