Government has been urged to compel all traditional establishments across the country to submit data of family trees to the house of chiefs in order to address succession disputes.
Benny Musonda, 52, of 75 Independence way in Mkushi district told the Legal and Justice Sector Reform Commission sitting in the district that chiefdoms must be obligated to disclose their lineages so that succession disputes can be avoided.
Mr. Musonda said the move can greatly help in lessening challenges the country faces in resolving succession disputes.
He said this can also help strengthen the installation process of chiefs.
He pointed out that most succession disputes in chiefdoms arise from weak and less important differences between royal family members thereby affecting innocent subjects.
Mr. Musonda further suggested that special tribunals should be set up to work in collaboration with the house of chiefs in dealing with the succession disputes.
He said the traditional tribunals should be restricted to preside over traditional matters in a particular province due to the varying cultural and traditional practices obtaining in respective provinces.
Thank you LT. Until you mentioned it I didn’t even know we had such a problem in Zambia. People fighting over village headman posts.
Up to now traditional establishments do not maintain registers!
Good idea, but what criteria will be used to approve these lineages in each chiefdom. you should realize that in each chiefdom there will be several camps claiming ownership of the thrown and we should expect each camp to come up with its own lineage. an incorruptible arbitration team will have to be put in place to approve these lineages.