Royal family members from Mapota Village in Senior Chief Chikowi’s area in Zomba have petitioned district commissioner Smart Gwedemula to stop the traditional leader from creating new villages in Mapota.

According to a petition signed by one of the family members Chipiliro Magwira, Mapota royal family is accusing Senior Chief Chikowi of bringing confusion after allegedly creating two new villages out of Mapota Village.

Reads the petition in part: “Mapota royal family would like to lodge a complaint through your office over the continued abuse of office by Senior Chief Chikowi by, among others, meddling in the Mapota chieftaincy by creating two more villages namely, Chiwayula and Kachokola without following laid up legal means enshrined in Section 9 of the Chief’s Act.”

In the petition, the Mapota family members are demanding  the immediate nullification of the two villages and relocation of the two village heads to avoid wrangles.

“We demand to see the chief’s register for the population of the two claimed villages and boundaries of the two villages,” it reads in part.

Speaking on Monday after receiving the petition, village head Chisuzi, who represented the Mapota family, quoted Gwedemula as having assured that he will forward the complaint to the Chief’s council which deals with chieftaincy wrangles.

“You will be notified of the way forward once the council convenes,” he said.

But in an interview on Tuesday, Senior Chief Chikowi insisted that Kachokola is a legitimate village head, saying he was installed village head in 2013 before she (Senior Chief Chikowi) was installed senior chief in 2015.

“It is Kachokola’s relatives who are against him because of his style of leadership, otherwise he is on government’s honouralia list. If anything, those subjects should either accept that Kachokola as their village head or look for another village head,” she said.

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