LOCAL Government minister Ignatius Chombo is angling for the Presidency and was manipulating chieftainships to manoeuvre his way to the apex of the party, traditional leaders in President Robert Mugabe’s Zvimba rural home area have sensationally claimed.
EVERSON MUSHAVA CHIEF REPORTER
Mugabe was on April 4 forced to abort the inauguration of Mathias Matare, popularly known as Dununu, as Chief Beperere after traditional chiefs protested that he had been imposed on them by the Local Government ministry. They said Matare was not the right candidate for the chieftainship.
The chiefs had reportedly threatened that if the installation of Matare went ahead, they would walk out on Mugabe, who was present at Murombedzi Growth Point together with other members of his Gushungo clan.
The chiefs claimed that Matare was handpicked by Chombo, who is also MP for Zvimba North constituency, against the decision by the whole clan to install Harare provincial administrator Alfred Tome, from the Dyakonda family.
The current Chief Zvimba, Stanley Mhondoro, yesterday confirmed to NewsDay that Mugabe was forced to abandon the inauguration of Chief Beperere after traditional leaders raised objections over the selection.
“Yes, we raised objections and the inauguration was abandoned,” Chief Zvimba said.
“We oppose imposition of chiefs by politicians,” the chief said. “The whole idea is meant to create puppet chiefs who will pay allegiance to the minister (Chombo). The whole issue is about succession in Zanu PF. We know the idea is to try to manipulate the traditional leadership because chiefs are critical in mobilising people.”
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He added: “We don’t want a situation in which politicians jump into the arena of chieftainship conflict. They will not do that in good faith. We don’t want the Local Government ministry to select chiefs for us because we know our history as a clan better than any outsider.”
Chombo was not picking calls yesterday.
The Zvimba chieftainship revolves around the Chidziva, Beperere and Chambara families.
Under the new structure, Chief Zvimba, from the Beperere family, is the paramount chief and deputised by Johannes Jenami from the Chidziva family. Matare, who is from the Beperere family, was earmarked for the second deputy position.
The Chambara family runs the Nyamukanga chieftainship.
Chief Zvimba said the Zvimba chieftainship wrangles were not an isolated case as most chiefs who gathered at a meeting in Victoria Falls in March were also concerned about the “meddling” in their family affairs by the Local Government ministry.
“We met twice in January and resolved that Tome would be the chief, but the Local Government ministry nicodemously prepared papers for the installation of Matare and we said ‘No’ to that,” Chief Zvimba said.
According to sources who attended the meeting, Mugabe arrived at Murombedzi after all people had gathered.
He invited Chombo to brief him on why he had been invited. And all hell broke loose when Chombo reportedly asked the director in his ministry responsible for chiefs, Fanuel Mukwavira, to explain the purpose of Mugabe’s invitation.
One of the family members, Stanley Chikami, is said to have openly told Mugabe that if he had come to inaugurate “a Local Government chief”, they (other chiefs from Zvimba) would immediately leave, setting the tone of the conflict.
Faced with the embarrassing situation, Mugabe is reported to have demanded an explanation from Chombo, who in turn referred all questions to the Zvimba district administrator (DA), Andrew Tizora.
The DA tried in vain to justify why they had settled on Matare when the Zvimba chiefs had earlier on stormed out of meetings in protest at Matare’s nomination. “So you mean the chiefs stormed out of the meeting and you proceeded to select someone without their knowledge? You now want to select chiefs for Zvimba people?” Mugabe is said to have countered.
But the most dramatic scene was yet to come. Suddenly, a whirlwind erupted and pulled down the tent Mugabe was sitting in.
A video of the Murombedzi meeting shown to NewsDay reveals Mugabe’s guards shielding off the tent while the President stumbled out to safety, amid ululations from the villagers who took the whirlwind to be an expression of anger from the spirits over the appointment of “Chombo’s stooge”.
Mugabe was led to another tent.
Chikami expressed surprise at why they had been told of Matare’s appointment only that morning when the tents were pitched two days before.
“They (Local Government ministry) wanted to give us limited time to prepare what to say. But we will say it,” he said.
Mugabe expressed dismay that the nomination of Matare had been done without the input of the other local chiefs.
He is said to have thrown back Matare’s papers and demanded that the issue be solved in the interest of the clan before he would be invited to preside over the installation.
“Chombo had been manipulating the chieftainship in the Zvimba area for his political expediency. He appointed Jenami to become the deputy paramount chief. He also reportedly made Jenami’s son, Gibson, a headman,” Svinurai Jenami, a spokesperson for the Chidziva family, said.
The Chidziva and Beperere families have now solicited the services of a lawyer, Jonathan Samukange, to block Matare’s appointment and reverse the selection of Jenami.
Chombo is said to have demanded CVs from the family members and settled for Jenami.
“We know our family history and we will not allow chiefs to be imposed on us. It’s a family inheritance, politicians come and go,” Svinurai said.
