ABSTRACT
The physical and social infrastructures of Mozambique at the time of independence (1975) were as weak as any African nation that had gained independence in the 1960s or even in the 1950s. The new Frelimo government, in its attempt to create a modern, nontribal, nonracial, equitable nation, embarked on a radical program to transform the country's economy and society as quickly as possible. The "traditionalism" of the various ethnolinguistic groups seemed to stand in the way of "scientific socialism," and so there was an attempt to abolish traditional practices such as bride-price (lobola), polygamy, initiation rites, land tenure, and traditional healing practices. The rural masses were obliged to regroup into communal villages in order to engage in new forms of collective agriculture. Frelimo attempted to achieve full equality of women—in societies for the most part strongly patriarchal—through legislation. In 1978 "Peoples' Tribunals" were set up to be headed by judges chosen on the basis of having "good sense." This was an assault on traditional adjudicative systems, including the traditional authorities who convened and presided over adjudicative councils.
