The installation of Abraham Nyamande as substantive Chief Chirumanzu, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has been stopped pending the results of High Court application challenging his ascendancy to the throne.
Nyamande has been embroiled in a wrangle with other candidates who argue that his nomination was not done aboveboard and that he is not the one in line for succession in the Chirumanzu chieftainship.
A leader of one of the Chirumanzu clan sub-houses, Cuthbert Jumo Bangure, this week downplayed the postponement, saying it was due to budget constraints on the part of government which is supposed to finance the event.
“I regret to inform you that the installation of the 18th Chief Chirumanzu scheduled for May 29 has been postponed,” Bangure said in an audio posted in a WhatsApp group for the Chirumanzu chieftainship and development.
“Government will advise us of the new date, but at the moment it [government] is saying it still has to provide the resources to fund the ceremony. Government said when the Ministry of Finance gets the necessary financial resources, it will advise us on the new date.”
But the High Court advised in a notice that case number HCH920/25 dated May 13, 2025, will be heard on June 9 this year.
The applicants in the case are John Marinda, Innocent Chapwanya, Albert Jonasi Zvidzai and Ecknos Happiness Mutyanda.
Cited as respondents in the case are the Local Government and Public Works minister, the Midlands Provincial Chiefs' Assembly and Nyamande.
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“Take notice that the above court application (High Court of Zimbabwe case HCH920/25) will be heard and determined physically by the High Court of Zimbabwe at Harare before Honourable Justice Dembure J on Monday the 9th day of June 2025 at 09.00 or soon thereafter as counsel may be heard,” the notice read.
The bone of contention to settled by the High Court is that the respondents failed to exercise due diligence in the selection and nomination procedure for the next heir to the throne.
In March this year, Local Government and Public Works minister Daniel Garwe, however, said due process had been followed in nominating the candidate.
He said the Nherera house was the last to provide a candidate for chieftainship (the late Chief Gerald Mudzengi) and that, in the spirit of rotation, it was now the Simba house's turn to assume the throne.
Minutes of meetings held in October 2020 seen by this publication show that the Nherera and Mutizirapi houses selected Julius Chimbi Chigegwe as the next heir to the Chirumanzu chieftainship.
According to documented information, the applicants argue that over the years the Nherera house has had fewer chances to the chieftaincy; hence in the spirit of fairness Chigegwe is the eligible candidate.
