Government has courted controversy for silently removing Bongololo Gondwe as Paramount Chief of the Tumbuka and replacing him with Mtima Gondwe, who was once removed from the throne through the courts in 2021.
The matter came to light during the burial of Mtima Gondwe last week, when a statement from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development indicated that the deceased had been reinstated in acting capacity in August this year.
Ironically, Mtima, son to the late Chikulamayembe, Walter John Hardy Gondwe, was initially installed Paramount Chief in 2019, but the High Court sitting in Mzuzu nullified the installation in 2021 on the premise that his installation was unconstitutional, unlawful, procedurally unfair and invalid.
Former president Lazarus Chakwera then appointed Bongololo on March 12 2022, but he has now been removed without his knowledge.
Reads the ministry’s statement in part: “The Late Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe, who was reinstated as Paramount Chief of the Tumbuka passed away on Saturday 26th September 2026 at Mzuzu Central Hospital after suffering from a spinal condition.
“The late Mtima Gondwe served as Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe for a number of years up to 2021 before being removed. He was reinstated on 30th August 2026.”
Yesterday, Bongololo expressed surprise that he had been replaced, insisting that he was yet to be informed of the same.
“Maybe they want to snatch it from me [but] I have not been served any letter that I am being removed. I am in the office right now and have heard that people went to the [district commissioner] DC to present a new name,” he said.
In an interview yesterday, Bongololo’s lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta too was surprised, insisting that without any formal communication, his client remains the king of the Nkhamanga people.
He said: “The office of Paramount Chief is appointed by the President, not a minister and it is done in writing. If Mtima was appointed and my client was removed, removal cannot be done by a minister.
“Neither I nor my client has received communication from the President to that effect. Has the ministry shown any communication from the President under his handwriting? These things are governed by the Chiefs Act, not what is happening at somebody’s burial ceremony.”
Under Section 4 of the Chief’s Act, “The President may by writing under his hand appoint to the office of Paramount Chief, Senior Chief or Chief such person as he shall recognise as being entitled to such office.”
Ironically, yesterday, Group Village Head Chikazinga, who was Mtima’s spokesperson, led fellow chiefs to the DC’s office in Rumphi, where they had gone to convey royal arrangements.
Chikazinga said in an interview: “We went first to thank the government for the support during the burial of the late Paramount Mtima Gondwe, but also to tell the DC that the chieftaincy is now in the hands of the royal family until a replacement is appointed.”
DC Thomas Chingwenembe said he was waiting for the Ministry to be guided on the matter.
Minister Ben Phiri did not respond to our queries by press time yesterday.
On April 13 2021, the High Court in Mzuzu nullified the chieftaincy of Mtima and asked the Presidency to appoint and install a new leader.
In the Judicial Review Number 10 of 2019, the Applicant, Joseph Bongololo Gondwe argued that the defendants did not comply with some provisions in the Chiefs’ Act and the Constitution to install Mtima Gondwe as Chikulamayembe.
In his ruling, Justice Thomson Ligowe declared that the defendants’ decision to install Mtima Gondwe in 2019 was unconstitutional, unlawful, procedurally unfair and invalid.
The Chikulamayembe chieftaincy is well known for Gonapamhanya, a cultural ceremony that takes place at Themba la Mathemba Chikulamayembe’s headquarters in Bolero, Rumphi District.
It is a celebration of the arrival of the first Tumbuka king, Gonapamhanya, who ruled the Nkhamanga Kingdom.
The chieftaincy started when Mlowoka came to Malawi in 1780. The name derived from his crossing of Lake Malawi from Tanzania.
