According to oral traditions recorded by Ntara, Kalonga began to expand his area of influence before he arrived at Mankhamba. He did this perhaps to prevent other senior members of the ruling family from unilaterally breaking away from him. Two of them, Kaphwiti and Lundu, had done so already.

Kalonga's strategy for expansion was to send out some of his sons and other relatives to various places far away from him to establish new settlements. The oral traditions suggest that he started doing this when he was at Mawere a Nyangu. Among those he sent out were Changamire and Chulu, of the Phiri clan, and possibly Mkanda of the Mbewe clan. Kalonga also let go certain able individuals who requested his permission to venture out on their own, as was the case regarding Mkadzula of the Mwale clan. These leaders became territorial chiefs with the title of Mwini Dziko, (owner of the land) whom Kalonga dispatched with pomp and ceremony. He gave each one emblems of office, which included a flywhisk, a sword or knife, and an iron stool. Once he had established himself firmly at Mankhamba, Kalonga called for a meeting of his elders to allocate land to various individuals. He appointed one of his elders called Chembe to be in charge of land allocation, and Chembe in turn delegated the work to Mgawi, his younger brother. Mgawi instructed those to whom he had given land to divide the land and allocate it to others. This created many lesser chiefs who, together with territorial chiefs, regularly sent ivory and part of the initiation ceremony fees to Kalonga as a tribute.

Kaphwiti and Lundu

Kaphwiti and Lundu were relatives. Kaphwiti was either Lundu's elder brother or uncle. The two broke away from Kalonga and went elsewhere to establish their own settlement. Oral traditions have given various reasons for their departure. Some traditions say that they left because there was either some dispute between them and Kalonga over the practice of evil magic and the administration of mwavi, or there was some dissatisfaction with the choice of leadership after Kalonga's death. Mwavi is a poisonous drink extracted from the bark of the Mwavi tree (Erythrophleum suaveolens), also known as the ordeal tree, which was administered in order to find culprits in disputes involving witchcraft, theft or adultery.