Traditional Leardership in Zimbabwe
Constitutional select committee
TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTIONS AND CUSTOMS
A paper presented by
Chakunda Vincent
January 2009
Harare, Zimbabwe
BACKGROUND
Africans in this country including those in urban areas have their roots in some rural community under the jurisdiction of traditional authority systems. This system of traditional authority is entrusted with the custodianship of clan customs, rituals and tradition. It is important to note that it is these customary and cultural attributes that distinguish us as a people. Such customs have been passed on through generations and affect our general and affect our general deportment and decorum, how we relate with others, family conduct and hierarchy, courtship and marriage.
In the pre-colonial era, chiefs enjoyed unlimited and undefined powers over the tribe. The chief was the custodian of tribal land and allocated it to tribesman to farm and for residential purposes. The chief was legislator, adjudicator and executor all in one.
The system was however unraveled with the advent of colonialism. With colonialism traditional leaders were turned into auxiliaries for the colonial administration and were stripped of much of their powers. Non-pliant chiefs were often deposed and replaced with more malleable ones.
In post-independence Africa, the political elite has largely accommodated the traditional leadership systems without necessarily considering them as important components for building the modern post independence state. In the Zimbabwean context, the post-independence era saw the enactment and subsequent passing of the Chiefs and Headmen Act, Chapter 29.01 that relegated and condemned traditional authority to the periphery zones of governance as a result of the perceived role they played during the liberation struggle.
However, the evident influence of traditional leaders despite efforts by government to thwart their powers was challenged by the findings of the Rukuni Commission leading to the
TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTIONS AND CUSTOMS
A paper presented by
Chakunda Vincent
January 2009
Harare, Zimbabwe
BACKGROUND
Africans in this country including those in urban areas have their roots in some rural community under the jurisdiction of traditional authority systems. This system of traditional authority is entrusted with the custodianship of clan customs, rituals and tradition. It is important to note that it is these customary and cultural attributes that distinguish us as a people. Such customs have been passed on through generations and affect our general and affect our general deportment and decorum, how we relate with others, family conduct and hierarchy, courtship and marriage.
In the pre-colonial era, chiefs enjoyed unlimited and undefined powers over the tribe. The chief was the custodian of tribal land and allocated it to tribesman to farm and for residential purposes. The chief was legislator, adjudicator and executor all in one.
The system was however unraveled with the advent of colonialism. With colonialism traditional leaders were turned into auxiliaries for the colonial administration and were stripped of much of their powers. Non-pliant chiefs were often deposed and replaced with more malleable ones.
In post-independence Africa, the political elite has largely accommodated the traditional leadership systems without necessarily considering them as important components for building the modern post independence state. In the Zimbabwean context, the post-independence era saw the enactment and subsequent passing of the Chiefs and Headmen Act, Chapter 29.01 that relegated and condemned traditional authority to the periphery zones of governance as a result of the perceived role they played during the liberation struggle.
However, the evident influence of traditional leaders despite efforts by government to thwart their powers was challenged by the findings of the Rukuni Commission leading to the
References: ACDP. (1999), Local Governance and Participation, ACDP, Harare. Chiefs and Headman Act, Chapter 29.01. (1980), Government Printers, Harare. Englebert P. (2001), Resurgent Traditional Institutions. Contemporary Politics in Africa. The Buganda Experiment, Meno Press, Meno. Koelble W, et al (2005), Traditional Leaders and Democracy. Cultural Politics in the Age of Circulation, James Curry, London. Makumbe J. (1998), Democracy and Development, University of Zimbabwe, Harare. Mohammed S. (2003), African Political Parties, Evolution, Institutionalization and Governance, Pluto Press, London. Przeworski et al (2000), Democracy and Development, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. William J. (2000), The Struggle for Social Control in South Africa: Traditional Leaders and the Establishment in Kwazulu Natal. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Traditional Leaders Act, Chapter 29.17. (1998), Government Printers Harare.