Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
GOVERNMENT has reiterated the critical role of traditional leaders in propelling community development and improvement of livelihoods.
It was all joy for the Bere community in Masvingo this Saturday, as Mr Petros Murombe Mahwekwe was installed as substantive Chief Bere at Chidzikwe Primary school.
The community is upbeat about improved development in their area following the installation of the new Chief.
“As a community, we are happy that we now have a leader in the name of Chief Bere. We are going to be united, and we are confident that all development programmes that the government will be implementing in our communities will be a success because that development will be led by the Chief,” Mr Alvin Marimbe said.
“We want to thank our government, which continues to prove that it is a listening leadership. They listened to our cry for decades and restored our Chieftainship. Now we have a new chief, who has got headmen and village heads, and this means we have been fully restored our Chieftainship,” Mr Patson Mapiye noted.
Speaking after the installation ceremony, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Honourable Daniel Garwe said government structures must work with traditional leaders in implementing development programmes, sentiments echoed by Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Honourable Ezra Chadzamira.
“Traditional leadership has always been there and we continue to respect that setup hence President Emmerson Mnangagwa is restoring the traditional leadership that was abolished during the colonial era. Today we say traditional leaders are an integral part of our development efforts and they must work with local authorities attending full council meetings adding their contribution. They are the ones that maintain order in our communities and ensure unity among our people,” Honourable Garwe said.
“The District has five Substantive Chiefs and today it will be six out of the establishment of 11 Chiefs who are supported by ten headmen and 853 village heads.
“These traditional leaders work closely with Government structures to ensure that development programmes reach every village and every household, leaving no one and no place behind. The installation of Chief Bere therefore strengthens this governance architecture and ensures continuity of leadership within the Bere Chieftainship,” Honourable Chadzamira added.
President of the Chiefs’ Council Chief Mtshane Khumalo implored traditional leaders to lead by example in their communities.
“As traditional leaders we have an important role to play in our communities that is to unite our people, be able to work with everyone in the community including our government representatives, non-government organizations and local authorities.”
The Bere chieftainship, of the Shumba totem, was abolished 125 years ago by the Rhodesian settler regime as punishment for resisting colonial occupation, and the Second Republic resuscitated it in 2019.
