A chieftainship wrangle is raging in Mount Darwin as aspiring chief Kesari Tsiga is mounting a spirited fight to dethrone Chief Petros Chikuvire Matope, arguing the whole process was biased towards one family.
In papers filed at the High Court, according to Tsiga, the Matope chieftainship has to rotate between three families, namely Nyatsanga, Nyamaruva and Chitsvairo.
Tsiga — who belongs to the Chitsvairo family — said they had been sidelined for decades with most chiefs coming from the other two homes.
“We have been robbed of our chance of chieftainship on several occasions and I strongly believe that the appointment of the current chief is illegal therefore the appointment is void ab initio (to be treated as invalid from the outset),” Tsiga argued.
Tsiga also blamed Zindi Kanyai, who is the patriarch of Nyamaruva family, for proceeding to appoint Chikuvire as the next Chief Matope without consulting other families.
When NewsDay contacted the current Chief Matope for confirmation, he expressed ignorance over Chitsvairo’s entitlement to the chieftainship. “We are not aware of this family.
They do not belong to our family tree and when two of their members once ruled our land, it was illegal. I don’t believe they will ever rule this land again,” said Chief Matope Chikuvire.
Another letter from the Mount Darwin District Administrator stated: “A substantive Chief Matope has already been appointed, therefore, debate will only be opened should the chieftainship fall vacant again.”
