LOCAL civil society organisation, Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT), has claimed the majority of traditional leaders, particularly village heads, were ignorant of their constitutional mandates, despite being stewards of their respective communities.
by KHANYILE MLOTSWHWA
HZT said this came out during a capacity-building workshop it conducted recently for traditional leaders with 19 local leaders, where village heads from Gokwe-Nembudziya admitted they were unaware of provisions of Chapter 15.2 of the Constitution, which forbids them from participating in partisan politics.
The organisation noted that, in recent years, traditional leaders were compromised due to infiltration by political parties, who have used the local leaders for political expediency.
Opposition parties have often accused traditional leaders of taking sides with the ruling Zanu PF party. Some traditional leaders have also been accused of threatening to evict opposition activists from their areas of jurisdiction.
“This will greatly compromise the discharge of their duties such as resolving disputes among people in their communities,” HZT said. “The role of traditional leaders is to ensure that there is peaceful resolution to disputes that take place in communities. Traditional leaders play an important role in the promotion and upholding of human rights in their respective communities.
“This plays a key role in the facilitation of development in their communities. The Constitution forbids traditional leaders from being members of any political party.”
HZT said the objective of the workshop was to raise awareness and educate traditional leaders on their roles and responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution, as well as raising awareness on the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
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“One major highlight during the workshop was that most traditional leaders cited lack of information as one of the challenges affecting their work, especially lack of knowledge regarding the provisions of the Constitution, particularly on human rights and traditional leadership,” the organisation said.
