GOVERNMENT has disowned Timothy Chiminya Mujuru who has proclaimed himself King Munhumutapa after the State failed to oppose his application to be crowned the heir to the throne in the High Court.
Mujuru claims he was reinstated as the paramount king by the High Court on September 30, 2022 under case number 398/22.
Since then, Mujuru has been going around claiming to be King Munhumutapa and in March this year installed heir apparent Julius Chimbi Chigegwe as Chief Chirumanzu.
Chigegwe, had over the years, been fighting for the chieftainship with acting Chief Chirumanzu, Fidelis Mudzengi, with the latter reportedly refusing to hand over the throne.
In a letter dated March 13 addressed to Mvuma district development co-ordinator Joram Chimedza, Mujuru said as King Munhumutapa, he had power over all chiefs in the country and, therefore, had the authority to preside over the installation of a substantive chief for Chirumanzu.
However, Local Government and Public Works minister Daniel Garwe has disowned Chiminya saying he is an impostor since the Constitution had no provision for a monarch.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works would like to dissociate itself from the claim by one Timothy Chiminya Mujuru who is masquerading as King Munhumutapa.
“The ministry would like to advise the public that the Zimbabwean Constitution does not have a provision for kingship; hence his claim is unconstitutional and therefore a nullity,” Garwe said in a statement.
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He added: “Section 283(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 20) Act of 2013 as read with Section 3(1) and (2) of the Traditional Leaders Act [Chapter 29:17] provides that the appointment, removal and suspension of chiefs must be done by the President on the recommendation of the Provincial Assembly of Chiefs through the National Council of Chiefs and the minister responsible for traditional leaders and in accordance with the prevailing traditional practices and traditions of the communities concerned.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works strongly condemns the illegal behaviour and conduct by the fraudulent imposter, Timothy Chiminya Mujuru and would like to advise the public to ignore him and his antics. The public is urged to report this imposter to the law enforcement agents when approached in their communities.”
Mujuru recently wrote to the Judicial Service Commission secretary Walter Chikwanha introducing himself as King Munhumutapa while declaring his powers.
“All the chiefs including president of the Chiefs’ Council now follow (sic) under King Munhumutapa. I would like to advise that all the cases which follows under the traditional law, King Munhumutapa is the one who must make all the judgments and all chiefs must report to the king and if they is any cases which all the chiefs cannot handle they must be forwarded to the king for final judgment (sic),” he said.
Mujuru also demanded that all chiefs must be accredited to him while calling for a survey on all appointments made to see whether they were done according to tradition.
He also called for separation of powers between the JSC and the kingdom.
“The king must also have the powers to make or amend the traditional laws according to the changing times. If the king makes any ruling they must be published and the Government of Zimbabwe must listen and respect the king (sic),” he said.
