Young people in Kafukule constituency are threatening legal action to halt a government recruitment process they say has been manipulated by a traditional leader to punish communities whose village headmen fell out of his favour.
The dispute centres on the recruitment of officers to support the implementation of Malawi's reformed Constituency Development Fund -- a K5 billion initiative rolled out by the Democratic Progressive Party administration to drive development at constituency level.
Positions being filled include constituency assistant accountants, assistant procurement officers and works supervisors.
Under recruitment guidelines, applicants must be residents of their constituency and have their applications stamped by their local traditional authority.
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But in Kafukule, that provision has allegedly been weaponised.
Traditional Authority Chindi of Mzimba district is accused of systematically blocking applications from subjects of 13 village headmen in the Kapando area -- chiefs he suspended in 2024 during a chieftaincy dispute, only for a High Court order to restore them to their positions.
The enmity, sources say, has never abated.
"Chindi's office has always ensured that the subjects of the restored village heads are pushed away from accessing government assistance -- including last year's fertiliser subsidy," alleged one affected resident.
Among those shut out is Joseph Kumwenda, 30, who says his application was not stamped by Chindi's office and that he was told to claim a different village headman -- one other than Kamchere, where he actually lives -- and to pay K150,000.
His name does not appear on the shortlist for Kafukule constituency, a copy of which the Guardian has seen.
Kumwenda said he sought help from the Ombudsman's office and the M'mbelwa District Commissioner before concluding that neither would act.
He is now preparing to go to court.
"I have no option but to seek the court's intervention," he said. "Chindi's personal fights with his own junior chiefs should not affect the youth or violate their rights."
He warned that if left unchecked, the traditional authority's conduct could extend to processes such as passport and national identity card applications -- with potentially devastating consequences for young people in the area.
"We have decided to put a stop to this by mobilising ourselves against him," Kumwenda said. "We will do piece work to raise the money required to secure a court injunction."
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Kavunguti ward councillor Timothy Bornface Joe Tembo said he had personally encouraged many young people in the area to apply for the positions and had even secured an endorsement from a neighbouring traditional authority, TA Mtwalo, as an alternative -- but the deadline had already passed.
"This is happening when the DC himself complained about a shortage of applicants during a council meeting," Tembo said.
"It leaves out skilled and qualified young people who could have helped uplift their own households and communities."
Attempts to reach Zimuskelele Nyoni at TA Chindi's office were unsuccessful. M'mbelwa District Commissioner Emmanuel Bulukutu was also unavailable for comment.
The allegations raise broader questions about how recruitment guidelines are being applied across other constituencies -- and whether what has come to light in Kafukule is, as one source put it, merely "the tip of the iceberg."
