Elders petition minister over Chirumanzu chieftainship

ELDERS from the Chirumanzu chieftainship have written to Local Government minister July Moyo requesting that he intervenes to solve the succession wrangle which has destabilised the clan, resulting in the people of Chirumanzu going for months without a substantive chief.

In their petition to Moyo dated June 25, the elders accused both the Midlands and national chiefs councils of failing to handle the dispute.

The elders said Julius Chigegwe was supposed to have been appointed substantive chief, but the acting chief Fidelis Mudzengi was allegedly refusing to relinquish power.

“We, the people of Chirumanzu, represented by our elders in Chirumanzu chieftainship clan made up of the two houses of Nherera and Simba and their 11 sub-houses, which are the heirs to Chirumanzu chieftainship and traditional leaders of our people in all the wards of Chirumanzu, seek to petition the honourable July Moyo, Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to help resolve the matter of delayed appointment of substantive Chief Chirumanzu following the expiration of the acting chief’s term according to the Constitution and law governing the chieftainship succession,” read the petition gleaned by Southern Eye.

The elders dismissed reports that the delay in the appointment of a new chief was caused by family squabbles.

They said that despite writing to the provincial and national Chiefs’ Council over the matter on May 31 and June 10, respectively, the two councils had not responded to their concerns.

“As elders and heirs to the chieftainship throne, we organised ourselves for orderly succession and nominated the candidate, but the Midlands provincial Chiefs’ Council has refused to formally meet the family as mandated by the Constitution in favour of keeping the acting chief’s term beyond the maximum term limit of two years,” the elders said.

Moyo is yet to respond to their concerns.