TRIBAL WAR SAGA (Graphic video)

LILIAN CHIKAMBI writes

@SunZambian

CHIEF Chipepo of the Tonga people of Chirundu district in Lusaka Province has maintained that he is not happy that the family of Kizwell Chiyota decided to bury him at his (Mr Chiyota’s) farm in the chiefdom.

The burial sparked violence in area in which one person was killed and many others were injured.

The chief told the Sun he had been advised by the Ministry of Chiefs and Tradition Affairs to go to the High Court and get an order to exhume Mr Chiyota’s body if he was not happy.

He said he would seek the court order because the boundary wrangle between him and Chief Sikoongo was still in court.

Chief Chipepo said he had been reliably informed by the security wings in the district that there were more videos that had been shot during the violence that erupted on Friday last week resulting in the death of headman Ephraim Tambale of Lusitu Ward.

He said the videos would help the police apprehend those involved in the brutal beating of the headman because their faces were clear.

Chief Chipepo said the police had advised him not to interfere in police investigations but allow the security wings to do their job professionally.

He said he wanted to attend the burial of Mr Tambale but wondered if the elders who gave him guidance would allow him to do so.

Chief Chipepo appealed to the people to stop politicising the matter as could be seen in the articles circulating on social media by unknown people.

He said the videos and articles were sending strong messages of division but urged people in the two chiefdoms to instead remain neutral and peaceful.

Headman Tambale, 74, will be buried in Lusitu Ward today.

Meanwhile,  Siavonga District Commissioner, Lovemore Kanyama who is also the Dean of District commissioners in Southern Province has called for an urgent meeting with chiefs aimed at resolving the tribal war between Chipepo and Sikoongo chiefdoms.

The District commissioner disclosed in an interview with the Sun that the meeting slated for next week on Wednesday has been called to resolve the on going land wrangles that have for long rocked the two districts.

He said his office was in the process of  writing to chief Sikoongo, Chipeopo, Simamba and Sinadambwe of Chirundu and Siavonga respectively, inviting them for a meeting.

”Though I’m not DC for Chirundu, part of Chipepo and Sikoongo chiefdoms extend to Siavonga district, so I have taken it upon myself to call for a meeting with the royal highnesses in Chirundu and Siavonga to try and stop these tribal wars affecting the people of the two chiefdoms,” said Mr. Kanyama.

He said the recent happenings in the area were villagers of Chiefs Sikoongo and Chipepo chiefdoms fought running battles which resulted in the death of a Headman is clear sign that things have gotten out of control and requires that a lasting solution must be found before it degenerate into a fully fledged tribal war.

Mr. Kanyama said Government will not sit and fold its arms while the people in area are butchering one another over an issue that can be resolved through dialogue.

He added that apart from a land wrangle involving chief Sikoongo and Chipepo in Chirundu, the two chiefs in Siavonga, namely chief Simamba and Sinadambwe are also rocked in serious land disputes.

The DC said the land wrangles in the Gwembe valley are a direct result of the mishandling of the relocation program by the colonial Government during the construction of the Kariba dam in the 1950s.

Last week, villagers of Chiefs Sikoongo and Chipepo chiefdoms fought running battles resulting in the death of Headman Ephraim Tambale after he was severely beaten by suspected chief Sikoongo subjects.

Headman Tambale was among the villagers from Chipepo chiefdom who tried to stop villagers from Sikoongo from digging a grave for the late Kizwel Chiyota, in the land claimed by Chief Chipepo.

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