The traditional leader is said to have threatened to rise
from his grave if his wishes are not followed.
While awaiting formal coronation from Government, the chief
in waiting Nomalanga was handed the traditional sceptre (intonga) by her
father’s uncle from the Ngungumbane clan just before the coffin was lowered
into the grave at exactly 1.27pm.
Clad in a floral all-blue dress with a matching doek
covering her head, Nomalanga sat quietly in a white plastic chair just two
metres from her late father’s final resting place. She is now set to become the
seventh female chief in Zimbabwe.
Asked about the appointment of Nomalanga as the heir to her
father’s throne, Chief Ngungumbane, a relative to the Sigola family, referred
Saturday Chronicle to a village elder and close friend to the late chief,
82-year-old Joel Mpofu.
Mpofu was also a confidante to the traditional leader.
Mpofu said Nomalanga
was appointed successor by her father as part of the instructions the
traditional leader gave on his deathbed.
“It’s just following the late Chief Sigola’s instructions,
what he said in his final days even when he was at the United Bulawayo
Hospitals. He stated clearly to unkazana that on his burial, she must be seated
on his royal chair and hold the royal sceptre (intonga) with both hands.
However, it was felt that the royal chair cannot be taken out today but
everything else is according to the late Chief’s wishes,” said Mpofu.
He said the late Chief Sigola, who also chose his burial
site, had warned that if any of the clan members were to wrestle the
chieftaincy from his daughter, he was going to rise from his grave.
“I have been very close to the Chief, even at the hospital
I was by his bed throughout and I saw him breathe his last. He was very clear
on his daughter becoming his successor,” said Mpofu.
Earlier addressing mourners, Zimbabwe Chiefs Council
president Chief Fortune Charumbira urged the Sigola clan not to fight over the
chieftainship as God will provide the next Chief Sigola.
He said they may be some who may want to be the next Chief
Sigola by virtue of their social standing or material possession but as long as
they would not have been ordained by God, their dreams will never come through.
“God will find another Chief Sigola for us. The only
problem is to look into the mirror while putting on a nice and expensive suit
and tell yourself that you are the next one to sit on the throne. Let me tell
you something here, a good suit and a tie does not make you a Chief,” said
Chief Charumbira.
The Minister of Local Government and Public Works, July
Moyo, said the family must remain strong following the death of their pillar
and must diligently choose the successor without fear or favour .
He said the Government, led by President Mnangagwa, will be
fully behind the family’s decision.
“I know the Chief lost most of his children but what
remains is for the family and whoever remains to make sure there is no gap
between the death of a chief and another chief,” said Minister Moyo.
He said the law says in the first two years, there is an
acting chief who is also appointed by the President and after that period the
council of chiefs will engage the family for the substantive chief of the area.
“The first part (appointment of an acting chief) is done
very quickly and the second part needs a council of chiefs, led by Chief
Masendu and other chiefs that understand the tradition and the constitution
because they must uphold it,” said Minister Moyo.
Meanwhile, Chief Charumbira told mourners that the late
Chief Sigola, described as a fierce advocate for land redistribution, died a
happy and satisfied man.
This was after the Second Republic responded to his plea to
attend to his farmhouse which had no running water and electricity while the
road leading to his hilltop house was untrafficable.
Last year the Deputy Minister of Local Government and
Public Works, Marian Chombo visited the Chief at his homestead where she was
told of the sad story surrounding the traditional leader.
She then gave an instruction that the issues be resolved as
a matter of urgency.
“The last part of my speech is to say to Minister July
Moyo, please when you meet President Mnangagwa please express our gratitude on
the manner in which his leadership has strengthened the image and improved the
status of chiefs in this country. A borehole has been drilled in this
homestead, there is now electricity and a vehicle was provided so I am saying
please pass our greatest gratitude to the President,” said Chief Charumbira.
Chief Sigola died on May 1 at the United Bulawayo Hospitals
following a long illness.
He was 96.
He became substantive Chief Sigola on March 31, 1994
following the death of his father, Chief Samson Sigola. Chronicle
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