Chief Khayisa Ndiweni
Chief Khayisa Ndiweni was an outspoken traditional leader of the Ntabazinduna area in Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe from 1939 to 2010 when he died. He is the father of the current Chief Ndiweni.
As Chief
He was a leading figure in the Zimbabwe United People’s Organisation (ZUPO) party in the late 1970s, but left to found the United National Federal Party. He attended the 1979 Lancaster House Conference in London where an agreement secured Zimbabwe’s independence. Chief Ndiweni advocated a federal state at the 1980 Lancaster House constitution talks. He wanted the separation of Zimbabwe into sub-regions.[1]
Ndiweni served as the Minister for Works in the government of Abel Muzorewa in 1979–80.[1]
He became unpopular with President Robert Mugabe after he said that Matabeleland region was being sidelined and underdeveloped. At one time, he is said to have refused to meet President Mugabe at a hotel in Bulawayo, and instead ‘summoned’ the Head of State to his Ntabazinduna home.[1]
Lineage
Chief Ndiweni is a direct descendant of Gundwane Ndiweni, the first Ndebele paramount chief who led a Nguni splinter group, separate to that of King Mzilikazi, into present-day Zimbabwe in 1838.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Elliot Siamonga, A chief out of touch with reality, The Patriot, Published:22 October 2015, Retrieved: 27 May 2019