Bunkeya
![](/Images/godic/202501/02/Stairs_Expedition_Map_lo-res5315.jpg")
![Msiri's boma (compound) at Bunkeya. The objects on top of the four poles, below which some of Msiri's warriors are gathered, are heads of his enemies. More skulls are on the stakes forming the stockade.](/Images/godic/202501/02/Msiris_compound5315.jpg")
![Arkaris and porters of the 1891-2 Stairs Expedition](/Images/godic/202501/02/Stairs_caravan5315.jpg")
Bunkeya is a community in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on a huge plain near the Lufira River. Before the Belgian colonial conquest, Bunkeya was the center of a major trading state under the despotic ruler Msiri.