Minister of Local Government, Lingson Belekanyama, has urged chiefs to avoid corruption and political involvement in order to maintain peace and love in their communities.
The plea was made on Thursday in Lilongwe during elevation ceremony of Traditional Authority (T/A) Chitukula to Senior Chief.
He said chiefs are custodians of peace, so they are supposed to show good example to the people under them.
“There are a lot of stories that the chiefs sell land the way they please in the name of customary land, yet the land belongs to government and this is not good because they are taking advantage of their position doing things that they were not supposed to do,” said Belekanyama.
He added that the chiefs should not involve themselves in politics by showing their party colours and encouraging others to support the same because everyone has a choice of whom to support and as chiefs, their duty is to work for their people and not work as politicians.
Member of Parliament for Lilongwe City Centre, Alfred Jiya, said the elevation of Senior Chief Chitukula will help the development of the country and specifically Lilongwe because he now has the authority to dictate how development projects should be in the localities.
“We will work hand in hand with the newly elevated chief so that good roads, clean water and electricity should reach here,” Jiya said.
Spokesperson for the chiefs’ council, T/A Masumbankhunda was happy to witness the memorable event of their fellow leader.
He said as leaders, they will show a good example by avoiding corruption and separating themselves from politics, so that they should not bring confusion to the people they lead.
The newly elevated is number 10 in the lines of the chieftaincy.
