How Transformational Leadership Influences Algorithmic Governance: The Case for Zimbabwe Republic Police

Abstract

Modern policing is becoming characterised by algorithmic governance which involves predictive analytics, biometricisation and automated enforcement, promising efficiency benefits, but provoking issues of bias, secrecy and accountability in weak institutional settings. The Transformational Leadership Theory, as a mediating factor, is a relatively unexplored field despite its established effectiveness in promoting ethical innovation and cultural change in the context of public security institutions. The primary aim of the present qualitative research is to find out the role of transformational leadership in the adoption and management of algorithmic technologies in the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in the context of digital transformation initiatives in line with Vision 2030. The data were created by conducting a qualitative desk review of peer-reviewed literature, policy documents and grey literature on digital policing in Global South settings. In analysing data, the study employed textual analysis to generalise leadership behaviours, technological issues and outcomes of governance. The qualitative case study review reveals that ZRP leadership promotes digital reform, such as body-worn cameras and biometric records, to reduce corruption, but infrastructural shortages keep hybrid manualdigital practices; algorithmic tools increase operational capacity but raise the risk of legitimacy without a strong ethical culture; and transformational leadership partially overcomes bureaucratic inertia through visionary communication, but skill gaps impede thorough implementation. The results indicate that leadership commitment is one of the factors that make or break the notion of power asymmetries in algorithmic governance or lead to citizenoriented and transparent policing. The article provides contextual knowledge to responsible adoption of AI in African policing, calling on combined leadership-technology models.