Kete Bible Translation Project
Overview
The Kete Bible Translation Project (abbreviation: KBT) is a scripture portions publication containing the Gospels of Mark and Luke in the Kete language (Kikete) of the Democratic Republic of Congo, published by The Word for the World International and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 4467). The project represents the first Gospel translations available to the Kete community in their heart language; no New Testament or full Bible has been published for Kete. The principal academic grammar of the language is Esquisse de grammaire Kete by Kamba Muzenga (1980).
Language and People
Kete (ISO 639-3: kcv; autonym: Kikete or Cikete) is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family, classified by the Guthrie system as L.21 — placing it in the L.20 (Songe) subgroup of Zone L, alongside Binji (L.22) and Songe, within the broader Luba-language zone. Its genealogy runs: Niger-Congo → Atlantic-Congo → Benue-Congo → Bantoid → Bantu → Zone L (Luban/Luba group).
Kete is spoken in south-central DRC, in what were formerly the Kasai-Occidental and Kasai-Oriental provinces — now reorganized as Kasaï-Central and Kasaï Province following the 2015 provincial reorganization. Two geographically distinct Kete communities exist: Kete Nord (northwest of Luebo Territory) and Kete Sud (Dibaya Territory, Tshishilu sector; Luiza Territory, Bambayi, Bushimayi, and Kalunga sectors, now in Kasaï-Central Province). Six dialects are documented: Dibaya, Kete, Kete-Kuba, Kete-Lulua, Nor, and Sud.
Estimated speakers: approximately 18,000 (Joshua Project, 2025). The language is predominantly used by Roman Catholics, with Evangelicals estimated at 2–10% of the population.
Historical and Cultural Context
The Kete are one of the constituent peoples of the Kuba Kingdom, the remarkable federation that flourished from approximately 1625 through the 19th century in the region bounded by the Sankuru, Lulua, and Kasai rivers. The Kuba confederation was founded when the legendary king Shyaam a-Mbul a Ngoong unified multiple chiefdoms including the Bushoong, Ngeende, Kete, Coofa, and Leele peoples under a shared political and artistic tradition. The Kuba Kingdom became renowned in ethnographic literature for its elaborate raffia textiles, carved wooden cups, and a distinctive corpus of masks and figural sculpture.
Kete traditional material culture is distinguished by carved masks with characteristic features: large white-painted eye spaces, coffee-bean eyes under a domed forehead, a pointed chin, and a protruding mouth. Mask types include helmet forms with cone-shaped projecting eyes and geometric patterns, and Ngita funerary masks with rear-projecting horns and semicircular eyes — used in circumcision ceremonies, society initiations, and healing rituals.
Politically, the Kete maintain alliances with the Lwalwa, Mbagani, and Salampasu peoples of the Kasai region. They are subsistence farmers organized into small chiefdoms.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by The Word for the World International (WFTW), an international Bible translation organization with a national partner, The Word for the World DRC. WFTW has produced four DRC scripture projects: Taabwa (NT, 2006), Benamanga (NT), Holoholo (portions), and Kete (portions). Their broader Africa programme spans seven countries including DRC, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.