Mr Felix Nhlanhla Ndiweni, recently dethroned as a chief in
Ntabazinduna, has approached the High Court challenging President Mnangagwa’s
decision to strip him of his chieftaincy following a recommendation by Cabinet
and the Matabeleland North Provincial Assembly of Chiefs.
Mr Ndiweni ceased to be Ntabazinduna chief on November 30
and was subsequently stripped of all Government benefits accruing to him.
Mr Ndiweni, through his lawyer Mr Dumisani Dube of Mathonsi
Ncube Law Chambers, yesterday filed an application for a declaratur at the
Bulawayo High Court citing President Mnangagwa, Local Government and Public
Works Minister July Moyo, the president of the Chiefs Council Chief Fortune
Charumbira, the chairman of the Matabeleland North Provincial Assembly of
Chiefs Chief Shana, Ms Latiso Dlamini, the acting provincial development
coordinator for Matabeleland North and the Umguza district development
coordinator Mr Tapiwa Zivovoyi, as respondents.
He wants an order nullifying his removal and declaring it
unlawful.
Mr Ndiweni also wants the court to direct Ms Dlamini and Mr
Zivovoyi to stop dispossessing him of his Government issued vehicle and the
chief’s regalia among other State-owned assets in his possession.
In his founding affidavit, Mr Ndiweni said his removal from
the chieftainship was unlawful and a violation of his constitutional rights
under the Administration of Justice Act as well as under the common law.
“I can only be removed from my office as Chief Ndiweni upon
lawful action and processes fully respecting my constitutional rights under
subsection (1) and (2) of section 68 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which
grant me the rights to administrative conduct that is lawful, reasonable,
procedural and substantively.
I have the right to be promptly given reasons for the
administrative conduct taken and affecting my rights and I was denied all these
rights,” he said.
Mr Ndiweni argued that he was not given enough notice of
the nature and proposed action against him including a reasonable opportunity
to make representations on the matter.
“I was denied the most basic, elementary and most
sacrosanct of all rights, the right to be heard before any decision is taken
affecting one’s right commonly referred to as audi alteram partem rule, a tenet
of natural justice which goes back to the beginning of time when God granted
Adam the right to make out his defence for committing the cardinal sin before
banishing him from the Garden of Eden,” he said.
Mr Ndiweni argued that section 3 (2) (a) (i) of the
Traditional Leaders Act under which President Mnangagwa removed him from the
office of Chief Ndiweni has no application to the removal of chiefs.
He said the legal provision does not grant the President
the power to strip him of his chieftainship.
“That provision deals exclusively with the issue of
appointment of chiefs and not their removal.
Chief Ndiweni was duly and lawfully appointed by the then
President, the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe in June 2014. Accordingly, no
question arises under section 3(2) (a) (i) of the Traditional Leaders Act,” he
said.
“I submit that, in casu, the respondents acted in violation
of the law and thereby making their conduct unlawful, null and void.”
Mr Ndiweni said he was not officially served with the
letter of dismissal, but only saw it being circulated on social media.
He said the Matabeleland North Provincial Assembly of
Chiefs, the National Council of Chiefs, Minister Moyo and the President never
gave him notice of the intended administrative action.
Mr Ndiweni claimed that his removal was necessitate by his
“honesty and candid” opinion on issues affecting his community and alleged
failure by the Government to secure better life for the citizens.
“My constitutional rights have been flagrantly violated by
the respondents’ administrative conduct that is unconstitutional, unlawful,
biased, unreasonable, partial, disproportionate and unfair.
I submit that I have a good case for a declaratur and
consequential relief under section 14 of the High Court Act,” he argued.
Cabinet in recommending the removal of Mr Ndiweni noted
that the Ndiweni chieftainship follows the primogeniture system of succession
whereby the right of succession belongs to first born sons (father to the
eldest son).
Chief Khayisa Ndiweni died in 2010 and culturally, the late
chief’s eldest son, Joram Ndiweni, was supposed to take over the chieftaincy
from his father.
However, this did not happen as the then District
Administrator for Umguza District recommended the appointment of Felix Nhlanhla
Ndiweni, the second born son of the late chief on the auspices that it was the
will of the late chief.
Since Nhlanhla’s appointment on June 9, 2014, Cabinet
noted, Joram and some members of the Nhlambabaloyi clan had continued to
petition Government for his removal as it went against the Ndiweni principles
of succession and therefore in contravention of Section 3(2) of the Act.
Although he was duly appointed, Nhlanhla was never sworn in
as Chief Ndiweni. Herald
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