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Traditional Authority: Accountability and Governance in Zimbabwe

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State Recognition and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa

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.

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Authors
  1. Everisto Mapedza
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Institute for International Studies, Denmark

    Lars Buur PhD (Senior Researcher and a Research Associate) & Helene Maria Kyed PhD candidate (Senior Researcher and a Research Associate) & 

  2. Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Lars Buur PhD (Senior Researcher and a Research Associate) (Senior Researcher and a Research Associate)

  3. Roskilde University, Denmark

    Helene Maria Kyed PhD candidate

Copyright information

© 2007 Lars Buur and Helene Maria Kyed

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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

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