A chieftaincy usually has one paramount chief. This article explores the fact that one of the Ndau-Shona chieftaincies in Chipinge district in Zimbabwe, the Mutema chieftaincy, has more than one paramount chief, namely one of the government and one or two of the ancestors. This phenomenon has several reasons. One reason is the power struggle among the royals. Another reason is that spirit mediums, chiefs and government officials use, manipulate and transform rules, values, norms and ideas and thereby shape practice. They do so in order to maintain their own worlds, which became intertwined, and from which they derive their authority, enabling them to wield power. It is the woman spirit medium of the chieftaincy who emerges as a powerbroker and mediator between the different worlds of chiefs and government. Thereby, she assists both government officials and chiefs in maintaining their worlds.
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