Times Of Swaziland: MONENI DISPUTE DEPRIVES OVER100 HOMES OF ELECTRICITY

MONENI DISPUTE DEPRIVES OVER100 HOMES OF ELECTRICITY
================================================================================
BY VUYILE DLAMINI on 24/05/2021 08:24:00


MANZINI – Over 100 homesteads have been in darkness following challenges in
getting electricity supply due to a dispute between the Moneni and Lwandle
chiefdoms.
Some residents who reside on Farm no.9, popularly known as ‘The Peebles
Block’ in Moneni, have been wrought with conflict following the long-standing
dispute between Lwandle and Moneni areas. ‘The Peebles Block’ is believed to
be at the centre of both Moneni and Lwandle, and according to an order issued by
Manzini King’s Liasion Officer Thamsanqa Thikazi, residents of Farm No. 9 are
expected to pledge allegiance to the Lwandle umphakatsi. All along, Prince
Mshoshi II, also known as Polycarp Dlamini, has been the overseer at Moneni,
while Lwandle is under the leadership of Chief Nkamane Mkhatshwa.
Moneni is the same area where there is contestation of a farm belonging to the
King, known as Farm No.9. It is said Prince Mshoshi II and Chief Nkamane had
allocated a piece of land to residents, while it was ruled that Chief Nkamane
was the rightful authority to allocate the land. According to the court,
residents of this area had to pay allegiance to Lwandle umphakatsi, due to the
fact that most residents of Moneni had chief code from Lwandle.
However, while the rulings were made and life appeared to return to normal, over
100 residents of Farm no. 9 have expressed their dissatisfaction at being
sidelined when seeking certain services, such as obtaining letters to install
electricity poles in their area. In 2017, some of the residents were allocated
land in the area called Luhlelisweni by libandla, which was led by former
Indvuna Yenkhundla Henry Nene, which is an area on Farm No.9, which is between
Moneni and Masekweni. It is said that after being allocated the land, the
residents went to the Moneni umphakatsi, which is overseen by Prince Mshoshi
III, where they paid their allegiance in the form of E20 000, after which the
plots were allocated.
After a ceremony was held, the residents were advised to build structures on
their plots, however, while building the structures, the residents claimed that
police officers arrived, delivered summons to the effect that it was illegal for
them to build structures when the land they were building on was unlawfully
allocated to them. Those summons, it is alleged, were issued by officials from
Lwandle, who alleged that the land had been wrongfully allocated to them.
Confused about these latest developments, the residents are said to have then
approached the Moneni chiefdom, where they questioned the former Indvuna about
the allocation of the land. However, the former Indvuna is alleged to have
assured them that the land was under Moneni chiefdom, and they should continue
building the structures.