PEACEBUILDING AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION: A
STUDY OF TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF CONFLICT
TRANSFORMATION IN ZIMBABWE

PEACEBUILDING AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION: A
STUDY OF TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF CONFLICT
TRANSFORMATION IN ZIMBABWE

MBWIRIRE JOHN

Beginning from the early 2000s, communities in Zimbabwe witnessed the worst forms of
politically motivated violence by state agents as well as civilian on civilian clashes at grassroots
levels. Efforts to resolve contemporary Zimbabwean politically motivated conflicts are proving
difficult if not impossible. This is caused by the efforts which are mainly top-down and
conventional in nature. The application of local traditional awareness and procedures in conflict
resolution and conflict transformation has been very negligible as many prefer the contemporary
law court system. The study assessed the effectiveness of traditional institutions in peacebuilding
and conflict transformation in Mashonaland Central Province at grassroots levels. The study
adopted a mixed methods approach in obtaining data from the field. A targeted population of 518
634 people above the age of 18 which included traditional leaders’ council and community
members was used. A sample comprising five traditional chiefs who were key informants
participated through in-depth interviews, 65 members of the chiefs’ council members
participated through focus group discussions and 250 community members were respondents to
questionnaires. The study found that traditional institutions were not effective when dealing with
politically motivated conflicts. Traditional institutions were effective in dealing with other forms
of conflicts emanating from land disputes and social disputes. Considerably, traditional practices
of peacebuilding and conflict transformation are cultural and community specific. Despite facing
economic, social, political and land challenges as well as having operational weaknesses,
traditional institutions have practical mechanisms of promoting peaceful co-existence at
grassroots levels. The study recommended that traditional institutions should be mainstreamed in
all processes of conflict management, peacebuilding and conflict transformation. This should be
done in accordance with the value system of the specific community or people in question

ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

2017