By Princess Eugene Majuru
Every May, Zimbabwe proudly celebrates Culture Month — a period dedicated to honouring heritage, language, identity, customs, and the traditions that define who we are as a people. Across the country, cultural events unfold with pride: traditional dances, exhibitions, ceremonies, storytelling, indigenous foods, and celebrations of Zimbabwe’s rich cultural diversity.
Yet amid the colour and celebration, an uncomfortable question remains unanswered: How meaningful is Culture Month when Zimbabwe continues to neglect the cultural foundation of its own capital?
Culture cannot survive on symbolism alone. It requires roots, legitimacy, continuity, and guardianship. In Zimbabwe’s case, the absence of the Harare Mbari chieftainship — the indigenous authority of the land that forms the nation’s administrative capital — exposes a contradiction at the centre of national cultural celebrations.
Harare, Mount Hampden, and parts of Mazowe fall within the historical jurisdiction of the Harare Mbari chieftainship. This is not new history, nor is it an invention of modern politics. It is a historical and cultural reality rooted in pre-colonial Zimbabwe.
The Harare Mbari chieftainship was disrupted and dismantled during British colonial rule, as was the fate of many traditional governance systems across Africa. Colonial administrations frequently weakened indigenous authority to impose foreign control over land and people. However, what is difficult to understand is why, 46 years after independence, Zimbabwe has not fully restored what colonialism deliberately destroyed.
If Zimbabwe truly values culture, then why has the cultural leadership of its capital remained unresolved for decades?
Celebrating culture while neglecting the traditional custodianship of Harare is like celebrating the beauty of a house while ignoring its unstable foundation. One cannot build a durable structure on cardboard and expect it to stand. In the same way, cultural celebrations risk becoming symbolic performances when the very roots of indigenous cultural identity remain unaddressed.
Whether people accept it or not, Harare is the root and administrative foundation of Zimbabwe. It is the centre from which national governance operates. In Zimbabwe, much begins in Harare — politically, administratively, economically, and culturally. That reality cannot simply be dismissed.
A capital city that is culturally ungrounded creates a national vacuum. Traditional leadership plays an important role in preserving moral values, customs, ceremonies, identity, land stewardship, and community cohesion. Chiefs are not merely ceremonial figures; they are custodians of memory, tradition, and social order.
The absence of a recognised Harare chief means that an entire people — the Mbari clan — continue to experience displacement from ancestral cultural authority and practice. It means a historical institution remains suspended. More importantly, it means a community is denied the full ability to practise customary ceremonies on ancestral land in the same way other communities across Zimbabwe do.
This raises an important moral and cultural question: Can Culture Month genuinely include everyone when an entire historical clan remains culturally marginalised within the capital itself?
The issue of the Harare Mbari chieftainship is not about creating something new. It is about restoring what already existed. Restoration is not invention. It is correction. It is historical justice.
Unfortunately, hesitation around resuscitating the chieftainship has persisted for years. Conversations around the matter are often met with silence, resistance, or avoidance. Some suggest the matter could “disturb activities” in the corridors of power. But cultural justice cannot be delayed indefinitely for convenience.
Ignoring the issue does not erase it.
Instead, non-resuscitation increasingly appears to reflect deeper problems: disregard for indigenous continuity, indifference toward ancestral displacement, and an unwillingness to confront unfinished questions of historical restoration.
There is also an uncomfortable contradiction in national priorities. Zimbabwe has rightly debated compensation for displaced white commercial farmers and land restitution processes. Yet many ask: why is there little urgency shown toward addressing the historical displacement and cultural restoration of indigenous clans whose ancestral lands became the administrative capital of the nation?
The Mbari clan are the traditional custodians of the land upon which Zimbabwe’s capital stands. Such a reality deserves recognition, respect, and restoration — not neglect.
By now, the Harare chief should be actively involved in leading cultural commemorations, including Culture Month activities, traditional ceremonies, and indigenous preservation efforts within the capital. That cultural vacuum cannot simply be filled through temporary measures or symbolic gestures.
Without legitimate traditional grounding, Culture Month risks celebrating performance rather than substance.
As Princess of Harare and Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari clan, I speak on behalf of my people without fear or favour. This is not merely a political matter; it is a cultural, historical, and human concern. Those who value culture and tradition can understand the importance of ancestral continuity and indigenous legitimacy.
The call for the restoration of the Harare Mbari chieftainship is a call for dignity, belonging, memory, and justice. It is a call to ensure that future generations inherit not silence, but continuity.
To remain silent would be to fail our ancestors, our living clan members, and the generations yet to come.
Zimbabwe must ask itself a difficult but necessary question during every Culture Month celebration: Can we truly celebrate culture while neglecting the foundation upon which our capital stands?
Because culture without roots is performance. Culture without restoration is incomplete. And culture without justice risks losing its meaning altogether.
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