Binga North legislator, Prince Dubeko Sibanda, has queried the government’s appointment of a chief for the San people in Tsholotsho who are already under chiefs Siphoso and Gampu’s jurisdictions.
Last month President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed Christopher Dube as a substantive Chief Goledema of Tsholotsho following his selection by the san community last year.
Chief Goledema of Gariya Village, Tsholotsho becomes the inaugural San chief and the seventh traditional leader in the district.
He inherited his grandfather’s name, who was a respected rainmaker and senior traditionalist.
However, raising a point of national interest in the National Assembly Wednesday, Sibanda queried how the decision to appoint Goledema was arrived at.
“Hon. Speaker, the national importance of this matter is that the San people for a long time are a group of people who have not really been recognised by the government of this country until of late,” said the lawmaker.
“The decision to have or to install a chieftainship for the group of people is important but however Hon. Speaker, there are issues that have to be looked into on that aspect of the decision of the government. Firstly, did the government really consult the San people and then decided that they wanted a chief or it was an initiative of the government on its own?”
Sibanda said his questions were emanating from the fact that the San people in Tsholotsho District are spaced, and spread across two chieftainships – Gampu and Siphoso.
“The question therefore Hon. Speaker that we want to understand from the
Minister of Local Government is; what is the motive driving the government to decide that they have to install a chief for the people of the San community?” questioned Sibanda.
“Secondly Hon. Speaker, how is it going to be implemented? You have got the San people that are living under Chief Siphoso and San people that are living under Chief Gampu. What will be the jurisdiction of the chief that is appointed by the government for the San people? How will that chief exercise their jurisdiction in the areas that are under the control of Chief Siphoso and also under the areas that are under Chief Gampu? At the end of the day Hon. Speaker, like I did ask first, “what is the motive driving the government to decide that there should be a chief for the San people when the San people themselves do not feel like they want a chief?”
Sibanda further queried: “Who identified the individual that the government wants to install as a Chief, is it the San people themselves or is it a government initiative? Hon. Speaker, I think if the Minister of Local Government can come and apprise the nation on those issues, we can answer a number of questions pertaining to that issue.”
