B'Dora Mnemon

The Yao Mwenye: Female Lineage Heads and the Selection of Chiefs in Malawi and Mozambique

| Succession & Matriliny |

The Yao mwenye is the senior female head of a matrilineage (mbumba) among the Yao people of Malawi and Mozambique. She holds custodial authority over land, marriage, and the legitimacy of chiefs, whose selection and deposition she directly influences. This article examines the historical and contemporary role of the mwenye, drawing on oral traditions, early written sources, and recent scholarship to centre Yao political thought.

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Mekgadi and the Python-Skin Cloak: Sacred Regalia of the Modjadji Rain Queens

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

Mekgadi (also Mokgadi) is a royal title and ritual office among the Balobedu people of South Africa, intimately linked to custodianship of the python-skin cloak—the foremost sacred regalia of the Modjadji Rain Queens. This article examines the cloak’s mythological origins, its role in rainmaking and succession, and the enduring authority of the women who guard it.

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Matrilineal Succession Among the Akan Peoples of Ghana: Blood, Stools, and the Authority of the Ohemaa

| Succession & Matriliny |

Matrilineal succession among the Akan peoples of Ghana is a sophisticated system of political and spiritual inheritance in which royal legitimacy, property, and office pass through the female line. Rooted in the concept of mogya (blood) and embodied in the authority of the ohemaa (queen mother), this system shapes chieftaincy, land tenure, and social identity across Asante, Fante, Akuapem, and other Akan states. This article examines its origins, mechanisms, gender dynamics, legal frameworks, and enduring legacy in contemporary Ghana.

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Umugabekazi: The Queen Mother of Rwanda — Authority and Ritual in the Nyiginya Kingdom

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Umugabekazi was the Queen Mother of the Nyiginya Kingdom of Rwanda, a co-sovereign whose ritual, political, and economic authority stood alongside that of the king. This article examines the evidence, origins, governance structures, ritual powers, and transformations of this central institution of precolonial Rwanda, centring African epistemologies and oral traditions.

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The Bakoma of Balobedu: Initiated Custodians of Rainmaking Ritual

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

The bakoma are initiated women of the Balobedu people who serve as the inner custodians and ritual performers of the rainmaking complex centred on the Rain Queen Modjadji. This article examines their origins, ritual roles, gender dynamics, and enduring significance within one of southern Africa’s most remarkable systems of female spiritual sovereignty.

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Dzugudini and the Rozvi Exodus: Founding the Balobedu Rain Queens

| Kingdoms & Dynasties |

Dzugudini is remembered as the apical ancestress of the Balobedu Rain Queens, whose flight from the Rozvi court with sacred rain medicines transferred ritual sovereignty southward. This article examines the oral traditions, genealogical claims, rainmaking authority, and enduring political legacy of the Rozvi Exodus. It centres Balobedu epistemologies while critically assessing colonial-era sources.

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Masalanabo Modjadji VII: Heir to the Rain Queens and the Balobedu Succession Dispute after Makobo Modjadji VI

| Living Successions |

Masalanabo Modjadji VII, born in 2005, is the designated heir to the Balobedu Rain Queenship of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Her mother, Makobo Modjadji VI, died in June 2005, leaving an infant successor and a protracted dispute over regency, legitimacy, and ritual authority. This article examines the historical foundations of the Rain Queens, the contested succession, and the legal and cultural struggles shaping Masalanabo’s path.

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LaYaka Ndwandwe: The Founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi State and the Origins of Dual Monarchy

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

LaYaka Ndwandwe, an eighteenth-century Ndwandwe noblewoman and mother of Ngwane III, is remembered as the founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi state. Her co-rule with her son established the dual monarchy that remains central to Eswatini’s political order. This article examines her origins, ritual authority, and enduring legacy through oral tradition, colonial sources, and contemporary scholarship.

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Women in the Kilombo: Military Initiation and Female Authority in Nzinga’s Court

| Warrior Women |

The kilombo, a Kimbundu war camp and initiation society, became a crucible of female military and political authority under Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba in the seventeenth century. This article examines the evidence for women’s initiation, command, and ritual power in Nzinga’s court, drawing on Portuguese and Capuchin records, Kimbundu oral traditions, and modern scholarship. It centres African concepts of sovereignty and gender complementarity while critically assessing colonial sources.

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