Pangolins pay homage to new chief

associated with several myths and mysteries.
Pangolins are associated with good luck while their meat is a preserve for traditional leaders.
People who have picked the pangolins are expected to handover the sacred ant-eater to a traditional leader.

Some have even handed over the pangolins to President Mugabe.
And for the recently installed Chief Chundu of Hurungwe, pangolins have been picked at regular intervals since he assumed the chieftainship with people acknowledging that the chief has been accepted by his dear departed ancestors.

And barely a month after Mr Abel Mbasera was appointed new Chief Chundu of Hurungwe, numerous pangolins have been picked all over his area of jurisdiction.
Chief Chundu assumed the chieftainship in October last year.

According to the elderly people in the area, the pangolins are a typical acknowledgement of the realm leader by the spirit of Chief Chimombe.

Chief Chundu’s installation last month was presided over by Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Minister Ignatius Chombo.

The installation must not have appeased the spirit of Chimombe alone but the rest of Mbasera’s nine other predecessors.

“I might seem younger than what people expect me to be but people must realise when one is inaugurated chief, they would start to operate under some extraordinary forces bestowed on them.

“In my case, it is now Chief Chimombe exercising his powers through me. Despite being a Christian I must observe all the customs and values of my area.

“My people should also observe the sanctity of our traditional values and norms as required by the spirits of the area.”

Chief Chundu said this after giving an account of a recent incident in which a man reportedly died after eating a pangolin but suffered from a mysterious headache.

Chief Chundu said after the man from the Nyamakate area picked the “sacred” ant-eater, he did not declare it to the chief as is the custom in the Chundu area.

The man, according to Chief Chundu, slaughtered the sacred animal for food.
Chief Chundu said the man further refused to attend a village court claiming that the chief was too young to preside over his case.

At 43, Chief Chundu becomes the 11th and ostensibly the youngest one since their founding father Chief Chimombe was killed by people of the Nzou totem centuries ago.

Chief Chimombe originated in the Chiyava area of Zambia before settling in the Gova region along the Zambezi River.

The chief had no children but three sisters – Tisa, Katepera and Chiumbiri.
After Chief Chimombe’s death the chieftainship revolved between Mbavara, Kairara and Nditure respectively before shifting to Mocho who was Tisa’s son. After Mocho, Katepera’s son, Chipokeni took over with Tushera who happened to be Chiumbiri’s son becoming the seventh chief in the succession line.

The eighth Chief Chundu was Karima who was the son of Tushera’s sister while Noah Butawumocho and Wilson Berewu – a grandson of Chipokeni — became the ninth and tenth chiefs respectively.

Mbasera, who is Tushera’s grandson, was appointed last year following the death of Berewu in 2008.
Before his appointment Berewu’s son Picture acted as the chief.

Minister Chombo hailed the family for remaining calm while the succession negotiations took place.
He strongly condemned some acting chiefs for refusing to surrender the throne after the mandatory two-year period to allow for the appointment of new chiefs saying chieftainship had to rotate between families.

“An acting chief’s tenure should be two years after which the appointment of a new chief must take place.

“There is no way a son acting after his father’s death can be appointed a chief.”
Minister Chombo was referring to the succession battle that saw Picture try to wrestle power before Mbasera’s appointment.

He, however, urged Chief Chundu to stick by the Traditional Leaders Act so that he did not stray during the execution of his duties.

Chief Chundu is married to Anna and they have two children, Samantha and Ebenezer.
The chief is currently employed as a runner in the theatre at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital.