Zimbabwe has faced complex tensions between traditional leadership and multiparty governance. Traditional leaders, such as chiefs, have been accused of playing partisan roles in elections and favouring specific political parties. These accusations have raised concerns about the neutrality of traditional leaders in the democratic process. Zimbabwe’s Constitution and the 1988 Traditional Leaders Act define the role of traditional leaders. Their role includes promoting and upholding the cultural values of their communities, facilitating development and administering communal lands, protecting the environment, resolving disputes in their communities, and exercising any other functions conferred or imposed on them by an act of Parliament. …
Barnabas Thondhlana
Barnabas Thondhlana
Barnabas Thondhlana has worked for Dow Jones and Bloomberg newswires as their Zimbabwe correspondent. He is the publisher of three community newspapers and a national daily, and a media trainer in investigative journalism. He has been instrumental in the formation of several independent newspapers, including the Zimbabwe Independent, The Daily News, The Daily News on Sunday, Newsday and The Observer.
Zimbabwe goes to the polls in August in what looks likely to be a brawl between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party. Concerns have been raised by civil society organisations regarding the country’s ability to hold free and fair elections. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), an independent body mandated to manage elections, has been accused of partisanship and alignment with Zanu PF, which has been in power since the country’s independence in 1980. Analysts say concern over the commission’s independence has resulted in people losing confidence in the voting system and has become…
