Wrangle over Zulu chieftaincy in Mchinji
The family of Zwelithini Masala Jere in Mchinji is seeking a court order to stop the planned installation of Raymond Mzingeni Jere as Traditional Authority (T/A) Zulu.
The move follows a misunderstanding between the two families after the death of T/A Zulu in 2010.
According to one of the members from Masala Jere family who visited Nation Publications Limited (NPL) offices in Lilongwe, they are seeking the court to stop the ceremony because they feel it is not right for Mzingeni Jere to be installed as T/A on April 21.
“We want to seek a court order from the court to install Mzingeni. This chieftaincy is ours as the other family fell out of favour in the past,” said Rudolf Phiri in an interview.
The battle for chieftaincy has been protracted as both families claim to be the rightful heirs and having blessings from their ngoni supreme leader Inkosi ya Makosi Mpezeni of Zambia.
According to history, the ngoni culture recognises a chief to come from a royal family, in this case, the family of Mzingeni Jere was the original family with the chieftaincy, but was stripped off it during the one party era as the chief then was jailed; giving the chieftaincy to Masala Jere who was in charge until his death in 2010.
Now the battle for the chieftaincy has resurfaced as the family of Mzingeni Jere wants to claim it back. The two took each other to court in May 2016 and the High Court in Lilongwe ruled in favour of Mzingeni Jere.
However, this did not go down well with the family of Masala Jere.
Ever since the ruling, there has been tension between the two, and the tense reached the climax three weeks ago when property and a house belonging to T/A Zulu built by government was torched.
This forced the police in Mchinji to camp at chief Zulu’s headquarters to tighten security.
It is alleged that the faction of Mzingeni Jere started the torching of the houses which caused the other faction to torch four other houses.
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development officials were not immediately available yesterday to comment on the developments surrounding the T/A Zulu chieftaincy. n
