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Names
	Mbalekelwa Chimpempo M'mbelwa V Jele
Regnal name
	M'mbelwa

Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa V
Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa V
Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa V
King of the Ngoni Nation
Reign	2 June 2013 – present
Coronation	3 July 2013
Predecessor	M'mbelwa IV
Born	2 June 1985 (age 39); Edingeni, Mzimba, Malawi
Spouse	Queen Jere;
Issue	; ;
Names
Names
	Mbalekelwa Chimpempo M'mbelwa V Jele
Regnal name
	M'mbelwa
House	House of M'mbelwa
Father	King M'mbelwa IV
Mother	Dindani Lukhele
Religion	Church of Central Africa Presbyterian

Inkosi Ya Makhosi M'mbelwa V (born 2 June 1979) is the reigning^[1] King of the Ngoni and Tumbuka people in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.^[2] M'mbelwa V is the fifth surviving son of the great-grandfather King Zwangendaba Jele and Queen Munene of the Nzima clan of present-day Eswatini.^[3] M'mbelwa V inherited his father's kingdom when he passed away in February 2013 at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Malawi's commercial city, Blantyre, where he was diagnosed with diabetes attack and hypertension.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] During his death, he was 56 years old.^[5]^[8]^[9] M'mbelwa V's headquarters is in Edingeni, Mzimba.^[8]^[10] He is married to Inkosikazi M'mbelwa V.^[11]^[12]^[13] During COVID-19 in 2020, he instructed the government to avoid mass gatherings of people.^[14]

Background

Early life

M'mbelwa V was born in Mzimba district on 2 June 1985. His father the late King M'mbelwa IV passed away in February 2013.^[9]^[5] He holds a Diploma.^[8] In 2017, M'Mbelwa proposed the Malawi government to recognize Mzimba district as a kingdom controlled district to preserve the power hierarchy. This was due to tension that rose from other group of people known as the Friends of Mabilabo who wanted to have another Ngoni paramount chief within the district.^[15] Senior Chief Mabilabo claimed to have never heard of such news for the call for the paramount chief in his area.^[15]

M'mbelwa District Council (Mzimba) ward councillors who were pushing for the division of Mzimba criticised M'mbelwa for prioritising kingdom talk, as the district need to be split into two for easy development programs. Fumu Mdolo who brought news to King M'Mbelwa about splitting the district said the idea was dividing the district, and not the kingdom.^[15]

Origin of Ngoni Kings

The origins of the Ngoni can be traked down in South Africa in the early years of the nineteenth century. The first contact of M'Mbelwa kings with the Livingstonia Church mission in Malawi was in the early 1878. This was the time when had they left South Africa due to tribal wars with the Zulu king.^[16]

Chronology of Ngoni kings

M'mbelwa I

Mbelwa I was the son of Zwangendaba, who at the time, married a Swazi woman, Munene. He was born at Mabili in Malawi in 1840. At the age of 5, he lost his father and after a succession dispute following his fathers death, his supporters went back to Malawi where they stay.^[16]^[17]