AaFormer acting Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe of the Tumbuka tribe in Rumphi, Mtima Gondwe, will be accorded state funeral protocols on Thursday.
Local Government spokesperson Chimwemwe Njoloma confirmed the development in an interview on Monday, saying the honour is due to the fact that Gondwe once served in the position in an acting capacity.
“We are expecting the Minister of Local Government to be the guest of honour at the burial ceremony at Bolero in the district,” she said.
The family had planned to bury Gondwe on Tuesday, but the programme has changed to Thursday following intervention from Capital Hill, family sources have told us.
His remains will be transported from Mzuzu to Rumphi on Wednesday. He died last Saturday at Mzuzu Central Hospital after battling a severe backache.
Gondwe was born in 1962 and is survived by his wife and three children.
Family spokesperson Group Village Headman Kamuzinga Gondwe said that although the late Gondwe will receive a state funeral, he will also be buried according to Tumbuka cultural traditions, while the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia will conduct prayers for the departed soul at the ceremony.
Gondwe was a son of the late John Hardy Chenje Gondwe, a respected traditional leader who served for many years as Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe of the Tumbuka people in the country, until his death in 2018.
Since 2018, there have been chieftaincy wrangles between Mtima Gondwe’s family and Joseph Bongololo Gondwe, who is now the Paramount Chief of the Tumbuka tribe.
Former head of state Dr Lazarus Chakwera installed Bongololo as the 13th Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe at Bolero in 2022, after the High Court ruled against Mtima Gondwe following legal battles over the rightful heir to the throne.aaa
