Remembering what we lost – What worked.
Before there were presidents, parliaments, or political parties in Africa and the “Global South”, there were people. The people organized themselves as communities. These thriving communities governed themselves through councils, assemblies, and collective wisdom. From the barazas of East Africa to the palavers of West Africa, from the shuras of the Arab world to village councils in Asia, governance was a living, breathing practice rooted in everyday life.
Colonialism disrupted this rhythm. It imposed centralised structures designed to facilitate control through subjugation for effective extraction, rather than empowerment. The People lost their agency which was initially externalised to select chiefs and kings, and later to puppet client states after “flag independence” replaced colonial governors with local comprador elites. But the top-down, extractive model of control remained. The result? A paralyzed governance class and system that is totally alienated and corrupt, that has no capacity to find solutions for even our smallest challenges. As the crises deepen, though, the wisdom of our ancestors calls us back, because all politics is local.
The Genius of Traditional Governance Systems
Traditional governance was never perfect — no human system is. But it had core strengths that today’s centralized governments lack when contrasted against modern centralized governments, which are distant, bureaucratic, and often repressive and extractive:
- Proximity to the people. Leaders were not distant politicians. They were relatives, neighbours, peers, and elders. Decisions were made in the hearing of those most affected by them.
- Consensus building. Community assemblies or councils prioritized dialogue and collective responsibility. Even when conflict arose, the goal was harmony trough fairness, not domination.
- Integration with the ecosystem. Decisions about land, water, and animals were made with ecological balance in mind — not abstract GDP growth. Communities were acutely conscious and aware of their interconnectedness with everything
- Accountability. In small communities, leaders could not hide behind bureaucracy. If you abused power, your relatives, neighbours and peers knew about it and held you to account. Sometimes your entire clan was held to account for your misdeeds.
Colonization and the Rupture
Colonial powers dismantled our traditional governance systems very deliberately and meticulously. The colonialists feared their resilience. By the centralizing power in colonial capitals and regional headquarters, they could control vast territories with minimal staff and colonial chiefs turned into agents of the empire. Traditional governance councils were stripped of all authority. This rupture led to a disconnect that taught communities to distrust politics, to see governance as something done to them, against them, not with them. Post-independence leaders inherited this broken model, reinforcing it with new self-serving patronage systems. The truth, however, is that centralization is alien to most of our histories. Pluralistic African traditional governance systems are the original African democracies we lost and need to rediscover.
Today’s Grassroots Resilience
Despite centuries of disruption and subjugation, our traditional governance systems never fully disappeared. They have continued to live in:
- Savings groups (chamas, SACCOS, cooperatives). The people diligently and dutifully pool communal resources to solve shared problems.
- Community barazas. The people gather periodically to deliberate on security, land, water, education, healthcare or justice.
- Faith-based groups. Churches and mosques provide social welfare, education, healthcare, accountability, and moral authority.
- Self-organized networks and associations. From Boda Boda associations to professional associations to neighbourhood watches, communities build order outside failed state structures.
These examples prove that all politics is still local, and that the people can find solutions for their problems when states are unable to. The question, now, is whether we will elevate these practices that have worked for us to be the norm rather than the exception, and as the foundation for 21st-century governance systems.
Adapting Traditional Wisdom for Foday’s Challenges
We are not proposing a naïve return to the past. Ancient councils never had to deal with many of the challenges we face today such as climate change, digital disinformation, or rapacious global finance. But the principles that made traditional governance work can be adopted and adapted:
- Consensus in the digital age. Platforms can host deliberative citizen assemblies at scale, as was witnessed in Nepal recently.
- Community-centered economics. Local cooperatives can manage renewable energy, housing, and food systems.
- Local-global solidarity. Communities can learn from each other, sharing strategies across borders.
This wisdom is ancient and traditional, but the tools and platforms are new.
‘development” is … about real and tangible improvement to people’s welfare and their capacity to live with dignity
The Call of UTU
At the center of traditional governance lies Utu — the recognition that my humanity is tied to yours. That governance, political, and legal decisions are not just abstract policies. That ‘development” is not about roads and railways and GDP, but about real and tangible improvement to people’s welfare and their capacity to live with dignity. That governance systems, good or bad, are lived realities and responsibilities affecting real people. Utu Principles inform and transform politics from a winner-take-all contest of power into a we-can-all-win practice of care. In an Utu-based paradigm, leadership is not about popularity contests for winning elections. It is about ensuring we thrive, and our neighbours thrive. It is about recognizing that when one of us suffers, we all suffer. This ethic, embedded in traditional grassroots governance, is what the colonial centralized governance model can never replicate.
Returning Forward – The Future is in the Past
“All politics is local” is not just a cute political slogan. It is a survival strategy. Humanity thrived for millennia because communities organized themselves in ways that balanced power, responsibility, and ecology. Centralized states disrupted this balance and left us vulnerable. Today, as crises mount across the planet, the way forward is the way back: to traditional governance systems, renewed and reimagined. To Utu, our shared humanity.
Mzalendo Mutemi wa Kiama is the Founder of Mzalendo Halisi Foundation and a Community Organizer with Kongamano La Mapinduzi Movement. He was a Co-Chair of the Africans Rising Movement from 2023-2025 and is a Movement Coach and Trainer with the African Coaching Network.
Follow This Is Africa on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
