Conflicts occur wherever there are scarce resources, divided functions in society, different levels of power, competition for a limited supply of goods, status, valued roles, or power.
The Afar people have common cultural values to resolve conflicts. Using these values, they provide solutions to their problems in their traditional and customary laws and judicial rulings. The traditional values have been instrumental in ensuring peace and contributing to harmonious coexistence.
The Afar’s traditional lifestyle and traditional tactical integration strategies have helped them to maintain a peaceful relationship. Ayneshet Tesfay and Kelemework Tafere on their paper titled “Indigenous Rangeland resources and Conflict Management by the North Afar Pastoral Groups in Ethiopia” stated the people of Afar, who live in the north eastern part of Ethiopia are classified into two distinct decent groups: the Asaimara (“Red”) and Adaimara (“White”).
The former are considered a nobility group, while the latter are said to form the class of the commoners. Their judicial procedures in Afar are administered by the elders and tribal leaders chosen by the community in the respect, degree, and knowledge given by the community. Yayneshet and Kelemework point out, in any conflict, an Afar has two main alternatives for settlement: resort to the modern system of state courts or recourse to the indigenous Afar institutions of conflict management.
Most Afar, however, seem to go for the latter option. Most cases of intra-Afar conflicts are resolved outside courts. There is an indigenous Afar institution promoting local mediation in conflict resolution. Central to the indigenous mechanism of conflict management are the tradition of forgiveness, respect for elders and the transfer of resources as compensation payments.
According to the Afar Customary Law (Mad’aa), all Afar are governed by the same custom (Ada) irrespective of their clan affiliation, the area of residence or changes in national politics. The Afar believe that all disputes within their ethnic group should be settled peacefully and according to the long-standing Mad’aa, which consists of specified guidelines and rules on how to handle dispute cases. This is a tradition followed from the time of Hamadu Sirat, whom identified as their apical ancestor and the father of all Afar in the area.
Once a conflict case is in the hands of elders, there can be very little room for an individual to further his interests by force. For instance, Abinet Abebe, on his paper “Conflict and Conflict Resolution Process among Afar people” suggests that the family of the victim is asked whether it seeks capital punishment to be meted on the murderer. There is always a tendency for institutional forgiveness.
Once the offender is excused, a specified time is fixed for the transfer of compensation or blood money, which is contributed by affluent clan members. Camels are given to the family and clan members of the deceased. It is important that all livestock is in good condition. Disagreement over the condition of animals is believed to lead to further complication of the conflict as offering unhealthy animals is considered a gesture of contempt.
The final procedure in the achievement of reconciliation involves slaughtering a sheep in the presence of the judges who are composed of elders from the clans. The elders recite verses from the Quaran to signify the conclusion of reconciliation. The Seka elders also give their blessings (Doa). This final sacrifice (Sola) usually takes place along trodden roads so that passers-by may draw lessons in forgiveness and thereby contribute to the persistence of the tradition.
The animal is roasted on fire lit on a collection of black stones, which are not supposed to be removed from the area for years after the ritual. Virtually all cases of inter-clan homicide end up in reconciliation. In some cases, relatives of victim may decline to offer forgiveness at the inception of procedures, refuse mediation and threaten to take revenge. Upon such intransigence, some members of the murderer’s clan may assemble to exercise further begging (Dubarti).
The clan leader would then normally seek to exert pressure to influence the person threatening to take revenge. A person who resorts to retaliation in spite of all these cultural procedures is doomed to denial of clan membership and recognition. He would simply be an outcast. On the other one, Getachew Talachew and Shimelis Habtewold who prepared a paper titled “Customary Dispute Resolution in Afar Society” described that Islamic laws (Shari’a), is secondary to traditional law. Muslim judges (Kadi) are consulted only for civil affairs like marriage and divorce.
In addition, Maro is literally the session held to resolve conflict under a tree when a dispute arises. Amakaban (judge), the elders, the disputants, witnesses, and observers sit in a circle from which the term maro derives. The Afar Customary Law, published in 1973:6 defined that; the makaban is a clan leader (at the confederation level) who knows the customs. Depending on the gravity of the case the number of Makaban may vary from one to ten.
Besides, the Makaban may select elders who have a good reputation within the community to assist him. Although many of those elected as elders are aged people, a young person who has good integrity and wins the respect of his people may be elected to give such service. The makaban and elders are not required to have formal training. They give this service to their community without any remuneration. They get food and drink from the community if the disputes they entertain take more than a day.
The Afar use the traditional dispute resolution mechanism to settle a conflict that arises within the family, between neighbors, within a clan, and between clans. The traditional institution of maro has jurisdiction over every dispute, with the exception of disputes relating to marriage, divorce, and inheritance that are left to the Shari’a court mainly in an urban area. The Afar use this institution to resolve a criminal case that ranges from insult to homicide and every civil case without taking into account the amount of money the case involves.
Their experience demonstrate that conflict is embedded with every activity of human life; Especially pastorals like Afar in which water and grazing land are a critical issue; one way or another everyone experiences conflict. The Afar use the traditional system to resolve their disputes, because it is accessible, cheap and provides justice within a relatively short period of time.
The Ethiopian Herald, March 14/2019
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
