By DELPHINE ZULU –

THE Lusaka High Court has nullified the installation of Kilolo Ng’ambi as Chief Kapijimpanga of the Kaonde people of North-Western Province, citing non compliance with established customs and traditions to ascend to the throne.
Opa Kapijimpanga  had sued Mr Ng’ambi, the Attorney General and James Lwasha for  wrongly installing and imposing the first defendant as Chief Kapijimpanga.
In her judgment, high court Judge Jane Kabuka ordered the stakeholders in the chieftainancy such as indunas, group leaders and subjects  to participate in the selection process and all eligible candidates be accorded an opportunity to offer themselves as possible successors.
“Having nullified the selection of Mr Ng’ambi as Chief Kapijimpanga as one that was marred by wrangles, confusion and circumstances generally, not conducive for the selection and installation of any person as successor to the throne, I direct that a fresh selection and installation be undertaken as guided,” she said.
Justice Kabuka also ordered that the whole process be concluded within 90 days from the date of judgment as it was the preserve of the royal family members to select a new chief.
She said senior Chief Mujimanzovu acted in contravention of the established Kaonde tradition and customs for selecting a successor to the Kapijimpanga throne, which was the preserve of the royal family, the electoral college.
Justice Kabuka stated that her judgment should not only address the present difficulties, but should also set a precedence for resolving any such eventualities in the future.
“It cannot be denied that society is pragmatic and tradition evolves from formulating new solutions to meet new challenges for which tradition did not provide an answer on account of the fact that such challenges had never been encountered in the past,” she said.
Justice Kabuka said the criteria for eligibility was well defined by tradition and had entrenched sieving processes where, each candidate was required to orally present his family tree and identify his lineage to the electoral college as it had the sole preserve of selecting a chief.