BY LAKACHEW ATINAFU
No matter how modernization and Europeanization strongly affected the social, cultural and traditional values of many countries, and acculturated their deep seated indigenous knowledge and traditional intelligence, Ethiopia has been able to uphold and maintain its cultural heritages and rich traditional norms.
The country, as it is a land where diverse nations and nationalities are residing harmoniously; almost all communities have their own cultural values and traditional norms which emanate from their own customs and norms and that are the core features of their identity.
Among these, the deep-rooted, indigenous dispute resolution mechanism, which might be considered as a fundamental aspect in sustaining peace and security and building citizens of democracy, is the one.
The practices apart from enabling people to live together peacefully and securely, they foster togetherness and further strengthen the ties among different communities.
According to Hayicha Alemayehu, a Gedeo elder whom The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay, the people of Gedeo-people residing in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ State (SNNPS) – have their own dispute resolution mechanism which they have been exercising it for long.
As to Haicha, who is also Peace and Reconciliation Chief, this indigenous conflict resolution tradition is incorporated in the Balle System- the Gedeo’s Traditional Administration which is similar to the neighboring Oromo Gadaa System and has passed on from generation to generation among the Gedeo Guji and Borna clans who share kin relationship.
The practice can be scaled up in the other parts of the country and beyond as best practice.
Recently, the Gedeo Guji conflict has been resolved with no intervention of third party and the Guji joined Gedeo in celebrating the latter’s New Year celebration which is called Daararo.
In his a research paper entitled ‘Folk Media as A Platform for Conflict Resolution in the case of Gedeo, Nigussie Meshesha also wrote, the traditional dispute resolution mechanism is highly important for Gedeo people because it is thought that the people’s communication system provides the better way to address conflicts that occur in a society.
As to him, the people do value their cultural communication system in resolving conflicts more than what has been induced by the modern legal system; and they mostly use their customary practices to come up with pragmatic solutions for the conflicts that break out.
The people’s communication system is central to them so as to resolve conflicts in a socially acceptable and natural setting of the people. Therefore, the tradition practice is highly useful in settling various types of disputes in the society including marriage relationships, farm boundaries and boundary disputes among the sub clans, clans and ethnic groups.
Gedeos have their own well-established traditions of governance and communication systems, which generally enable them to accommodate peacefully to change, unlike those who do not have this.
The Gedeo prefer to use their strong social institutions to resolve conflicts using institutional rules and norms. These institutional rules and norms are established and maintained through the orally communicated messages using indigenous communication platforms, which can be labeled as folk media, the study further elaborated.
Scholars claim that the most potential challenge in relation to such institutions is related to the absence of a policy direction and comprehensive laws that deal with the institutionalization and harmonization of indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms within the country’s legal system.
There is lack of clear legal framework which states the role, functions and legal status of indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms. Even though the Ethiopian Constitution under Article 34 sub Article 5 recognizes traditional law where it allows citizens to use religious or customary laws in cases of personal and marital disputes, it limits them to personal and family matters excluding their application to criminal matters in spite of the fact that they are serving for many types of crimes in reality.
The absence of strong laws and policies related to the validity of indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms and their affiliation with the formal justice system, the possibility of application of their authority are found to be serious challenges that need urgent attention by the government and policy makers. There is a need to develop a clear legal and policy framework for the utilization of indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms by elders, researchers suggest.
The Ethiopian Herald March 16/2021
