Minister accused of meddling in Makumbe chieftainship succession as dispute reaches Mnangagwa’s office

A succession dispute over the Makumbe chieftainship has reached President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office, with Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Misheck Mugadza accused of interfering in the appointment of a substantive chief.

The dispute follows the death of Chief Shepered Chengeta, whose son, Paul Chengeta, assumed the role in an acting capacity before he also died in a road accident last year.

Members of the Makumbe royal family argue that, under customary law, the chieftainship should now pass to another house within the royal family rather than remain within the Chengeta household.

In a letter addressed to Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, the family appealed for intervention, alleging that Mugadza was improperly influencing the succession process in favour of a relative from the Chengeta family.

“We regret to allege that the Resident Minister of State for Manicaland Province is unduly interfering with lawful processes by influencing the duly appointed bodies, namely the Manicaland Chiefs’ Council, the Provincial Administrator (who serves as secretariat to the council), and the District Development Coordinator (DDC) at the Buhera office.

“To this end, we are not being consulted on matters that affect us as a family, and we cannot access important updates on key processes leading to the selection of a substantive chief from the DDC.

“It is alleged that the Minister is seeking to favour his cousin brother from the house of Chengeta, Ngundu, who is not the rightful candidate, for appointment as chief,” the letter reads.

The royal family also accused local authorities of facilitating irregular appointments of village heads within the Makumbe chiefdom, alleging that the appointments have enabled abuse of public resources.

“Improper appointments of village heads by the DDC, in which several individuals were appointed village heads within the jurisdictions of substantive village heads, and these individuals are completely syphoning Government resources since they have no considerable households under them.

“Honestly, how can three siblings from the Ngundu/Chengeta family alone be village heads and be on the Government wage bill when they have as few as less than five households under their jurisdiction, unless it is corruption? We once raised these allegations through the DDC at the Buhera office, but no action seems to have been taken to date.”

The family further alleged that communal land within the chiefdom was being illegally allocated and sold.

“Corrupt parcelling out and sale of communal lands (Sabuku deals) within the Makumbe chiefdom, despite the clarion call against such conduct by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

“Several witnesses/complainants are available to testify on these transactions. Some of them are ready to pursue redress through civil court processes,” the letter states.

The family has appealed to the Office of the President and Cabinet to stop what it describes as political interference in the succession process and allow the appointment of a substantive chief in line with customary law and the Traditional Leaders Act.

“We respectfully request the Office of the President and Cabinet to direct the Ministry of Local Government and the Provincial Administrator to proceed with the lawful process of identifying and recommending a substantive chief for the Makumbe clan in accordance with custom and the Traditional Leaders Act, and to institute investigations into the allegations of corruption and abuse of office raised above,” the letter reads.

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