Lhomwe Chiefs Faction Resurfaces Fight for Paramount Chieftaincy

Chiefs who attended the meeting Chiefs who attended the meeting - Picture: Luka Beston

A faction of Lhomwe chiefs who are against the selection of Senior chief Kaduya as their paramount chief has tasked Senior chief Nkhulambe and Traditional Authority Ngolongoliwa to convene an impromptu meeting with all the Lhomwe Traditional Authorities to choose the rightful chief for the position.

About 50 Lhomwe chiefs from Phalombe, Chiradzulu and Thyolo made the resolution at 'Mtunda osema' - Ngolongoliwa headquarters on Monday where they refreshed their stand.

Speaking on behalf of the chiefs, Senior Group Village Headman Juma, alleged that the selection of Paramount chief Kaduya was influenced by 'a political party', adding that the Lhomwe clan follow a well-structured lineage and culture of selecting chiefs which was not followed.

Senior GVH Juma has accused the Mulhakho wa Alhomwe secretariat of meddling into the selection of the rightful Paramount chief for the belt.

"What has been agreed here is what is going to happen not what Mulhakho wa Alhomwe said. This is because office bearers at that organisation are not chiefs, those are just our children, it is us who put them there. But we are surprised that they are overstepping their mandate into the chieftaincy, that is not right," Juma explained.

While Senior Chief Nkhulambe also alleged that the lhomwe tribe is selecting people who are not rightful owners of the chieftaincy.

Meanwhile, Mulhakho wa Alhomwe Cultural Heritage chief executive officer, Pius Mvenya, maintains that Paramount chief Kaduya was duly elected by the Chiefs Council comprised of over 20 lhomwe senior chiefs.

Mvenya says it is surprising that the concerned chiefs presented their disapproval to the Ministry of Local Government without forwarding them to the organisation.

"As an office we have not yet received any complaint from any chief. What we heard was that they wrote the Ministry of Local Government complaining about Kaduya's election. So, the ministry wrote us, but unfortunately, they did not even disclose that group of concerned chiefs," he said.

He clarified: "Paramount chief Kaduya was elected by the Mulhakho wa Alhomwe's Chiefs Council which comprises senior group heads and traditional authority chiefs".

The disagreements over the selection of lhomwe Paramount chief have lasted over three years following the death of Paramount chief Ngolongoliwa of Thyolo in 2019.

Read 1136 times
Login to post comments
Go to top
JSN Time 2 is designed by JoomlaShine.com | powered by JSN Sun Framework