Row over Uutoni’s Masubia succession recommendation

By Uaueza Kanguatjivi

THE dispute over the Masubia chieftainship threatens to boil over after the Kasika Royal House refused to adhere to urban development minister Erastus Uutoni’s recommendations.
The urban development ministry conducted investigations on the succession dispute of the Masubia Traditional Authority between December 2022 and May 2023.
The dispute arose after the death of Masubia chief Kisco Maiba Moraliswani III, who succumbed to Covid-19 in July 2021.

Chief Moraliswani II’s eldest son, Gilbert Muhongo Mutwa, whose father died in 1996, said he had since been nominated for the chieftaincy by the Ngoma Royal House, one of the three houses within the Masubia Traditional Authority. The other two royal houses are Kasika and Mahundu.

Mutwa claimed the Masubia Traditional Authority chieftaincy follows a patrilineal succession, making him and his cousin Sinvula Bartholomeu Maiba, who supports his claim, the only ones with the rightful claim to the throne.

The minister recommended that Mutwa and Maiba are both from the patrimonial lineage, while the other two aspiring candidates, James Kabati and Fredrick Nalisa-Nalisa, are from the maternal lineage.
In his recommendations, the minister highlighted that the male side of the family lineage administers family heritage.

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