Thyolo, Mulanje chiefs disown ‘sovereign State’
Senior chiefs from Mulanje and Thyolo have asked government to investigate and arrest leader of People’s Land Organisation (PLO), Vincent Wandale, for attempting to bring disorder in the country.
The traditional leaders have also disowned Wandale and warned him against any future attempts aimed at creating anarchy among people of the two tea growing districts.
Wandale, through his group, is advocating for the declaration of the two districts to become a sovereign State because government has allegedly failed to repossess idle land owned by tea estate owners and allot it to indigenous people.
But the visibly highly charged chiefs, who met at Senior Chief Ngolongoliwa’s Ntunda Wosema headquarters in Thyolo yesterday, described Wandale as a “thief and confused person” who is being used to spoil the districts’ image.
The chiefs said Malawi was one country and there was no way, regardless of what problems are there, people of Thyolo and Mulanje could demand self-rule.
“As chiefs, we are the custodians of the people but all of us do not know him and his conduct request police to investigate and arrest him so that he properly explains his bizarre actions,” said Ngolongoliwa.is very questionable so we
Senior Chief Chikumbu of Mulanje warned Wandale against seeking swift popularity through “scandalous” channels, adding that they would not tolerate such conduct.
She said Wandale’s acts have annoyed people of the two districts because issues of land are the responsibility of traditional leaders and government and not individuals.
The chiefs also ordered Wandale and his PLO to immediately stop advocating for land repatriation from estate owners.
Besides Chikumbu and Ngolongoliwa, the meeting was also attended by Inkosi Bvumbwe, senior chiefs Chimaliro, Thomas and traditional authorities (T/As) Nchilamwera, Kapichi and Mphuka from Thyolo.
There were also senior chiefs Mkanda and Mabuka and T/A Mthiramanja from Mulanje.
But in his reaction, Wandale challenged the chiefs’ assertions saying they had no powers to block him and his organisation from fighting for the people of Thyolo and Mulanje.
He said: “They don’t have any mandate to stop me or my organisation, which is registered by government, from fighting for people’s rights. If they have problems or they think we are doing something illegal let them go to court and we will meet them there.” n
