Mzuzu City mayor takes on MP

Mzuzu City Council(MCC) mayor William Mkandawire has accused Mzuzu City member of Parliament (MP) Leonard Njikho of sabotaging government by recognising chiefs in the city when government banned them.

The mayor has since asked government to intervene, saying chiefs are creating problems for the council.

Speaking during the launch of the second phase of dissemination of local governance documents at Sunbird Mzuzu on Monday, Mkandawire said the chiefs frustrate the council’s operations as they bar councillors from conducting meetings in some wards.

The mayor said it was frustrating that while the council is trying to get rid of traditional leaders in the city, the MP is encouraging them to work with block leaders.

But Njikho said the Mzuzu scenario is different from other cities. He said the city’s boundaries were being expanded without consulting chiefs hence, it is hard for the chiefs to let go of their chieftaincy.

He said he still respects traditional leaders considering that they have not been formally stripped of their chieftaincy. He said the chiefs have the right of claim because it is their birth right.

“I don’t think it will be right, constitutionally to tell them you are no longer leaders before we actually advise them to say this land is no longer under your jurisdiction, icouncil. So, that is why I still respect these traditional leaders,” said Njikho.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa refused to comment on the matter, saying it is in court. n