Newly installed chief receiving death threats from relatives

The newly installed Traditional Authority Malanda of Nkhatabay has claimed that he is receiving death threats from people he suspects to be some of his relatives.

Speaking in an interview, Malanda said he believes the threats are coming from some of his relatives who are against his leadership.

He said since his installation on 28 October this year, some of his relatives have been calling for him to step down from the throne.

“Since I was installed, I have never been at peace with my life. It’s been castigations from my relatives and some of them even forcing me to step down,” he said.

When asked if he reported the issue to the police for his safety, Malanda, said: “Of course I did that but I’m still not at peace with my life.”

Separate information our team gathered indicates that Malanda was not the rightful owner of the throne and that is why he is receiving such pressure to step down from the thrown.

One Malanda’s relatives told Malawi24 that the new chief was installed as a traditional authority in absence of his relatives thus they don’t acknowledge his chieftaincy.

“Since their father died on 7th May, they were struggling to find someone to replace him. It is this time when he sent his name secretly to government for approval.

“It was the very same time the relatives chose Reverend Mariya Nkhoma to be installed as the new T/A Malanda. So after government installed Simeon Nkhoma as the new chief Malanda, people began expressing veto to the decision,” said Amos Nkhoma, a close relation to Malanda.

Commenting on the issue, minister of local government Kondwani Nankhumwa described the situation as shameful, saying government followed all procedures in installing T/A Malanda.

He said all the relatives were present during the event thus it becomes shameful to learn that some of them have begun disowning the chief today.

“Till when shall we continue to have leadership crisis and chieftaincy wrangles in Malawi? Why don’t we accept and respect leaders? I hope people of Nkhatabay can be my witnesses, when I was installing T/A Malanda, everybody was there,” he said.

This publication understands that President Mutharika already approved the name of Simeon Nkhoma as new Traditional Authority Malanda and no immediate decision to remove him may happen.

Meanwhile, some relatives have hinted on taking the issue of removing the new chief Malanda to court.

Nkhatabay is one of the districts in Malawi where chieftaincy wrangles are common.