Abstract
Since the passing of the Traditional Leaders Act in Zimbabwe in 1998, the state’s recognition and incorporation of traditional leadership in governance has increased considerably. This has coincided with the emerging political and economic crisis in the country, with traditional leaders being increasingly empowered as actors in local governance alongside locally elected democratic governments. Through the prism of natural resource management schemes in the Gokwe area of Zimbabwe, this chapter discusses the contested status of traditional leaders in decentralized democratic governance,1 as well as relating the specific Zimbabwean context to the wider debate over the relationship between processes of democratization, decentralization, and the recognition of traditional authority. In particular the chapter asks what are the consequences of the increased state recognition of traditional leaders for questions of accountability, governance, and legitimacy in rural areas.
Keywords
- Natural Resource Management
- Communal Land
- Participatory Rural Appraisal
- Rule Party
- Traditional Authority
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alexander, Jocelyn, JoAnn McGregor, and Terence Ranger (2000) Violence and Memory: One Hundred Years in the “Dark Forests” of Matabeleland, Oxford: James Currey.
Beall, Jo (2005) Exit, Voice and Tradition: Loyalty to Chieftainship and Democracy in Metropolitan Durban, South Africa, Working Paper No. 59, London: Crisis States Research Centre, LSE.
Bernstein, Henry (2002) Land Reform: Taking a Long(er) View, in Journal of Agrarian Change, 2 (4): 433–63.
Bond, Ivan (1999) CAMPFIRE as a Vehicle for Sustainable Rural Development in the Semi Arid Communal Lands of Zimbabwe: Incentives for Institutional Change, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Zimbabwe.
Borrini-Feyerbend, Grazia, Mohammed Taghi Farvar, Claude Nguinguri, and Vincent Ndangang (2000) Co-management of Natural Resources: Organizing, Negotiating and Learning-by-doing, retrieved from www.massey.ac.nz/changelinks/cmnrl.html. on January 19, 2001, GTZ and IUCN Regional Office for Central Africa.
Bruce, John, Louise Fortmann, and Calvin Nhira (1993) Tenures in Transition, Tenures in Conflict: Examples from the Zimbabwe Social Forest, in Rural Sociology, 58 (4): 626–42.
Chambati, Ariston (1973) Africans and the Struggle for their Rights in Rhodesia, 1923–1972, in S.E. Wilmer (ed.): Zimbabwe Now, London: Rex Collings: 29–43.
Chitsike, Langford (2000) Decentralization and Devolution of Campfire in Zimbabwe, Harare: University of Zimbabwe.
Corrales, Javier (2004) The Gatekeeper State: Limited Economic Reforms and Regime Survival in Cuba, 1989–2002, in Latin American Research Review, 39 (2): 36–65.
Drinkwater, Michael (1989) Technical Development and Peasant Impoverishment: Land Use Policy in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province, in Journal of Southern African Studies, 15 (2): 287–305.
Fallers, Lloyd (1955) The Predicament of the Modern African Chief: An Instance from Uganda, in American Anthropologist, 57: 290–305.
Herald (2005) All Chiefs Set to Receive Vehicles, The Herald online version www.herald.co.zw accessed on February 1, 2005.
Holleman, Johan Frederik (1968) Chief Council and Commissioner, London: Oxford University Press.
Jones, Brian and Marshall Murphree (2001) The Evolution of Policy on Community Conservation in Namibia and Zimbabwe, in D. Hulme and M. Murphree (eds): African Wildlife and Livelihoods, Oxford: James Currey: 38–58.
Keulder, Christiaan (1998) Traditional Leaders and Local Government in Africa: Lessons for South Africa, Pretoria: HSRC.
Lan, David (1985) Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe, London: James Currey.
Levy, Marion (1965) Patterns of Modernization and Political Development, in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 358: 29–40.
Makumbe, John (1996) Democracy and Development in Zimbabwe: Constraints of Decentralization, Harare: SAPES Trust.
Mamdani, Mahmood (1996) Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Mamimine, Patrick and Stephen Mandivengerei (2001) Traditional and Modern Institutions of Governance in Community Based Natural Resource Management, Commons Southern Africa Occasional Paper Series, University of Western Cape.
Mandondo, Alois (2000) Forging (Un)democratic Resource Governance Systems from the Relic of Zimbabwe’s Colonial Past, Harare: Institute of Environmental Studies.
Mandondo, Alois and Everisto Mapedza (2003) Allocation of Governmental Authority and Responsibility in Tiered Governance Systems: The Case of Forest-Related Laws in Zimbabwe, Washington: World Resources Institute.
Manor, James (2004) User Committees: a Potentially Damaging Second Wave of Decentralization?, in European Journal of Development Research, 16(1): 192–213.
Mapedza, Everisto (2003) The Power Dynamics in Co-management of Forestry Resources: The Case of the Mafungautsi Forest Reserve in Gokwe (Zimbabwe), unpublished PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.
Mapedza, Everisto and Alois Mandondo (2002) Co-management in the Mafungautsi Forest Area of Zimbabwe-What Stake for Local Communities?, Washington: World Resources Institute.
Maponga, George (2004) Stay On, Chiefs Tell President, The Herald Online version on www.herald.co.zw accessed on May 8, 2004.
Maponga, Valentine (2005) More Zanu PF “Bribes” for Traditional Leaders, The Standard online version www.thestandard.co.zw accessed on February 7, 2005.
Mohamed-Katerere, Jennifer (2001) Participatory Natural Resources Management in the Communal Lands of Zimbabwe: What Role for Customary Law?, in African Studies Quarterly, 5 (3), retrieved from http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i3a7.htm on December 6, 2006.
Moyo, Sam (1995) The Land Question in Zimbabwe, Harare: SAPES Books.
Mugari, Shakeman (2004) Chiefs’ Benefits to Gobble $27.5 Billion, The Zimbabwe Independent on www.theindependent.co.zw retrieved on May 14, 2004.
Murphree, Marshall (1991) Communities as Institutions for Resource Management, University of Zimbabwe: CASS.
Ntsebeza, Lungisile (2005) Democracy Compromised: Chiefs and the Politics of Land in South Africa, Leiden: Brill.
Ribot, Jesse (1996) Participation without Representation: Chiefs, Councils and Forestry Law, in West Africa Sahel Cultural Survival Quarterly, 20 (3).
— (1999a) Decentralization, Participation and Accountability in Sahelian Forestry: Legal Instruments of Political-Administrative Control, in Africa, 69(1): 23–65.
— (1999b) Integral Local Development: Authority, Accountability and Entrustment in Natural Resource Management, working paper prepared for the Regional Program for the Traditional Energy Sector (RPTES) in the Africa Technical Group (AFTG1—Energy) of The World Bank, April 1999, Washington: World Bank.
— (2001) Integral Local Development: “Accommodating Multiple Interests” though Entrustments and Accountable Representation, in International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 1 (3/4): 327–50.
Spierenburg, Marja (1995) The Role of the Mhondoro Cult in the Struggle for Control over Land in Dande (Northern Zimbabwe): Social Commentaries and the Influence of Adherents, Harare: University of Zimbabwe.
Thomas, Stephen (1991) The Legacy of Dualism and Decision-making; The Prospects for Institutional Development in CAMPFIRE, Harare: University of Zimbabwe.
Ubink, Janine (2005) Peri-urban Land Administration: Chiefs, State and Customary Law in Ghana, paper presented at the Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS) held in London from June 29 to July 3, 2005.
Vaughan, Olufemi and Terence Ranger (1993) Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth-century Africa: Essays in Honor of A. H. M. Kirk-Greene, Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishing.
Vupenyu, Dzingirai. (1999) Politics and Ideology: Getting Settled in the Sikomena Area of Chief Dibola, Harare: University of Zimbabwe.
Weber, Max (1947) The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, New York: The Free Press.
— (1968) Economy and Society, New York: Bedminster Press.
Weinrich, Anna Katharina Hildegard (1971) Chiefs and Councils in Rhodesia: Transition from Patriarchal to Bureaucratic Power, London: Heinemann.
Whitacker, Sylvester (1970) The Politics of Tradition: Continuity and Change in Northern Nigeria 1946–1966, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Wunsch, James Stevenson and Dele Olowu (1990) The Failure of the Centralized State: Institutions and Self-Governance in Africa, Boulder CO: Westview Press.
ZimOnline (2004) Chief Pledges to Weed out MDC Supporters from Area, online version on www.zimonline.co.zw accessed on October 12, 2004.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2007 Lars Buur and Helene Maria Kyed
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mapedza, E. (2007). Traditional Authority: Accountability and Governance in Zimbabwe. In: Buur, L., Kyed, H.M. (eds) State Recognition and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Studies in Governance, Security, and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230609716_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230609716_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-36980-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-60971-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)