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dc.contributor.authorChigwata, Tinashe Calton
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-26T11:26:15Z
dc.date.available2018-07-26T11:26:15Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.citationChigwata, Tinashe. (2016). The role of traditional leaders in Zimbabwe: are they still relevant?. Law, Democracy and Development, 20, 69-90. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ldd.v20i1.4en_US
dc.identifier.issn2077-4907
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ldd.v20i1.4
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/3913
dc.description.abstractAs in many other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the institution of traditional leadership has always been central to the governance of communities in Zimbabwe. Traditional authorities take various forms and shapes in many African countries including Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, for example, the structures and systems of the institution of leadership in Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Tonga and Venda ethnic communities have some remarkable differences even though they also depict certain similarities. Currently and generally, the institution of traditional leadership comprises chiefs, headmen and village heads- in order of hierarchy. Village heads are physically the closest to the people and thus, have the most interactions with the citizens in rural areas. Prior to the colonisation of Zimbabwe, the institution of traditional leadership was the sole governance structure with legitimacy to govern derived from tradition and culture. Traditional leaders had fused "governmental" powers and authority, ie judicial, administrative and political. Soon after colonisation in 1890 the colonial government dismantled, and in some cases replaced, traditional governance structures with "modern" State institutions as it sought to advance its interests and exercise firm control over the Black population.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of the Western Capeen_US
dc.rightsThis is the author version of the article published online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ldd.v20i1.4
dc.subjectZimbabween_US
dc.subjectEthnic Communitiesen_US
dc.subjectState Institutionsen_US
dc.subjectTraditionalen_US
dc.subjectSub-Saharan Africaen_US
dc.titleThe role of traditional leaders in Zimbabwe: are they still relevant?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE


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