The High Court of Zimbabwe is set to hear a contested chieftaincy succession case involving the Shana traditional leadership in Hwange District, Matabeleland North, amid allegations of historical injustice and interference in customary succession processes.
According to a court notice, the matter, Case No. HCBC1378/24, will be heard by Justice Evangelista Kabasa at the High Court in Bulawayo on Thursday 24 July 2025.
The applicant, Elias Nyoni, is representing the Nemananga clan in challenging the legitimacy of the Neluswi-Shana chieftaincy, which currently governs parts of Matetsi and Jambezi.
Nyoni is contesting the appointment of Tremendous T.K. Neluswi as Acting Chief Shana, arguing that the chieftaincy was unlawfully taken from the Nemananga lineage through collusion between colonial-era officials and members of the Neluswi family.
In court filings, Nyoni alleges that following the death of Chief Chimbipo Chali Nemananga in 1948, Mkhosana Neluswi, then a messenger in the Nemananga court, used his influence with the white Native Commissioner to usurp the chieftaincy. He claims that this led to the elevation of Mkhosana Neluswi as headman in 1951, and later as Chief Shana in 1973, without observing traditional succession protocols.
“The purpose of this application is to correct the distorted history of the baNambya people in Matetsi and Jambezi,” Nyoni said in his heads of argument. “There is a dispute between the Nemananga and Neluswi clans regarding who rightfully holds the chieftaincy in these areas.”
Nyoni insists he is not claiming the chieftaincy for himself, but is asking the court to order the Matabeleland North Provincial Assembly of Chiefs to resolve the dispute between the two clans within six months.
The application has drawn sharp criticism from the government. In an opposing affidavit, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe, who is cited as the second respondent, rejected the Nemananga clan’s claims, arguing there is no official record of a Chief Nemananga in 1948.
“There is no evidence in the district file that a Chief Nemananga ever existed. The claim to revive a chieftaincy that never existed is a fallacy,” Garwe stated. “Even Mkhosana Neluswi was not initially a chief, he was a headman who was later elevated in 1973.”
The Minister argued that the Nemananga clan lacks standing in the dispute because it has not been officially recognised in the chieftainship succession system.
Nyoni, however, maintains that the Nemananga chieftaincy dates back to 1903, when the baNambya people were governed by two chiefs, Chief Nemananga and Chief Nekatambe. He claims the distortion began in the 1950s, when colonial authorities demoted the chieftainships and appointed a “Paramount Chief Hwange.”
“This legal challenge is not personal. It is about restoring traditional leadership that was unfairly stripped away under colonial rule,” Nyoni argued.
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