Ongoing power struggles involving two traditional leaders in West Africa underscore the enduring significance of African customary governance systems in the continent’s contemporary politics. In Nigeria, a standoff between the current emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and a rival to the throne doubles as a proxy battle between the federal government and state authorities in Kano, which shares a name with the ancient emirate. In Ghana, a clash between the historical Asante Empire’s asantehene, as the successor to the territory’s founding leader is known, and the traditional chief of the Dormaa traditional area has rekindled a centuries-old dispute between two of contemporary Ghana’s most prominent traditional leaders. Similar examples abound across Africa, where customary authorities wield considerable influence in many areas of public life.
Beginning with the colonization period, when African kingdoms and societies were conquered by European powers, monarchs and other traditional leaders have faded in prominence on the continent. With independence, the consolidation of modern nation-states and republican rule across Africa relegated these traditional leaders to a mainly ceremonial role with limited official powers in society. Nevertheless, many Africans argue that they enjoy popular legitimacy and serve as vital custodians of historical customs and traditions that were weakened or even destroyed over centuries by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonization.
For their proponents, Africa’s customary governance structures play an important role in resolving local conflicts and filling other important gaps, including the provision of public goods and services that weak formal state structures are unwilling or unable to deliver. During the campaign for South Africa’s recently held general elections, uMkhonto weSizwe, or MK—the third-largest party in the national parliament, led by former President Jacob Zuma—even made traditional institutions a centerpiece of its manifesto. In it, the party advocated for a “role and authority of traditional leaders in governance and community development, ensuring their participation in decision-making processes that affect their communities.” This theme resonated in KwaZulu-Natal province, a stronghold of both Zuma and the MK party that overlaps with the historical Zulu kingdom, where federalist guarantees of regional autonomy and prominence for Zulu traditional leaders enjoy strong backing.