The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
THE Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs’ Manicaland chapter has bemoaned the long time it is taking to fill some of the vacant chiefs’ positions, saying this is retarding development as more energy is spent on fighting and bickering.
Some chiefs have been serving in an acting capacity for over a decade.
Chiefs, as the custodian of the land, are expected to play a crucial role in the rolling out of the devolution agenda as they are familiar with the day-to-day needs of their subjects.
In an interview with The Manica Post, ZCC’s Manicaland chairman, Chief Makumbe said almost half of the 33 chieftainship positions in Manicaland are vacant and efforts are being made to address this.
Almost all the seven districts in the province have areas with acting chiefs, save for Makoni District.
“We recently held our provincial assembly after a very long time and the issue took centre stage. We are now actively involved in the selection of substantive office bearers and we have since made recommendations to the national council. We really hope that five or so vacant posts will be filled in the near future.
“The selection process has its own fair share of challenges as some of those in acting positions may try to manipulate the whole process,” said Chief Makumbe.
He also called for the adoption of a national handbook that can be used in the selection of chiefs to ensure that deserving candidates are installed.
“We now want robust and developmental orientated leaders as chiefs. Why not have economists, engineers, doctors and other professional people as chiefs? If you look closely at our caucuses in Parliament, the traditional leaders’ caucus is one of the most vibrant because it is made up of people from various professional backgrounds, which is healthy for debate. Vibrant deliberations will help in changing our people’s lives.
“The same should cascade to provincial councils,” said Chief Makumbe.
The traditional leader spoke glowingly about devolution.
“We are happy with the devolution agenda as it seeks to empower all communities through the utilisation of locally available resources. Traditional leaders know their respective areas’ developmental needs. In addition, we know about all the available resources and some of the low hanging fruits that can be tapped into to develop our areas,” he said.
Chief Makumbe went on to call for the empowerment of chiefs so that they can effectively play their role in the justice delivery system.
“We should be equipped with the relevant statutes. We are expected to be fair and just. However, we cannot always use our traditional justice delivery systems as some of them are now archaic and contradictory to the Constitution, for example the issue of using the girl child to appease avenging spirits,” he said.
