What is "nyemba"

Nyemba, Nyembas, or Vanyemba is what the Kavango people of northern Namibia call immigrants who fled from Angola during the Angolan Civil War.

The Namibian term "nyemba" also refers to a dialect of the Angolan language Ngangela, which is further divided into dialects like Lutjazi, Nyemba, and Mbwela, to name a few. It does not include Yauma, Nkangala and Ndundu which are Mbunda dialects that are not part of the so-called Ngangela.

Ngangela is a generic term for peoples east of the Central Highlands, but in a narrow sense is used specifically for Nyemba. As a consequence of the Angolan War of Independence (1961–1974) and the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), a number of Mbunda took refuge in Zambia and in the Kavango region of Northern Namibia, in the west and east of Kavango Region, around Rundu and Nkurenkuru and Caprivi Strip. Many other Angolans (often also referred to as Nyemba) also immigrated to traditional Kavango territory, during the Angolan Civil War.