Page 1 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 01
January 2018
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 83
Traditional leadership role in rural community
development in Zimbabwe: opportunities and
challenges
Quegas Mutale
Rural Community Development worker based in Binga, Zimbabwe
quegasmutale@gmail.com
Abstract:
The article sought to draw attention towards
analysing the opportunities and challenges of
traditional leadership in rural community
development role. Traditional leaders include
chiefs, headmen, and village heads. Focus was
also placed on analysis of the position of the
Zimbabwean legislation in relation to traditional
leadership contribution to rural community
development. The major concepts in this paper are
rural community development and traditional
leadership. The paper was developed from
reviewing existing literature. Content analysis of
the legislation of Zimbabwe coined part of the
paper, together with a strong synthesis of other
scholarly work. The opportunities wielded by
traditional leaders in Zimbabwe in context of rural
community development include legal recognition;
close proximity to the community; and
representation at the Chiefs’ councils. However,
challenges faced involved politicisation of the
traditional leadership institutions, conflicts with
local governments and the elected local leaders,
gender disparities in the institution of traditional
leaders, and lack of good leadership skills.
Therefore, this paper concluded that traditional
leaders in Zimbabwe lacked meaningful
participation in community development mainly
because of too much assemble between traditional
leadership and state politics. Hence, there is need
to dis-assemble traditional leadership from state- politics and increase traditional leadership
independence.
Key words: traditional leadership,
opportunities, challenges, rural, community
development
1. Introduction
Traditional leadership in Zimbabwe emerged into a
lot of transformation. The government of
Zimbabwe geared many reforms in the local
government system, with notable intermittent
empowerment and disempowerment of traditional
leadership role, especially in terms of rural
community development which this paper dwells
its thoughts on. These traditional leaders served as
political, spiritual, military and cultural leaders on
matters related to defence development and
cultural practices (Bikam and Chakwizira, 2014:
145).The political landscape befalling the country
determined the level and type of response of the
ruling governments on traditional leaders.
Traditional institutions are very varied and
although indigenous in origin, they have changed
in many ways during the colonial and post-colonial
periods (Crook, 2005). The uneven, undulating
ground upon which traditional leaders were
exposed in both pre and post-colonial Zimbabwe
created a lot of challenges. However, opportunities
were realised by the legal recognition of traditional
leadership role as an agent in rural community
development. Therefore, this paper is spearheaded
by the need to examine the opportunities and
threats of traditional leadership role in rural
community development, a specific area in which
many scholars left voids.
2. Conceptual framework
2.1.Traditional leadership
Traditional leaders are hereditary local
neighbourhood leaders who are selected
through rules of succession (Dodo, 2013).
They comprise of chiefs, headmen and village
heads. Traditional leadership has differences
that are specific to particular tribes. In some
societies, on the system of traditional
leadership also involves the paramount chiefs.
A traditional leader is a head of the community
Page 2 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 01
January 2018
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 84
under his/her jurisdiction who then is supposed
to supervise headmen and village heads
(Dodo, 2013). Section 11(1)(a) of the South
African National House of Traditional Leaders
Act, (2009) (Act 2 of 2009), states that
traditional leaders must cooperate with the
provincial houses of traditional leaders in
order to promote socio-economic development
and service delivery, and the social well-being
and welfare of communities among other
functions(George and Binza, 2011). In South
Africa, the Constitution gives the background
to what the institutions of traditional
leadership and the municipalities in the rural
areas are, and what they are supposed to do
(George and Binza, 2011). Roy (2003a), cited
by Dodo (2013) insists that traditional leaders
in Ghana are accorded their responsibilities
and are participants in the national
development planning teams. In Ghana,
traditional leaders are important in pursuing
roles of Control over land, Family wealth,
Cultural leadership, Political representation of
the community and community identity, Duty
to work for the progress of the community
(Crook, 2005). The institution, status and role
of traditional leaders are recognised under the
customary law; and a traditional leader is
responsible for performing the cultural,
customary and traditional functions of a Chief,
head person or village head, as the case may
be, for his or her community according to
section 280 of the 2013 Constitution of
Zimbabwe (GoZ, 2013). Similarly, the
Traditional leaders Act classify traditional
leaders as chiefs, village heads, and headmen.
These traditional leadership structures
therefore present rural community
development functions as they also have
crucial roles in the development forums like
village and ward assembly and their close
linkage with the local authorities, the
institutions mandated to deliver services at
local level.
2.2.Rural Community development
(CD)
Cavay (2001) claims that rural community
development fundamentally involves a process a
series of actions and decisions that improves the
situation of a community, not just economically,
but also as a strong functioning community. It is
through action, participation and contact that the
community becomes more vital, more able to
manage change with stronger networks,
organisational ability, skills, leadership and
passion (Cavay, 2001). Therefore, traditional
leadership is a prominent authority that is supposed
to usher in a lot of efforts towards meeting the
rural community development agenda. In other
words, Egenti, (2001) and Osuji, (2004) cited by
Ajelere and Olaleye (2015) order that community
development is a practice, as well as a process of
cooperation between the citizens and/or external
bodies to satisfy communal felt-needs. Traditional
leaders are there to improve this necessary
cooperation that fuses to satisfy human needs in
rural areas of Zimbabwe.
Moreover, Community development is of utmost
importance to any developing economy of the
world (Ajelere and Olaleye, 2015). Community
development also encompasses concepts like
decentralisation, participation, empowerment, and
mobilisation. These fuel the engine of rural
development in the country where they are
properly allowed to take part. Community
development has been an important and effective
concept to cooling off the heat and drudgery that
the people in the rural communities and urban
slums go through (Bonye, Aasoglenang, and
Sekyere, 2013). Community development efforts
need to not only foster the physical or social
infrastructure of a community, but also the positive
emotional state of local people and the passion
they have for community improvement (Cavay,
2001). The collective effort in this endeavour
implies that the practice of CD is key for the
growth and development of deprived societies
(Bonye, Aasoglenang, and Sekyere, 2013)
Again, Community development, according to
Mendes (2008:3) cited by Bonye, Aasoglenang,
and Sekyere, (2013) is understood as the
“employment of community structures to address
social needs and empower groups of people”. It is
a prime mover of people because it gets people to
actively participate in issues that affect them.
Bonye, Aasoglenang, and Sekyere, (2013) cites
Checkoway (1997:15) who supports that “joining
together in solidarity...facilitates community
members’ understanding that their individual
Page 3 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 04 Issue 01
January 2018
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 85
problems have social causes and collective
solutions.”
3. Traditional leadership in rural
community development
Ultimately rural community development occurs
within a “system” of communities, sub- communities, individuals, external agencies and
internal organizations (Cavay, 2001). Whilst
institutions and organizations are contributing to
community development over the years,
community members themselves are equally
contributing with or without any state support for
the development of their communities (Bonye,
Aasoglenang, and Sekyere, 2013). Therefore, the
traditional structures are conveniently placed to
usher in the agenda of rural community
development in Zimbabwe. Their understanding of
challenges bedevilling the rural community
development aspects, influence in enhancing
community participation, traditional authority and
power and their recognition by the government
contribute significantly to traditional leaders’
enhancement of rural community development.
However, political bickering, lack of community
development skills, loss of their legitimacy and
poor governance systems render traditional leaders
failure to meet their rural community development
role. In as much as it can be seen, understanding of
traditional leaders in Zimbabwe is always greeted
with prevalent disputes. This has its genesis in
mysterious confusion of understanding the actual
role of traditional leaders in development
discourse. More so, there are two conflicting
perspectives; modernist which constitutionally
recognise traditional leaders versus traditionalistic
perspective which equates traditional leaders to
history and ancestral issues. Challenges now lies in
the fact that reconciling these two perspective
brings contradictory impasse among different
stakeholders within rural development paradigm
In Ghana, the partnership between the government
and the traditional authorities in the service of
governance and community development started
during the colonial era (Bonye, Aasoglenang, and
Sekyere, 2013). Odotei & Awedoba, (2006) cited
by Bonye, Aasoglenang, and Sekyere, (2013)
proffer that in recent decades, however, the
traditional authorities, especially the chiefs, have,
increasingly been important partners in community
development. Again, in the development
practitioners’ use of participatory approaches to
development, where community ownership has
been promoted, the traditional authorities and their
people are critical partners in the drive for
development of their community (Bonye,
Aasoglenang, and Sekyere, 2013). In South Africa,
in the case of local government, traditional
authorities reject the introduction of municipalities
in their areas. They argue that they should play a
central role in rural development, and by
implication, they reject the democratic principles
upon which post-1994 developmental local
government is based (Ntsebeza, 2004) cited by
Meer and Campbell (1997).
4. Traditional leadership and the
legal framework
Chapter 15 of the Zimbabwean constitution (2013)
legalises the existence of traditional form of
leadership in the country. In relation to community
development, the constitution sets the functions of
traditional leadership on section 282 of the
constitution. Traditional leaders are there to
‘facilitate development’, and to ‘administer
communal land and protect the environment’ as
enshrined in the constitution. The constitution
further empowers traditional leaders in subsection
(3) of section 282 that “in the performance of their
functions, traditional leaders are not subject to the
direction or control of any person or authority,
except as may be prescribed in an Act of
Parliament”. Furthermore, the constitution
recognises the establishment of the National
Council and Provincial Assemblies of Chiefs for
the function to ‘protect, promote and advance the
interests of traditional leaders’. This spells the
extent to which traditional leadership, which has
strong roots in pre-colonial Zimbabwe, has been
recognised by the government.
Section 281 of the constitution of Zimbabwe
outlines the principles to be observed by traditional
leaders that they must act in accordance with the
Constitution and the laws of Zimbabwe; observe
the customs pertaining to traditional leadership and
exercise their functions for the purposes for which
the institution of traditional leadership is
recognised by the Constitution; and treat all
persons within their areas equally and fairly.
Subsection 2 therefore reads that Traditional
leaders must not (a) be members of any political
party or in any way participate in partisan politics;
(b) act in a partisan manner; (c) further the
interests of any political party or cause; or (d)
