FIRST Pack founder and managing director Langton Chikukwa was last Friday installed as Chief Nechombo of Mutoko after High Court judge Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo dismissed an interdict application filed by Svinurai Kamonere to stop the ceremony.
CHARLES LAITON, SENIOR COURT REPORTER
In dismissing the application, Justice Matanda-Moyo noted that Kamonere had filed a similar application under case number HC6444/14 and the matter was still pending.
Kamonere had cited Chikukwa as one of the respondents in the chieftainship wrangle alongside Mutoko district and provincial administrators, Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo and President Robert Mugabe.
In his declaration filed through an urgent chamber application, Kamonere said: “The selection process [of Chief Nechombo] was marred by bias, impartiality and illegality and it violates the Constitution in that certain bodies were not involved in it and the right to be heard of the plaintiff [Kamonere] was violated.
“First respondent [Chikukwa] is not qualified to hold the position of chief on account of him not being in the biological lineage of the house and families that are entitled to hold such power.
“The process was also marred with serious irregularities which make it invalid.
“Wherefore, plaintiff claim is for an order invalidating and setting aside the appointment of first defendant as Chief Nechombo and all actions that are premised thereon.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Responding to the application, through his lawyers Sibanda and Partners, Chikukwa, however, dismissed Kamonere’s claims arguing he was a member of the family and was entitled to the chieftainship since he was a descendant of the Murarapazuva clan.
Speaking to NewsDay yesterday, Chief Nechombo said his inauguration was “God’s plan-in-waiting which eventually manifested itself and went on very well”.
“I am now focusing on community development, mainly on rural entrepreneurship,” Chief Nechombo said.
“There are quite a number of entrepreneurship activities which could be done in rural areas and we need to train, develop and expose our rural communities to different income-generating activities.
“We also want to build Nechombo Arts Centre in conjunction with First Pack to create the Nechombo brand.”
Chief Nechombo, who won the first and second runner-up award of the entrepreneur of the year with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, holds a masters’ degree in business administration and is an educationist-turned-entrepreneur.
