Traditional leaders urged to take active role in tackling social vices

Patrick Chitumba, patrick.chitumba@chronicle.co.zw
GOVERNMENT has acknowledged the critical role played by traditional leaders in preserving cultural norms and values and implored them to fully participate in tackling social vices such as drug abuse, substance abuse, and child marriages in their communities.

Speaking during a recent National Chiefs Council meeting held in Gweru, Local Government and Public Works Minister, Daniel Garwe, said to address these pressing social issues, traditional leadership courts must take an active role.
“Government recognises the vital role of traditional leaders in safeguarding and promoting Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage, traditions and values.

“Our culture and traditions give us a shared identity in our diversity,” he said.
“It is, therefore, important to develop strategies that traditional leadership courts should play in curbing various social vices such as drug and substance abuse and child marriages among others.”
Minister Garwe said the country’s rich cultural heritage and traditions serve as a unifying force, celebrating diversity and shared identity.

He said as Zimbabwe navigates the challenges of climate change, traditional leaders are crucial in developing disaster risk reduction strategies to enhance community resilience.
“The severe droughts caused by climate shocks threaten food security, underscoring the importance of initiatives like the Zunde raMambo/Isiphala seNkosi Programme,” said Minister Garwe.
The programme, which promotes traditional coping mechanisms for food security, has collected over 2,8 million tonnes of food across the country.

Minister Garwe said by leveraging traditional practices like Zunde RaMambo, communities can better respond to disasters and ensure sustainable food security.
“As the nation grapples with the adverse effects of climate change traditional leaders need to participate fully in coming up with disaster risk reduction strategies that will make our communities more resilient and better prepared to respond effectively to disasters,” he said.

“The climate shocks have brought about severe droughts thus threatening food security. The Zunde raMambo/Isiphala seNkosi Programme remains one of the most important social safety nets that you must manage to ensure food security.”
Addressing the same meeting, the president of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Mtshane Khumalo, said there is a need to expedite the alignment of the Traditional Leaders’ Act with the Constitution to ensure meaningful development in their respective communities.

“Aligning the Traditional Leaders’ Act to the constitution is expected to give chiefs enough powers to execute their mandate.
“Leadership institution permeates every facet of the governance architecture with village heads being the pedestal of the smallest unit of development structure which is the village,” he said.
“I am sure that everyone of us here is recognised by the village name on their identity cards thus demonstrating the importance of traditional governance and national identity.

To this end, the council of chiefs has high expectations that certain critical areas are addressed among them the alignment of the Traditional Leaders’ Act to the Constitution.”
Chief Khumalo said traditional leaders are integral to the governance architecture of communities in the country.
“This is outlined in the Constitution which gives us power to be custodians of culture and tradition while playing a pivotal role in the socio-economic development trajectory,” he said.