MUKUNI ROYAL DYNASTY COMMITTEE CHALLENGES BRE
THE Mukuni Royal Dynasty Committee has challenged the Litunga’s intervention in its legal battle for recognition of Chief Munokalya Mupotola IV Siloka III Mukuni XIX as a paramount chief, arguing that the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) has no legal standing to interfere.
In an affidavit opposing the application for joinder, committee director general Jonas Shakafuswa says the petition concerns the Government’s continued administrative classification of Chief Mukuni as an ordinary chief, rather than as a king or paramount chief under the customary law and traditions of the Bene Mukuni.
Mr Shakafuswa argues that the dispute is strictly between the Bene Mukuni and the State, hence does not concern the Litunga or BRE.
The committee’s petition, filed in the Constitutional Court on June 25, 2026, challenges the continued classification, which it says has since been declared unconstitutional.
It contends that the classification is inconsistent with Articles 1, 165, 166, 167 and 266 of the Constitution and wants the court to declare that Bene Mukuni customs and traditions vest the office of Munokalya Mukuni with the status of paramount chief and king of the Bene Mukuni.
The Litunga, through Wanga Mutungulu, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Litunga and BRE, has applied to join the proceedings, arguing that the outcome could fuel rebellion against long established traditional systems and authority structures across Zambia.
Mr Mutungulu says the Litunga superintends over 131 chieftainships and area indunas representing 38 ethnic groups in Western Province.
He wants to participate in the proceedings so that the court can fully consider the historical and traditional issues surrounding paramountcy.
However, Mr Shakafuswa says BRE is a distinct traditional institution governed by its own customs, history and structures and has demonstrated no legal or customary connection to the Bene Mukuni traditional institution.
He argues that the Litunga has not shown how a determination of the petition will affect his functions or the authority of BRE.
“The people of Western Province and the BRE [are] a distinct traditional institution, governed by their own separate customary laws, histories and traditional structures, and [are] wholly independent of, and [have] not demonstrated [a] legal or customary connection to, the Bene Mukuni people or their traditional institution, which is the subject of the petition,” he said.
Mr Shakafuswa says public interest alone does not constitute sufficient legal interest to justify joinder, particularly as no relief is sought against the Litunga or BRE.
The Chitimukulu of the Bemba people and Gawa Undi of the Chewa people are the other two paramount chiefs seeking joinder to the petition.