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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
A RIVAL camp in the Negove chieftainship wrangle in Mberengwa District has taken the Minister of Rural Development, Preservation of Culture and Heritage, Abednico Ncube, to court for selecting Timothy Moyo as chief. Lovemore Zvoushe and Lenathi Moyo have filed a court application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking an order blocking Timothy from being installed as Chief Negove.

The Nehundi and Mateveke families have teamed up against the Chedare family in the three year bitter chieftainship wrangle. Timothy belongs to the Chedare family, Zvoushe represents the Nehundi family while Lenathi is from the Mateveke clan.

In court papers, Zvoushe and Lenathi are the applicants while Timothy, the chairman of the Provincial Assembly of Chiefs in the Midlands Province, the director of traditional leaders and support services and the Minister were cited as the respondents.

Zvoushe and Lenathi are challenging the ascension of Timothy to the throne, arguing that the process leading to his appointment was fraught with irregularities, lack of transparency and not done in accordance with their customary principles of succession.

Zvoushe, in his founding affidavit, claims that outsiders had a hand in Timothy’s appointment. He wants the appointment of his rival to be nullified to pave way for fresh consultations.

“The chieftainship is shared among three families which are Nehundi, Mateveke and Chedare. In terms of our customary principles of succession applicable to the Negove chieftainship, the three families are supposed to take turns to assume the reigns,” he said.

Lenathi concurred with Zvoushe in his supporting affidavit.

The post of Chief Negove fell vacant in 2012 following the death of Manyungati Moyo who belonged to the Mateveke clan. Manyungati had succeeded Thomas Zivurawa of Chedare family. Zvoushe argued that it was now his family’s turn to assume the chieftainship.

“According to the settled principle of our custom, the next family that is supposed to take over is the Nehundi. On March 19, 2015, the director of traditional leaders and support services convened a meeting and invited the three families for consultations,” he said.

Zvoushe said he was shocked when the director of traditional leaders and support services and the chairman of the Provincial Assembly of Chiefs in Midlands Province selected the Chedare family.

“They then made a recommendation to President Robert Mugabe for the appointment of Timothy as Chief Negove notwithstanding the fact that the decision to nominate the Chedare family was objected to by the Nehundi and Mateveke families on the basis that it defied our custom and practice. There were gross irregularities and lack of transparency in the entire selection process,” argued Zvoushe.

He said despite raising an official complaint with the local district administrator’s office, nothing was done to redress the issue. In the event that the order is granted in his favour, Zvoushe and Lenathi want the Minister to be compelled to make a recommendation to President Mugabe within 10 days of the order to enable him to resolve the Negove chieftainship dispute.

They also want Ncube and the chairman of the Provincial Assembly of Chiefs in the Midlands Province to pay the costs of suit at attorney-client scale.