Maravi

Sandwe royal family seeks govt’s intervention in chieftaincy wrangle

Sandwe royal family seeks govt’s intervention in chieftaincy wrangle
Written by Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sunday, July 05, 2009 4:21:41 PM

THE Sandwe royal family in Petauke district has appealed to the government to order former chief Sandwe, Shadreck Malamula Zulu, to stop masquerading as chief.
But Eastern Province permanent secretary Eularia Syamujaye said the government cannot do anything on the matter saying it is only waiting for the royal family to present the rightful chief for recognition.

In an interview, Javan Ngulube who claims is the rightful heir to the Sandwe throne, said Zulu was still masquerading as chief even after the report of the House of Chiefs showed that he was not supposed to be chief.

Ngulube who calls himself chief Sandwe (8) Nyayokwe (111) said Zulu’s act might disturb peace in the area.

“I have already started performing as chief and I'm at Sichilima village but Zulu does not accept and he just wants to bring confusion in the area now we are worried because we are not going to continue tolerating him. You know it’s not a good thing to take each other to police or to drag each other to court. Our appeal is that government through the Ministry of Local Government should write to him so that he could stop masquerading as chief,” Ngulube said.

He said it was sad that Zulu presented himself as chief Sandwe during the installation of chief Nyamphande when he was not invited.

Ngulube alleged that at the moment, Zulu used an illegal date stump because the government withdrew a retainer, flag and a date stamp.

He said Zulu sent his sister and a group of people to disturb his meeting at Sichilima village where he wanted to explain to the people what was contained in the House of Chiefs report on the findings of its tour of Petauke.

Ngulube said the biggest problem at the moment was that the Tumvi, a person who was supposed to crown him as Chief and introduce him to senior chief Kalindawalo and later to government for recognition, was refusing to perform his role.

“This man is refusing even if the royal family has chosen me but he is saying he does not recognise me, his preferred chief is Zulu, the former chief,” claimed Ngulube.

But Syamujaye said the government was only waiting for the Sandwe royal family to introduce the rightful man who was supposed to be chief.

She said at the moment, the government took it that there is no chief in the chiefdom.

“At the moment we have no mandate to say or do anything. They should sit down as a family and choose a person who will be introduced to government. There is no line of communication between those people and us now and again he can’t talk to us through The Post, our offices are open to anybody,” said Syamujaye.

Among the main contenders for the Sandwe throne are Shadreck Malamula Zulu, Javan Ngulube and Love Mulimba.

Labels: CHIEF SANDWE, CHIEFS, EULARIA SYAMUJAYE, PETAUKE, SHADRECK MALAMULA ZULU

posted by MrK @ 3:23 PM