New Claimant To Ndiweni Chieftainship
The late Chief Khayisa Ndiweni’s eldest son, Joram Thambo Ndiweni, on Saturday, told village heads in Ntabazinduna that he is now rebuilding his family’s homestead ahead of his return to Zimbabwe to take over the chieftainship.
The United Kingdom-based Ndiweni spoke to local leaders through a phone that was connected to a public address system at Ntabazinduna Council Hall.
Ndiweni is at loggerheads with one Masuka of Jabulani, over his alleged desecration of the grave of the late Agnes Masuku Ndiweni in February 2022.
Agnes, who was the widow of the late Chief Khayisa, died in 2020.
The Ndiweni chieftainship is under dispute after Ndiweni contested the coronation of his younger brother, Nhlanhlayamangwe Felix Ndiweni in 2019.
Felix, the second-born son of the late Chief Khayisa, was later deposed as chief under controversial circumstances.
Speaking during a meeting where village heads acknowledged him as their leader, Ndiweni said it was taboo for him to speak about his return. He said:
To speak about my return is something that is taboo. I am a child of a family like everyone else and I am working for my family like everyone else. I will come when the time is right.
Our people say that if you have never led your own home, how can you lead the people?
My reply to that is that these are matters of tradition and I am going to resolve the issues bedevilling my family and I am close to doing so.You see my sister’s son already rebuilding our home and it should show you that I’m close to coming back home.
I shall come back and be with my people and I will plant crops as they do. Our home was crumbling, the ceiling was falling and the people there were just staying there as it was.
I had to start from the bottom again. It is important for people to recognise that if the Ndiweni home perishes, so does the rest of Ntabazinduna.
This is because that was a home for everyone and when people were hungry, they knew they could always knock on our door.
I want it to be that way again because the Ndiweni home should not be a homestead where only a certain clique of people is welcome.
More: The Sunday News
