A former teacher identified as Harrison Sichinda aged 49 years old has been arrested by police for installing himself as new Chief Msoro of the Kunda people in Eastern Province.

Eastern province Police Commissioner Alex Chilufya told News Diggers in an interview that the suspect was picked up by police when he attempted to attend a funeral of an induna and proclaimed himself as the new Chief Msoro.

“As you may be aware Chief Msoro (in picture below) of the Kunda people in Mambwe district passed away some few months ago, and this person has emerged from nowhere claiming to be the new Chief Msoro and in the process, of course he has been purporting to posses authority to carry out certain acts that only an installed chief should be able to perform. And of course this is a recipe for anarchy because this divides members of the community and can lead to violence and other undesirable consequences,” Chilufya said.

Chilufya said that the suspect was arrested for breaching the traditional norms and procedures of choosing the new chief.

“There is also a breach of traditional norms and procedure in choosing the new chief. The hierarchy within the royal establishment that presides over such matters and they have a way of designating that chief and installing him, only then and by that authority do we have a new chief or a new Msoro. Any other acts is an abrogation of that authority and procedure and its an offense of course. So this person was picked up on sunday 16th July, 2017 because he found himself at a funeral of an induna and he was there proclaiming himself to be the new chief Msoro,” said Chilufya