Chieftaincy wrangles persist amid proposed legal solutions

 At least 30 traditional authorities (T/As) and paramount chiefs have been embroiled in succession wrangles in the last decade, Nation on Sunday has established.

While some wrangles were resolved through legal redress and dialogue, others are still hanging and these include the Lhomwe Paramount Chief, T/A Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota and Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe in Rumphi, according to the Ministry of Local Government.

The disputes come against a backdrop of recommendations from the Special Law Commission on the review of the Chiefs Act to amend some sections of the legislation to tame the wrangles.

Former minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu gazetted the report in August 2015 but recommendations are yet to find their way into the Chiefs Act.

In a response to a questionnaire on Thursday, Ministry of Local Government spokesperson Anjoya Mwanza said the Act was still under review.

She said through the legislation review, which she could not state when it will be finalised, the local government authorities intend to ensure smooth transition across all the chieftaincy spheres.

“That is why we wanted to review the Act to address the issue. The Act is there to decentralise the process so that the traditional leaders should do the process themselves and remove the political power and put mechanisms to redress when people are not happy through the traditional setup,” Mwanza said.

The ministry cites intermarriages and powerful family members trying to usurp power as the major cause of disputes.

“Intermarriages lead to challenges when following original rules. [The other causes] are that some powerful members of the family who are not entitled but would like to grab the chieftaincy and misunderstanding within the royal family on who should be the heir to the throne,” she said.

To address the succession challenges, Mwanza said the ministry has asked district commissioners to liaise with royal families for family trees.

“While some royal families have complied, others are still discussing,” she said.

The Special Law Commission on the review of the Chiefs Act observed that some of the wrangles are a result of political influence as the State President has power to appoint chiefs.

“The commission found that problems have been experienced with the manner in which Presidents have been exercising powers to appoint chiefs and creation of new offices, which has led to chieftaincy wrangles, some of which remain unresolved…

“In light of the commission’s recommendation that the President should not

 exercise the power to appoint traditional leaders in order to avoid chieftaincy wrangles, the commission recommends that the President should cease to exercise the power to create new offices of traditional leadership, ‘’ the 149 page report reads in part.

Led by Justice Anaclet Chipeta, the commission recommended the empowerment of the royal family to appoint a successor to the chieftaincy.

“The commission recommends that in relation to traditional authorities, identification of a person who qualifies and is suitable to assume the position of traditional authority should be done by the royal family to the exclusion of members of the community.

“The commission recommends that the role of the President shall be restricted to only recognising the identified person by issuing a certificate of recognition. Consequently, the royal family shall be the appointing authority and not the President as is currently the case,” it reads.

In an interview, acting T/A Mzikubola, who has not been installed for nearly 20 years due to succession wrangles, hoped that the Chiefs Act review will rid politics out of the chieftaincy equations.

“My people and I have suffered a lot due to these wrangles. We have, times without number, been harassed and suffered politically motivated arrests because of this throne which they want to take away from me.

“Sadly, when I report to police, they don’t take action against my abusers because they are connected politically. I haven’t been installed yet despite the fact that I duly inherited my father’s throne. I just hope that someday politics will not influence the traditional leadership rules as it is now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malawi Local Government Association chief executive officer Hadrod Mkandawire has urged government to scale up its efforts to ensure smooth succession, condemning the chieftaincy wrangles as costly distraction.

“These wrangles derail the attention of the district commissioners and the councils generally from focusing on their core businesses. They start focusing on resolving chieftaincy wrangles, a mandate that is not even funded by the government,” he said.