adminGeorge Maponga Masvingo Bureau
The provincial chiefs assembly here plans to resolve all the eight chieftainship disputes across Masvingo, in a development expected to pave way for installation of substantive office bearers.
Masvingo has many unresolved chieftainship disputes, with some of them having dragged on for nearly 10 years as families in the succession line fight for the throne.
The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation, with the provincial chiefs assembly hamstrung by restrictions in movement in line with Government’s regulation to curb spread of the virus.
Funding woes also worsened the situation, resulting in eight chieftainships here namely Gutu, Munyikwa and Makore in Gutu district, Mkanganwi and Ziki in Bikita, Nyakunhuwa in Zaka, Nyajena in Masvingo and Murove in Mwenezi going for an average more than half a decade without substantive chiefs.
Masvingo provincial chiefs’ assembly chair Chief Chitanga, Mr Felani Chauke, yesterday said they were ready to bring closure to all the disputes over chieftainships.
According to Chief Chitanga, Government had availed resources for the exercise.
The ongoing relaxation of Covid-19 regulations by Government in light of declining active cases of the novel coronavirus in the country also augurs for the thrust.
“We are preparing to resume consultative meetings with families in the succession line in at least eight chieftainships currently under the tutelage of acting chiefs because of unresolved disputes over succession,” said Chief Chitanga.
“There are at least eight chieftainships that we are going to attend to and try to resolve ongoing disputes so that substantive appointments are made, paving way for official installation.”
Chief Chitanga was upbeat of his assembly’s capacity to resolve all the disputes.
“We were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which restricted movement of people,” he said.
“We could not gather families to resolve chieftainship wrangles because big gatherings were illegal but there is now some flexibility and we are now good to go and finish our work.
“I am also happy that Government has given us the requisite resources to attend to all the outstanding cases, so in the area of resources we are covered and we will soon constitute our teams to go to hot-spot areas and resolve obtaining challenges so that substantive chiefs are appointed.”
Appointment of substantive chiefs would be a harbinger for development as the office holders would be able to rally their people towards any cause without the risk of opposition from some quarters.
Recently, a Masvingo High Court judge passed a landmark judgement that it was beyond the courts’ purview to determine who should be appointed chief in the event of a dispute.
The judge ruled that the responsibility lay in the President of the country and the provincial chiefs’ assembly in the contested chieftainship area.
This was after the Chirumhanzu chieftainship dynasty had challenged the appointment of the current chief, saying he was not their preferred choice.
Among some of the chieftainships here that have taken long to resolve is the paramount Gutu chieftainship, which is currently occupied by Anos Kasikai Masanganise following the death of the last substantive Chief Gutu in 2013.
Efforts to appoint a new substantive chief before suffered a stillbirth after one of the families in the succession line opposed the selection of the now late prominent Masvingo bus operator Tanda Tavaruva as the new Chief Gutu.
Tavaruva, who was of the Chagwiza family, had been selected new substantive Chief Gutu in a development that would have paved way for his investiture.
This was not to be as the selection process was ordered to be started afresh after another house in the succession line raised a red flag.
Online Reporter