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Herald Reporter
Chiefs have welcomed moves by Government to design new regalia for traditional leaders which will reflect and promote the country’s cultural heritage.
In an interview last week, president of the Chiefs Council Chief Fortune Charumbira said steps taken by the Government to change the regalia inherited from the colonial era were liberating and empowering.
“It was actually an initiative from the Chiefs.
“As the Chiefs we agree that the regalia we are wearing is actually imperialistic and needs to be changed. It is outdated,” he said.
“For the past seven years attempts have been made to change the regalia to no avail.
“We had an opportunity to see a design sample from Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, but we rejected it.”
Government recently called for designers to come up with new regalia for chiefs to replace the regalia inherited from the colonial era.
“We want to challenge other designers to bring their samples so that we can choose the best design,” Chief Charumbira said.
Chief Charumbira said the current regalia did not reflect the true image of Zimbabwean values and traditions.
“We hope designers will respond massively to the call so that we can have better designs.
“As Chiefs we will give them themes. The designs should show our history and culture.”
The current regalia constitutes a red and purple gown, white helmet, half-moon breast-plate, name badge and walking stick.
Purple and red colour on the gown symbolise royalty and judicial powers and the white helmet with the court of arms denotes the dignity and authority of the office of the chief.
All the symbols were developed using colonial settler perceptions which took little regard for indigenous material and culture.
Online Reporter