Jeremiah Chirau

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Jeremiah Chirau was a notable figure among (Southern) Rhodesia's chiefs, and during the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia) he became the only leader of the Zimbabwe United People's Organisation (ZUPO), a party largely comprising chiefs.

The chiefs, overwhelmingly selected as such when already old, were largely controlled by the Rhodesian government, on which they depended for their income and for their formal status as chiefs.

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The Chief system developed from African tradition, where family heads, village headmen and rural chiefs debated, often for years, about the recognition of new chiefs out of the eligible elders. This system ensured that their representatives had intimate individual knowledge of the people's needs. In the late 1960s there were around 480 Chiefs representing nearly 4 million people. At the time over 80% of these Chiefs were opposed to violence, communism and the Nationist Leaders, supporting a peaceful internal solution to the liberation conflict. As a result, after Independence in 1980, the Chiefs were largely sidelined by the ruling party. Jeremiah Chirau's influence declined and he was largely forgotten as more sophisticated politicians forged ahead.

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[edit] Bibliography

• (1976). "Backgrounds of the Four Tribal Leaders." New York Times. April 29.
• Darnton, John (1976). "Rhodesians Decry Naming of Chiefs." New York Times. May 5.
• (1978). "Jeremiah Chirau." Globe and Mail. March 27.
• Mungazi, Dickson (2000). In the Footsteps of the Masters: Desmond M. Tutu and Abel T. Muzorewa. Westport: Praeger.
• Ottoway, David (1978). "White Rule Ends Quietly in Rhodesia." Washington Post. March 22.