BY BETELHEM BEDLU
Disputes in the African continent are becoming more of a business and way of life to many western organizations. Until now, Africans have tried to resolve disputes using western modalities; but practical evidence has already shown that such modalities often aggravate the disputes in Africa and do not resolve them.
The above statements was revealed on a paper entitled ‘Dispute resolution mechanisms among the Afar People of Ethiopia and their contribution to the Development Process’ by Kinfe Abraha (Ph.D) where he argues that dispute-resolution practices are as old as humans. This is a witness that much can be learned from the ages old dispute-resolution practices of the first Ethiopian people.
Dispute resolution and peace-building mechanisms remain problematic for most societies in the world, including Africa. The need to develop and sustain a culture of peace has become more important than ever given the scale of destruction and the resilience of disputes, so said the author.
Ethiopians, as a society who have long kept longstanding cultural conflict resolution systems, has been using various traditional systems to resolve disputes among societies. Almost each ethnic group has developed its own conflict resolution system in their surroundings.
Among many, the well-recognized traditional cultural conflict resolution system could be ‘Shimgelena’. By understanding its role, the people have been using this customary conflict resolution which has played an undeniable role in resolving conflict over the years.
With the aim of expanding the accessibility of judicial services at all levels for the community, the Oromia Supreme Court Bureau announced recently that it has planned to incorporate traditional justice system in to formal justice system.
The bureau has finalized a research done on the implementation of the plan by working in collaboration of relevant stakeholders such as Oromia Justice Sector Professionals Training and Legal Research Institute.
Incorporating the tradition in to justice institution has multifaceted benefits as it would cut the cost that the customers are expected to pay and would also be labor-saving for customers, according to Gonfa Atoma, Communication Director of Oromia Supreme Court.
Moreover, the plan plays a significant role in curtailing the load from the justice institutions as the number of cases brought to the system annually is ever increasing, as to him.
The Oromo people has abundance tradition of resolving disputes which may arise in the society, therefore, making use of the customary dispute resolution is essential to bring about peaceful co-existence in the society, he noted.
“By following an appropriate implementation of the plan, there is a great chance of increasing the tendency of people to return to the indigenous culture. Thus, the trend would help maintain the time-tested communal value. In so doing, conflicts incited individually or in groups will be highly abridged,” as to him.
Once the research is finalized, the State will prepare a draft policy on the ways of the implementation.
According to him, the plan will not contravene with both federal and state constitutions rather it is compatible with both exemplifying that the 216/11 legal policy enacted by Caffe Oromia (read as Chuhfeh) is of paramount importance in encouraging and further bolstering the role of religious and traditional justice.
Though prevention is the best way against conflict, both customary and modern conflict resolution systems will have their own role in either aggravating or resolving disputes between ethnic groups.
Therefore, it is recommended that the best practices of the two leadership styles (customary and modern) be harmonized so that there will be no gap between them.
To this effect, an attitudinal change in the leadership of both sides, so that they keep an open mind and learn from each other is highly needed.
Moreover, understanding the deep, negative impact of dispute is very crucial as it is undesirably costly and could avert resources that otherwise be used effectively.
The Ethiopian herald December 22/2020
