Chief Bidi row spills to court

THE brothers of the last Chief Bidi in Matabeleland South's Kezi district have filed an urgent chamber application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking to stop the late chief's son from being installed on Friday.

In the application filed through Phulu and Ncube Legal Practitioners, the plaintiffs Mr Frederick Ndiweni and Dr Odilo Ndiweni, named Mr Nqaba Ndiweni who is due to ascend to the chieftaincy as the first respondent, President Mugabe as the second and  Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo as the third respondent.

The application was made at the High Court in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
The respondents were served with summons on Monday last week.

In their certificate of urgency, the plaintiffs alleged that President Mugabe and Dr Chombo overstepped their bounds as they sought to impose Mr Nqaba Ndiweni.

"The acting provincial administrator and district administrator of Matobo district acting on behalf of the second and third defendants neglected to allow the family to lead in the appointment of a successor in line with the family tradition and practices which follow the Amangwe clan of the Nguni people," argued the plaintiffs.

They said Mr Nqaba Ndiweni was barred by the Nguni culture from being chief.

"The result is that the second and third defendants appointed an unqualified person to that position, the first defendant does not qualify to be appointed chief as he is born of a woman who had birthed/sired a child with another person before she married first defendant's father.  Such a person known as is izalizele cannot bear a chief in line with custom and tradition of the Nguni people," they argued.

The plaintiffs also noted that once Mr Nqaba Ndiweni was installed as chief, the decision could not be reversed and that would effectively destroy the Nguni culture.

In their founding affidavits, the plaintiffs alleged that the decision to appoint Mr Nqaba Ndiweni was unacceptable as it was not made by the family, which should have been the case according to the Nguni culture.

"The decision to appoint first respondent was shrouded in secrecy and it invariably produced an illegitimate outcome and it is only on 28 May 2013 that I came to be alerted of the second and third respondents' intention to cause the installation of the first respondent as the new Chief Bidi on 21 June   2013," argued Mr Frederick Ndiweni.

The plaintiffs further argued that the impending installation was unconstitutional as it violated the customs of a people in the country.

"His installation, certainly cannot go ahead as it has been challenged and is prejudicial to us as it does violate our customs, culture, practices and traditions as people.

"In fact it offends our community as a people and as such is clearly prejudicial to us. Installation of first respondent would deprive the family of its rights to cultural values, traditional norms, practices and expressions which are guaranteed by the New Constitution of Zimbabwe. It will deprive us of an identity as a people, our legacy, pride and direction will be lost forever. Only confusion, difficulty and lack of co–operation will ensue. The result is that the community will suffer," argued the plaintiffs.

The respondents were given 10 days from the date of the filing of the application, to oppose it failure to which, the court would sit make a judgement.

The Bidi chieftaincy's area of jurisdiction is in the southern part of Matobo.

It is bounded by Shashane River in the east and Semukwe River in the west.

It stretches from Marinoha Hills in the north where it shares a boundary with Chief Fuyana and ends in the south at Demarcation Line Road, where Chief Malaba's area starts.

The chieftaincy started with Bidi Ndiweni in 1923 and his son Ntinima took over in 1929, followed by Ephraim Mthibe in 1982.

Mthibe's second born son, Mr Joseph Smile became chief in 1990 after the first born, Felix died but left a daughter.

Joseph Smile died in May 2009 and the area has been without a chief since then.