Collisions of Economic Interests between the State and Traditional Authority: Evidence from Village Urbanisation of Sinda District, Zambia

This article examines economic factors contributing to the social conflicts between the State and the Chewa Royal Establishment (CRE) over the village urbanisation of Sinda District in Eastern, Zambia. The study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, drawing on qualitative data from 29 key informants and survey data from 256 respondents. The findings of the study reveal that what might appear to be cultural, political, and procedural conflicts are fundamentally rooted in competition for the control of economic resources. Theoretically, the study utilised Max Weber’s tripartite social conflict theory (class, Status and party/tribe). The study identified three layers in the social conflict equation that include the state (because of its expansionist spheres of influence and effective occupation a colonial legacy agenda) the traditional authority and the community. The community turns out to be the intersection of the conflict upon which jurisdictional legitimacy between the state and Chewa Royal Establishment is staged. This research therefore infers that 80.1% of the community in Sinda were dissatisfied with the land expropriation without compensation. They blame the state for the deterioration of traditional economic systems and the disruption of community livelihoods. The study identified competing claims over the control of economic resources between the two centres of power to have constituted the principal issues at the core of the 13-year the state Chewa Royal Establishment social conflict. This article presents the Integrated Village Urbanisation Conflict Resolution Framework (IVCURF) as a comprehensive paradigm that responds to the economic grievances. The framework is anchored in the principles of transparent land acquisition processes, fair compensation systems, revenue sharing, and enhanced hybrid governance frameworks as possible contribution towards resolving the conflict. These findings illuminate conflicts occurring in many Africa's peri-urban regions and provides valuable policy recommendations for resolving these economic disputes between statutory and customary authorities.