Religion, Law and Women’s Leadership in Pre-Colonial Zimbabwe: What went wrong?

Issues of religion, law and leadership in Africa are contentious to the extent that they have become battlefields of power, gender inequalities and social injustices. This article explores the oral provisions of African Traditional Religion to women’s leadership in pre-colonial Zimbabwe vis-à-vis the post-colonial legal provisions of leadership in the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No.20 of 2013, with a view to making an informed comparison between what religion and law say about leadership in general, and women’s leadership in particular. The Zimbabwe case study was used as a mirror of the African worldview on religion, law, and leadership. The study adopted documentary review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and observation to gather data for this study. The findings revealed that African Traditional Religion in pre-colonial Zimbabwe empowered women through rituals and ceremonies. While the Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) is clear on traditional and political leadership, women are not given the rights accorded to them by the Constitution. Using an Afro-centric approach, the study argues that while in pre-colonial Zimbabwe women were accorded some substantial powers for leadership, these seem to have waned during colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe. Yet women’s leadership is not only transparent, responsible and accountable, but nurturing. We argue that women’s leadership is a cog in the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 10.