THE self-appointed King Munhumutapa, born Timothy Chiminya, is embroiled in a tribal storm after he allegedly disempowered some of his Bulawayo commissioners and imposed his son Chiduku as secretary.
As his lobby for the revival of the Munhumutapa monarch gains traction in various parts of Zimbabwe, Chiminya appointed Chief Bekezela Bhekimpilo Nyathi his spokesperson.
Nyathi has embarked on a recruitment drive in Matabeleland, while in Bulawayo, he appointed Mandlenkosi Nkomo commissioner.
However, an uproar erupted among Munhumutapa’s Bulawayo supporters after he removed Nkomo from the main WhatsApp group and installed his son Chiduku as administrator.
In an audio that has gone viral on social media, Chiminya advised Bulawayo members to work with his son.
“Chiduku is my son, muRozvi, so whatever he says you must do. He is working together with commissioners and everyone,” Chiminya is heard saying.
“There is nothing wrong, he is muRozvi. I urge you to bring everyone who wants to join the group in Bulawayo.
“I just wanted to address the issue that Chiduku is my son. I have made him secretary there in Bulawayo, working with Chief Nyathi and Nkomo, so you must work with him. Instruction is coming from the king directly.”
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Nkomo said he was irked by the sidelining after mobilising his whole family to join the monarch while spending his money trying to build the kingdom.
“It was not bad for me to work with his son, but we were removed from the group that had 600 people. We were removed on tribal lines,” he said.
“That is a fact, and I am going to leave the group, I accept that I am not a Rozvi. You will enjoy being a Shona speaking because this will not affect you even one day, but being a Ndebele, it is so sad that you will be used like a tissue and thrown away.”
He said Chiduku took over from the commissioners he disempowered.
“The numbers that we have in Bulawayo do not lie when it comes to supporting King Munhumutapa. We have done wonders.
“I came to Matabeleland alone, introducing King Munhumutapa after he appointed me his spokesperson,” he said.
Nyathi said he told Chiminya that he could not impose his son on the people of Matabeleland and accused him of pushing a clandestine agenda in Bulawayo.
“If you fire Nkomo, I am also gone. We want to stand for the truth. United we stand, divided we fall. I must be killed for bringing you to Matabeleland and defending you. My crime is that I stood boldly educating people about the history of this country,” he said.
Nyathi also accused Chiminya of being a tribalist.
However, Chiminya said Nyathi should stop being abusive.
