Chiefs’ promotions under probe
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has appointed a nine-member committee comprising senior chiefs to investigate how traditional leaders were promoted in the “past few years”.
In a statement dated August 1 2014, principal secretary for Local Government and Rural Development Kester Kaphaizi said: “The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has constituted three committees to conduct inquiries into the elevation of chiefs for the past few years.
“This has been necessitated following complaints from a lot of traditional leaders and family members throughout the country that some elevations were carried out without recommended procedures as stipulated in the Chiefs Act Cap 22:03 (5).”
The committees comprise three chiefs from each of the three administrative regions. They are Crown Prince M’mbelwa V of Mzimba, Senior Chief Mwankhunikira of Rumphi and Senior Chief Kameme of Chitipa from the Northern Region; Inkosi ya Makhosi Gomani V of Ntcheu, Senior Chief Mkanda of Mchinji and Senior Chief Kalumbu of Lilongwe in the Central Region and Paramount Chief Lundu of Chikwawa, Senior Chief Kapeni of Blantyre and Senior Chief Kawinga of Machinga from the South.
The statement said the committees will begin their work on August 6 2014 and the ministry is appealing to those that will be consulted to cooperate by providing relevant information.
In recent years, presidents, notably the late Bingu wa Mutharika and his successor Joyce Banda, promoted traditional leaders, a development that led to having several senior chiefs.
Some critics pushed for the review of the Chiefs Act to reduce powers and privileges of heads of State to promote traditional leaders in a bid to make them apolitical.
During campaign for the May 20 Tripartite Elections, Banda’s People’s Party (PP)-led administration boasted that it had promoted about 40 000 chiefs.
Kaphaizi could not indicate the period the probe will cover, only saying “it is just a few years as presented in the statement”.
But former governing PP has described the initiative as counterproductive, claiming it is a move to demote some of the already promoted traditional leaders.
PP vice-president for the Centre Uladi Mussa accused government of lacking seriousness, saying it shows that the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has lost direction.
