Against the background of the European Conference on African Studies (AEGIS), held in London from 30 June to 2 July 2005, where the authors hosted two panels on the ‘New roles for traditional leaders in tax collection and rural development: expectations, obstacles and conflicts’, this paper...

In 2000 the Mozambican government initiated a process of formally recognizing traditional leaders both as representatives of local community interests and as assistants of local state organs. Twenty-five years after the FRELIMO government abolished the formal power of traditional leaders, the...