essay

Leadership, authority and the village community

king's men : leadership and status in buganda on the eve of independence • London • Published In 1964 • Pages: 211-255

By: Southwold, Martin.

Abstract

In this paper, Southwold looks at authority and status patterns in village Buganda. Traditional chiefs had the power to grant and revoke land rights and also the power of life and death over their subjects. However, most chiefs avoided such despotic measures for fear of losing their constituents, who worked their estates and were free to pick up their belongings and leave at anytime, land and chiefs being plentiful. Therefore, to govern well, a chief had to ingratiate himself with his people, showing 'justice, generosity and humanity.' In 1900 the establishment under the British Protectorate of a freeholding system (MAILO) and modern bureaucratic state transformed the function and duty of the local chief to largely one of implementing state development policies. Southwold comments on the contradictory position local chiefs found themselves in trying to implement state policies without the traditional means of authority.

HRAF PubDate

1998

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Eastern Africa

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ; 1997

Field Date

1954-1956

Coverage Date

1900-1956

Coverage Place

Uganda

Notes

Martin Southwold

Includes bibliographical references

LCCN

64002741

LCSH

Ganda (African people)