Feminist scholarship sees African society as traditionally patriarchal, while the colonists saw traditional African leadership as lacking in values such as democracy, tolerance, and accountability, until these were imposed by Europeans. Using Afrocentricity as a theoretical basis, this article examines African leadership as portrayed in the Shona ngano [folktale] genre and concludes that, in fact, leadership was neither age- nor gender-specific and was democratic, tolerant, and accountable. It recommends further research into African oral traditions as a way of arriving at more positive images of traditional Africa and her diverse heritage.
