Lundu fumes at Gawa Undi for ‘sidelining’ him

Paramount Chief Lundu has protested the decision by Zambia-based Chewa King Kalonga Gawa Undi to delegate representation to a chief other than him at the Ngoni cultural festival in Mzimba.

Gawa Undi assigned Traditional Authority (T/A) Masumba Nkhunda of Lilongwe as his representative during the seventh Umthetho Cultural Festival of the Jere Ngoni at the foot of Mount Hora in Mzimba last Saturday.

But Lundu, a paramount chief of the Chewa in Malawi and effectively the most senior traditional leader by rank, said in an interview on Monday this week he felt Kalonga Gawa Undi erred in his decision to snub him and make a junior chief as his representative.

He said he felt he did not get the respect he deserves as a paramount chief, a development that prompted him to leave the venue earlier and missed out on the gift presentation ceremony to Inkosi ya Makosi M’mbelwa V.

Said Lundu: “Did you notice that I left earlier than expected? That is what I do when I notice something disrespectful going on. It was lack of wisdom for someone to stand as a representative of Gawa Undi when his boss was present.

“I know what is going on, but I cannot tell you. The one who stood as a representative [Masumba Nkhunda] was supposed to respect me. What have they benefitted from this act?”

However, he said he was not bothered with the development because he was paramount chief of the Chewa in Malawi and that Gawa Undi does not pay his salary.

Lundu said he smells “dirty politics” in the whole scenario.

But coordinator of the Chewa in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, Senior Chief Lukwa of Kasungu, dismissed Lundu’s assertion, describing them as “nothing serious”.

He said Gawa Undi reserves the powers and rights of delegation and chooses whoever he wishes to any event.

Said Lukwa: “Positions do not matter to Gawa Undi. He is at liberty to delegate whoever he prefers. This time around, his preference was T/A Masumba Nkhunda while I represented him last year and there was nothing wrong with it.”

According to Lukwa, there is no bad blood between Lundu and Gawa Undi.

Of late, Lundu has been in the limelight for, among others, ordering members of the Enlightened Christian Gathering whose founder is Prophet Shepherd Bushiri to leave his area, alleging that Bushiri is satanic.

The chief also made a political statement during the funeral of Senior Chief Kabudula in Lilongwe in March when he attacked opposition parties, threatening to order Chewa chiefs to bar them from addressing meetings in their areas.