The Language of Subjugation, The Silence of Sovereignty

By H.E Ambassador Godfrey Madanhire*

Under colonial rule, Africa’s kings were stripped of their crowns not only through conquest but through language. The term “chief,” now routinely applied to traditional leaders across the continent, was never a reflection of indigenous governance. It emerged from the colonial lexicon, crafted to demote sovereign rulers to tribal custodians, to reframe kingdoms as villages and to recast African civilisation as folklore. While the King of England retained his title and global stature, African monarchs were renamed “chiefs,” a term devoid of constitutional weight, diplomatic recognition and reverence for the sacred institutions they embodied.

This rewording of African authority was not a mistranslation. It was a deliberate recalibration of power embedded in the imperial vocabulary of domination. Across the continent, rulers who presided over sophisticated systems of law, arbitration, land stewardship and spiritual authority were reduced to local agents of indirect rule. Their palaces became administrative outposts. Their courts were reframed as tribal councils. Their sovereignty was subordinated to colonial governors who used language as a tool to erase centuries of African statecraft.

Today, a continental movement is rising to correct this historical injustice. The African Indigenous Governance Council led by His Royal Majesty Dr King Tanyi of Tino Mbu in Cameroon is at the forefront of efforts to restore the rightful titles and recognition of traditional authorities. This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a constitutional correction and a reclamation of history, dignity and institutional memory.

Across Africa, the tide is turning. In Ghana, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is recognised not as a chief but as a king whose influence extends into national reconciliation and international diplomacy. In Eswatini, King Mswati III presides over a monarchy that remains central to governance, culture and law. In Nigeria, the Ooni of Ife and the Emir of Kano are acknowledged as royal figures whose authority is rooted in history, jurisprudence and spiritual legitimacy. In Ethiopia, the legacy of the Solomonic dynasty continues to inform national identity even as modern governance evolves.

His Royal Highness Mwanta Ishima Sanken’i VI of the Lunda people of Zambezi, North Western Province, Secretary General of the Forum of African Traditional Authorities, has bemoaned the persistent lack of respect afforded to traditional leaders compared to political figures. Yet it is traditional leaders who remain the custodians of customary land, cultural heritage and indigenous governance systems that continue to shape the lives of millions. Their mandates are ancestral, their legitimacy spiritual and their relevance enduring. To relegate them to ceremonial status while elevating transient political office is to misunderstand the architecture of African society.

These examples affirm that African traditional leadership is not a relic of the past. It is a living institution deeply embedded in the social fabric and political architecture of the continent. Its titles matter. They are not ornamental. They are constitutional, ancestral and foundational.

To continue referring to these leaders as “chiefs” is to perpetuate a colonial fiction. It is to speak the language of the empire long after the emperor has fallen. Africa must retire the term not out of sentiment but out of historical necessity and institutional justice.

The restoration of royal titles is a restoration of truth. It is a recognition that African kings and queens were never tribal figureheads. They were architects of civilisation, custodians of law and stewards of spiritual order. Their crowns were not symbolic. They were sovereign.

The age of the chief is over. The crown must be restored.

*H.E. Ambassador Godfrey Madanhire is Diplomatic Envoy for the State of the African Diaspora, Chief Operations Officer at Radio54 African Panorama and committed Pan-Africanist.