The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
CHIEFTAINSHIP battles are as old as the leadership institution has existed.
Government had to intervene to end that fight.History is littered with clashes over chieftaincy, with a prominent one being of the Hobodo chieftainship which involved Adolph Ncube and his uncles in 2014.
Another case involved Silibaziso Mlotshwa, the eldest daughter of the late Chief Mvuthu Mlotshwa of Hwange, who sued the district administrator and her uncle for blocking her from assuming the throne in 2016.
Early this year, the Zengeya and Ngundu families clashed over the Nyajena chieftaincy after the death of Dzingayi Zengeya.
Traditional leaders have expressed concern over how families were fighting for chieftainship, which should simply be lineages.
Chief Kamba (Mr Donald Kamba) of the Makoni told The Sunday Mail Society last week that chiefs should be endorsed by spirit mediums.
“Chieftainship is spiritual and we all know that spirit mediums have to confirm if one is the rightful chief. This is how were ought to choose our chiefs and this can help solve the incessant fights,” he said.
“The chosen one is supposed to undergo rituals as part of the preparation for the throne. The appointment is not determined by one’s age.”
He said if a chief was not confirmed by spirit mediums, rituals such as rain making events were bound to fail.
“What we witness these days is that some people are cast on the throne because they are wealthy. That’s not the proper procedure,” said Chief Kamba.
Chief Joseph Mudzimu of Hurungwe said of the 286 chiefs in Zimbabwe, over 70 percent were not confirmed by spirit mediums.
“This is why we have a lot of fights. Many have neglected our culture, our way of choosing chiefs,” he said.
“Chiefs are the custodians of African tradition and we can’t by-pass such practices when choosing or installing a traditional leader. The problem is that these days some chiefs have abandoned our culture, this is why we are having disasters in Zimbabwe. Let’s respect our culture.
Chief Mudzimu said traditional leaders were intermediaries between their subjects and spirit mediums but their requests cannot be answers if they did not get to the throne properly.
“Chiefs are the custodians of African tradition and we can’t by-pass such practices”
