…Traditional leaders urged to know their mandate in accordance with the Traditional Leaders Act

Ngoni Dapira

MUTASA traditional leadership has been urged to fairly and diligently execute their administrative, judicial and developmental roles in rural areas by being knowledgeable and making use of the customary and constitutional provisions which empower their mandate.

This was said during a ‘Changing the Rivers’ week-long workshop for traditional leaders in Mutasa district recently held in Mutasa. The multi-stakeholder meeting was organized by Mutasa District Council in conjunction with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) Mutare.

The workshop educated the traditional leadership on rural governance in accordance with the 2013 Constitution and the Traditional Leaders Act which empowers them to foster rural development as the custodians of customs and traditions in their respective rural communities.

Speaking on behalf of Senator Chief Mutasa, Headman Sakupwanya (Cosmas) in his opening remarks for the workshop said the role of the institution of traditional leadership is still relevant to modern day society. He said traditional leaders remain the most accessible and immediate form of local governance in rural areas.

“We are better positioned to identify the needs and preferences of rural communities because of our physical proximity to the people,” said Headman Sakupwanya.

Headman Sakupwanya speaking

Over the years, traditional leaders have often been in conflict with rural local governments due to competition for power, resources and legitimacy, but Headman Sakupwanya said this should change to drive meaningful development that will lead to the development and industrialization of rural communities.

According to the Traditional Leaders Act, the village is the lowest unit of organization constituted by an average of 35 households led by the village head (Sabhuku). The village head reports to the headman, who is often regarded as a sub-chief in the area, then the headman reports to the chief who is the paramount ruler in the relevant area.

“Rural local governance is characterized by three main distinct authority structures, the District Coordinator, the local authority and institution of traditional leaders, so we have to understand our functions and work together to drive development in our rural areas,” he said.

Adding, “We now have headmen and chiefs who are graduates and very educated, which is why we also now disregard archaic rituals of appeasing the spirits through human sacrifices or offering the girl child.”

One of the issues tabled for discussion during the workshop was on ritual killings that are sprouting countrywide. Headman Sakupwanya said the rise of such cases calls for an urgent need to have such cases trialed in the criminal courts and traditional courts as well because of the spiritual beliefs associated with ritual murders. He said community courts must work in tandem with criminal courts on ritual killing cases.

“The criminal courts at times fail to arrest perpetrators for ritual killings due to lack of incriminating evidence but we have our ways of serving justice in our community courts. This is why we want traditional courts to be taken seriously and work together with the criminal courts on alleged ritual killing trials,” he said.

Adding, “Chiefs work with mediums in the spiritual realm. This is how we deal with spiritual issues in traditional courts. So we are different from the police in terms of our investigations and the judges in terms of how we get perpetrators to confess to crimes. For instance, it remains a mystery, the power possessed by a chiefs ordained wooden rod. If you are pointed by the chief’s rod in his court, something mysterious happens that compels people to confess,” said Headman Sakupwanya.

According to the Collins dictionary a ritual murder is a human sacrifice made to appease a deity. The police say they identify ritual murders through body mutilation, often by missing body parts removed for the appeasement.

The traditional leadership in Mutasa agreed that on the issue of ritual murders they would soon lobby lawmakers through their Chief, Senator Mutasa, to push the initiative of working with criminal courts on all ‘alleged’ ritual killing cases that occur.

CCJP Mutare coordinator Elliot Vengesa presenting

The CCJP Mutare coordinator Elliot Vengesa presenting on service delivery by development partners buttressed that traditional leaders as the custodians of the land have an important role to play to determine and steer development in the community. He cited how the church has been a key partner in the development matrix backdating to the liberation war era.

CCJP has over the years been conducting outreach programmes on justice and peace building in selected wards in Mutare rural and Mutasa districts.The peace building and human rights awareness programmes funded by Christian Aid Zimbabwe target vulnerable groups such as women, youths and people with disabilities (PWDs).

“Our aim as development partners is for us to unite and work together to ensure meaningful development in our communities. As traditional leaders you guide the pace and direction of development. For instance there is a rural ward I can talk about that I know that has water, electricity, a hospital and clinics, schools in the vicinity and service shops at the main business centre. These are the benchmarks of meaningful development. My question for you today is, are all these key institutions in your respective areas and what are you doing about it?” asked Vengesa.

He encouraged traditional leadership not to be impediments towards development and to move with the times, urging partnerships with development partners, especially under the devolution matrix now being implemented in the country.

“Traditional leadership should not be selfish on service delivery or wanting infrastructure such as boreholes built at their door step only. Development should be apolitical and community oriented to serve the people so that development partners keep supporting,” he said.

On land property rights, Vengesa said there is need to recognize women and move from archaic practices that gave the head of the house land only, as well as to desist from primitive inheritance laws that exclude women on property rights when their husbands pass on.

“So there are questions we are coming across in our community outreach programmes. Women need to be given land rights separately, as well as single mothers that come back home after a failed marriage. Even elderly men above age that have not married and still live in at home, they also want land rights,” he said.

Vengesa said whilst the Constitution is clear on property rights to the surviving spouse, problems have still emanated in some traditional courts where rulings come out otherwise subjugating women.

During a presentation on HIV and gender based violence (GBV) a representative from the Ministry of Women Affairs showed a video that has gone viral on social media of a recent case currently being trialed at chief Mutasa’s court, where a married woman believed to be mentally challenged was taken advantage of by four men in Mutasa. The four men are being trialed for bedding her on different occasions, regardless of knowing her mental condition.

At law, mental persons are incapable of consenting to sex due to their mental status.

The case which came to light early last month (October) has also since been referred to the police to ascertain if there is an element of rape. The case seems to be similar to a 2023 case that appeared at Headman Chigodora’s community court where a duo Joshua Chabodo (48) and Freddy Mwatutsa (46) from Chikara village in Chigodora who slept with a 22 year old mental patient on several occasions, ended up being sentenced to 20 years and 17 years respectively after the matter was transferred from the community court to a criminal matter.

The two had publicly admitted to the crime at the community court thinking it would end with them just being fined to compensate the victim as customarily done, but the matter went viral on social media leading to their arrest and the matter being brought before the Mutare magistrate’s court.

Headman Sakupwanya in response to the presentations made during the workshop said traditional leadership must be knowledgeable of the meaningful development projects needed in their respective communities.

“We must be the accurate sources of information through our database to attract development partners. If a development partner comes today with US$5 million for projects. I know some of us will mumble if asked what is needed because we do not readily know key community building projects in our communities that really improve the lives of our people, but here we are saying this should change going forward,” said Headman Sakupwanya.