July 2011

Crisis of communal leadership: Post-colonial local government reform and administrative conflict with traditional authorities in the communal areas of Zimbabwe, 1980-2008

  Rural local government reform measures adopted by the new Government of Zimbabwe at independence in 1980 were largely inspired by the state's modernization initiatives and the need to create a framework for expanded delivery of services to the peasant communities in order to redress the imbalances of colonial neglect. However, the reform measures also sought to undermine the authority of traditional...

Author(s):   Godfrey Tabona Ncube    

July 2011

Colonialism and African cultural values

  It is no longer a debate that pre-colonial African life was heavily influenced by religion. Almost every aspect of life was seen and interpreted in the supernatural. The belief that the ancestors played prominent roles in the maintenance of morality in the community hardly dies, even today. However, it is true that colonialism altered the belief and values of the Africans significantly, just as its structure...

Author(s): Benson O. Igboin