Human–Wildlife Conflict, Drought and Chieftainship Illegitimacy in the Zambezi Valley, Northwestern Zimbabwe

Abstract

Drawing on five years of intermittent ethnographic work at Kariba, I discuss the impoverishment of the Tonga of Mola chiefdom in the context of escalating human–wildlife conflict and frequent drought. I critically examine emerging competing forms of knowledge regarding traditional authority and environmental challenges between the chief and his subjects. I argue that persistent environmental crisis in the region is generating different conflictual forms of knowledge regarding traditional authority. In advancing this argument, I draw extensively upon the broader literature on power, authority and legitimacy. Local people firmly believe that these problems are induced by the current chief’s avoidance and reluctance to enact rainmaking ceremonies and to appease ancestors. I document people’s opinions about the current chief’s ‘rebellious’ behaviour and how they believe it exacerbates their impoverishment and suffering through drought and attacks by animals. I demonstrate why and how the chief’s behaviour contributes to the waning of his authority. The chief offers counter-narratives but, interestingly, both the chief’s and the people’s narratives relate to their relationship with the spirits and ancestors. By documenting these spiritual and religious narratives of human–wildlife conflicts and droughts, I extend the debates on power, knowledge and authority in southern Africa.