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THE thorny issue to remane Makoni District to Rusape which has dragged for decades has finally gathered momentum as it is now at the ministerial level for determination before being send to the President for final approval.
The renaming of the district to a neutral and appropriate name is being pushed by four chiefs, Chipunza, Tandi, Chiduku and Chikore who feel that the name Makoni denigrates their status and implies that they are subjects to Chief Makoni.
At law, all the five chiefs are equal and have their own territories. However, the other four chiefs allege that the Makonis view them as their subjects by virtue of the district carrying Makoni’s name.
The four chiefs further alleges that Chief Makoni publicly boasts of being a paramount chief and refers them as “my people” and insist that the other chiefs are directly under Chief Makoni.
A name of a district can be changed through Presidential authority in terms of Section 6 (b) of the Rural District Council Act, Chapter 29:13 which states that: ‘The President may at any time by statutory instrument (b) Assign a name to a district (c) Alter the boundaries or name of, or abolish, any district.’
The quest to rename the district gathered pace at the turn of the millennium when during a traditional monthly meeting with the then District Administrator, Mr Cosmas Chiringa which was held on November 7, 2000, the chiefs resolved to change the name of the district.
Following the chiefs’ resolution, the issue was referred to Makoni Rural District Council and a full council meeting held on January 14, 2004 resolved to change the name from Makoni District to Rusape District.
In their submissions, the four chiefs stated that Rusape District is more acceptable to them and their subjects as it does not eulogise any particular chief.
Their preferred name Rusape is derived from a Shona word “Rusapwe” which means may the river never dry, referring to the overflowing waters of Rusape River. The river passes through Makoni, Chipunza, Chiduku and Tandi chieftainship areas.
In other districts where there are more than one chief, a neutral name is used as the case with Buhera, Nyanga, Chimanimani and Chipinge among many others.
When contacted for comment, Chief Makoni, Mr Colgan Gwasira, said the renaming of the district was a non-starter as he claimed that the other four chiefs do not exist as they were a creation of the colonial settlers who wanted to weaken the ‘powerful Makoni who had given them torrid time’.
“Yes, we are aware that there is an attempt to rename our district. We will bitterly oppose that and we are actually prepared to die for our territory, history and prestige. Those chiefs are working with some politicians in all this and we are prepared for them.
“History will tell you that when the whites occupied this area there was only one chief that is Chingaira Makoni who gave them torrid time until they killed him. There was no Chipunza, Chikore, Tandi or Chiduku. Their chieftainship came in the 1960s when the whites subdivided our land and allocated it to them. The settlers were aware that those four are not chiefs and they were known as sub-chiefs and Makoni remained the paramount chief.
“After independence instead of Government assisting us in getting back our territory, they elevated those sub-chiefs to be full chiefs. As they are fighting for the name change, we are also fighting for the abolishment of their chieftainships. Yes, Makoni is a paramount chief to those four,” said Chief Makoni.
Chief Chiduku was not picking up his phone when The Manica Post contacted him for comment and efforts to get comments from Chiefs Tandi, Chipunza and Chikore were not successful at the time of going to Press.
Online Reporter