In our last instalment, we had noted that the emergence of the Malozi kingdom coincided with the break-up of the Vekuhane monarchy. Toward the end of Sipopo's reign in 1876, Munitenge Liswani II, along with most of his followers, fled from his long-time residence at Impalira Island to the Gammangwato polity of modern Botswana.
The Bangwato ruler, Kgosi Khama III, settled the Vekuhane refugees at Tsienyane on the Boteti River near Rakops. At the time Liswani II is said to have feared that Sipopo planned to have him assassinated and replaced by either Chika or Maiba, sons of Liswani I. After Liswani II's flight, his sister Ntolwe remained as a sub-chief at Isuswa. Her son was Mwanamwali succeeded her as the senior Vekuhane ruler in the Malozi kingdom, resettling at Sesheke. Following Liswani II’s flight, competing claims to the position of Munitenge were fuelled by the community's shift from matrilineal to patrilineal descent, which apparently came about due to both internal and external pressure, as well as the emergence of colonial boundaries. Despite Liswani II's suspicions, both Maiba and Chika settled with him at Tsienyane until on or about the time of his death in 1901.
