Uukwangali leaders to discuss succession

THE dust refuses to settle around the Ukwangali traditional community’s chieftainship issues.

Some exiled elders of the Uukwangali Traditional Authority are expected to meet at the Kahenge tribal hall to discuss the topic on Saturday.

Dethroning the current chief, Eugene Siwombe, will also be deliberated on.

“The elders of the Uukwangali traditional community must now finalise the matter of the succession of the chief or hompa of their community,” says Andreas Kamukwanyama, an elder in Severinus Siteketa’s camp.

Kamukwanyama says as elders of the community they are empowered to appoint a chief or hompa to the community.

After the passing of hompa Sitentu, the elders of the community nominated and appointed Siteketa, “and that decision has to be implemented, hence calling for a meeting of the elders’’.

Kudumo was coronated on 25 April 2015, while another faction of the community contested this, leading to a legal battle which did not end in Siwombe’s favour.

“The second decision of the first respondent, as made on 15 February 2017, to designate the third respondent as the chief of the Uukwangali traditional community and the Uukwangali Traditional Authority is hereby reviewed and set aside, and such designation is declared as invalid and of no force or effect,” reads a High Court order delivered on 6 March 2019.

Kudumo proceeded with an appeal to the Supreme Court, which fell short on 6 December 2020.

The chairperson of the Ukwangali Chiefs Council, Julius Hambyuka, on Thursday said he was not aware of the planned meeting, but read about it on social media.

“As a leader, you cannot react to everything you see on social media . . . That meeting I am not aware of it,” he said.

Asked about the Supreme Court’s ruling, Hambyuka said the court instructed the members of the royal family to meet and iron out their differences before lodging another application.