Transboundary Governance, Citizenship and Service Delivery in Frontier Communities

Between Mozambique and Zimbabwe: Case of Mahenye and Espungabeira

Chupicai Manuel, College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance, Africa University
Abstract
The evolving concept of transboundary governance has gained prominence in the 20 th century
in the field of borderlands, political science, demography and geography to denote
geopolitical relations, presence of similar climatic conditions, human species and places in
geography and cultural similarities between nations. The concept of transboundary
governance however, is continuously changing and shaping new narratives in the field of
migration, borderlands and provision of service delivery between Mozambique and
Zimbabwe. Transboundary governance whether formal or informal is redefining how the
local communities between Mozambique and Zimbabwe conceive citizenship, control and
management of border crossing and how they deal with issues of service delivery (health,
education, acquisition of birth certificates as well as facilitation of business in Chipinge
District and Espungabeira. At the epicentre of this article is the idea of transboundary
governance in frontier communities and how it is influences social, economic and political
behaviours of inhabitants of Chipinge District and Espungabeira between Zimbabwe and
Mozambique. A phenomenological research design was adopted to explore border practices
and migration in Chipinge and Espungabeira frontier communities as well as examine the
influence of transboundary nature of service delivery in these communities. Frontier
communities in Tamandai and Mt. Selinda in Chipinge District and Espungabeira are semi
stateless in that they have their own practices that respect no borders, some have undeclared
dual citizenship and have close ties with each bordering communities. The experiences of
these frontier communities are not only shaped by historical and cultural commonalities but
by some crossings between these border communities during the liberation struggle in
Zimbabwe. The findings of the study reiterate and reinforce the need for regional integration
based on what the communities are practicing which point and reflect on the broader
aspirations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional integration
project and the AGENDA 2063 of the African Union.

Keywords: Transboundary governance, service delivery, borderlands, regional integration,

frontier communities Borders