An Exploration of Women Leadership in Pre-colonial Zambia: The Case of Mwenya Mukulu

The published history of Zambian pre-colonial era is more prominent on how male leaders succeeded or failed in administrative roles than it is on their female counterparts. Recent attempts aimed at investigating women’s space in Zambian political history have been restricted to colonial and post-colonial eras. This tendency robs contemporary women aspiring for leadership roles of credible and insightful role models. This chapter, therefore, sought to document the seventeenth century female diplomat and traditional leader, Mwenya Mukulu’s life experiences to argue that women did not only exist in pre-colonial era but also presided as leaders over the political, religious and spiritual affairs of their respective pre-colonial communities in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. The chapter argues that the Lungu, Azamba, and Sao people of present day Mbala and Mpulungu Districts in Northern Province of Zambia benefited from the trajectory life experiences of Mwenya Mukulu. Though not much has been documented about her in the history of the country, Mwenya’s leadership skills played a pivotal role in the governance, religious and spiritual wellbeing of the aforesaid people and others in her control. In order to document Mwenya’s life experiences appropriately, a phenomenological qualitative approach was used. Information was gathered through desk review and an interview carried out with one purposively selected and willing participant from the Lungu chiefdom influenced by Mwenya’s leadership style. The findings were analysed qualitatively according to emerging themes. A study on Mwenya Mukulu was long overdue but worth it, as it might supplement current and scanty literature on matriarchy and its contribution to pre-colonial leadership, which has for a long time been highly patriarchal.