BLANTYRE--Robert John Kadewere has waited 11 years to be installed Senior Chief Kadewere of Chiradzulu, thanks to Pres Joyce Banda, who on Saturday made the official installation at Ndunde, the headquarters of the senior chief.

Why did it take 11 years for the chief to be installed after being elevated by retired president Bakili Muluzi?

The president simply blamed it on politics.

“It is sad to learn that despite his hardworking spirit in development matters, Senior Chief Kadewere waited for eleven years to be officially elevated to this position,’’ Banda said.

She said chiefs play a crucial role in the development of the country. Chiefs in Malawi are considered custodians of culture but they have been greatly abused and manipulated by politicians to play partisan politics.

Senior chiefs receive a monthly stipend of about K50,000 while traditional authorities and group head chiefs also receive some allowances described as peanuts for survival.     

According to the Malawi News Agency, the chieftaincy of Kadewere is of Yao ethnic group and comes from the dynasty of Chibwana Kalonga Kadewere who settled in Kaphirintiya in the late 1800s and later settled at Ndunde in Chiradzulu. Robert John Mangani is the third chief in the dynasty of the Kadewere’s chieftaincy and was installed as Traditional Authority Kadewere in 1986.

During the ceremony, Pres Banda gave the newly elevated chief a double upright fridge and cash gift amounting to K500,000.
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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction without acknowledgment prohibited

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