Court stays ruling on Senior Chief Dzoole

The High Court has stayed its ruling on the dethroning of Senior Chief Dzoole following an application from the defendant and current occupant of the chieftaincy.

The Nation reported last week Tuesday about the High Court ruling by Justice Fiona Mwale, but Alfred Chidyaudzu, the chief appointed by former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika and affected by the ruling, stormed the newspaper’s Lilongwe Bureau with court orders indicating the reversing of the court decision.

The court documents indicate that Justice Mwale granted a stay order on the ruling after Chidyaudzu’s lawyers applied for a stay order on grounds that their client was not heard in the trial.

“We were represented by the Attorney General’s office and it is the lawyers from Attorney General who stopped attending the trial forcing the judge to rule against us. However, our side was not heard and the lawyers applied that our affidavit was not heard; hence the stay order,” Chidyaudzu said.

The granting of the stay means the chieftaincy remains with Chidyaudzu, pending resumption of trial.

Mwale had ruled that the Malawi government erred in the 2008 installation of Senior Chief Dzoole and ordered that the presidency should adhere to the Chiefs Act. He also ruled that the chieftaincy should revert to group village headman (GVH) Sambani who had sought legal redress following the installation of the chief in 2010.

“The President shall adhere to the provision of Section 4 (2) (a) of the Chiefs Act in the appointment of a successor to the Dzoole chieftaincy. Further, the first defendant has no authority to usurp the customary law of the Chewa people by acting as if he was authorised by the plaintiff to approve the nomination of the 4th defendant as successor to the late Dzoole,” then ruled Mwale.

Controversy erupted in 2008 following the death of the former Senior Chief Dzoole and the subsequent appointment of Alfred Chidyaudzu as acting chief which forced Sambani to obtain a court injunction.