Authors: Ifeoluwa S. Dada
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between indigenous political structures and modern statecraft in Africa through the lens of decolonising governance. While colonial and postcolonial states often framed indigenous institutions as either obstacles or relics, chiefs, councils, and communal assemblies remain active sources of authority across the continent. Drawing on case studies from Ghana, South Africa, and Botswana, the paper argues that hybridity—not opposition—is the defining condition of African governance. In Ghana, chieftaincy has been stabilised within a constitutional framework, while in South Africa, traditional authority remains contested within a rights-based order. Botswana, meanwhile, illustrates a celebrated hybrid through the kgôti system, which combines cultural legitimacy with democratic deliberation. Comparative analysis highlights both the promise of indigenous institutions in anchoring legitimacy and the risks of exclusion, patriarchy, and elite capture. The paper concludes that decolonising governance requires a critical reconstruction: one that preserves cultural rootedness while addressing inequality and strengthening accountability. African experiences of hybrid governance, it argues, challenge universalist models of democracy and suggest a pluralist rethinking of legitimacy and authority in the twenty-first century.
DOI: http://doi.org/
