In addition to these measures, reconciling fragmented institutions would be more successful when governments invest more resources in transforming the traditional socioeconomic space. No doubt rural communities participate in elections, although they are hardly represented in national assemblies by people from their own socioeconomic space. The pre-colonial system in Yoruba can be described to be democratic because of the inclusion of the principle of checks and balances that had been introduced in the system of administration. David and Joan Traitel Building & Rental Information, National Security, Technology & Law Working Group, Middle East and the Islamic World Working Group, Military History/Contemporary Conflict Working Group, Technology, Economics, and Governance Working Group, Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies, Understanding the Effects of Technology on Economics and Governance, Support the Mission of the Hoover Institution. The origins of this institutional duality, the implications of which are discussed in Relevance and Paradox of Traditional Institutions, are largely traceable to the colonial state, as it introduced new economic and political systems and superimposed corresponding institutional systems upon the colonies without eradicating the existed traditional economic, political, and institutional systems. Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. Governance also has an important regional dimension relating to the institutional structures and norms that guide a regions approach to challenges and that help shape its political culture.1 This is especially relevant in looking at Africas place in the emerging world since this large region consists of 54 statesclose to 25% of the U.N.s membershipand includes the largest number of landlocked states of any region, factors that dramatically affect the political environment in which leaders make choices. Roughly 80% of rural populations in selected research sites in Ethiopia, for example, say that they rely on traditional institutions to settle disputes, while the figure is around 65% in research sites in Kenya (Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). Strictly speaking, Ghana was the title of the King, but the Arabs, who left records . It may be good to note, as a preliminary, that African political systems of the past dis played considerable variety. Societal conflicts: Institutional dichotomy often entails incompatibility between the systems. While empirical data are rather scanty, indications are that the traditional judicial system serves the overwhelming majority of rural communities (Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). Suggested Citation, 33 West 60th StreetNew York, NY 10023United States, Public International Law: Sources eJournal, Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic, Political Institutions: Parties, Interest Groups & Other Political Organizations eJournal, Political Institutions: Legislatures eJournal, We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. The colonial system constitutes the second section. The Dutch dispatched an embassy to the Asantehene's . In West Africa, a griot is a praise singer or poet who possesses a repository of oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. Even so, customary law still exerts a strong . Traditional and informal justice systems aim at restoring social cohesion within the community by promoting reconciliation between disputing parties. The implementation of these systems often . One influential research group, SIPRI in Sweden, counted a total of 9 active armed conflicts in 2017 (in all of Africa) plus another 7 post-conflict and potential conflict situations.3, More revealing is the granular comparison of conflict types over time. The traditional justice system, thus, does not have the power to grant any rights beyond the local level. His dramatic tenure since April of 2018 appears to be shaking up the states creaky authoritarian services and creating the space for important adaptations such as ending a long-standing state of emergency, freeing political prisoners, reaching out to a wide range of foreign partners, and extending the olive branch to Eritrea with whom Ethiopia had fought a costly war. 28, (1984) pp. With respect to their relevance, traditional institutions remain indispensable for several reasons. African political elites are more determined than ever to shape their own destiny, and they are doing so. Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. Since institutional fragmentation is a major obstacle to nation-building and democratization, it is imperative that African countries address it and forge institutional harmony. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in. However, three countries, Botswana, Somaliland, and South Africa, have undertaken differing measures with varying levels of success. Fitzpatrick 'Traditionalism and Traditional Law' Journal of African Law, Vol. This layer of institutions is the subject of inquiry of this article. Safeguarding womens rights thus becomes hard without transforming the economic system under which they operate. Africas rural communities, which largely operate under subsistent economic systems, overwhelmingly adhere to the traditional institutional systems while urban communities essentially follow the formal institutional systems, although there are people who negotiate the two institutional systems in their daily lives. Throughout our over one-hundred-year history, our work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and the world. Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. Settling a case in an official court, for example, may involve long-distance travel for villagers and it may require lawyers, translators, a long wait, and court fees, while a traditional court rarely involves such costs and inconveniences. Such adjustments, however, may require contextualization of the institutions of democracy by adjusting these institutions to reflect African realities. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. The first objective of the article is to shed light on the socioeconomic foundations for the resilience of Africas traditional institutions. Thus, another report by PRIO and the University of Uppsala (two Norwegian and Swedish centers) breaks conflict down into state-based (where at least one party is a government), non-state-based (neither party is an official state actor), and one-sided conflicts (an armed faction against unarmed civilians). However, the traditional modes of production and the institutional systems associated with them also remain entrenched among large segments of the population. Recent developments add further complications to the region: (a) the collapse of Libya after 2011, spreading large quantities of arms and trained fighters across the broader Sahel region; (b) the gradual toll of desertification placing severe pressure on traditional herder/farmer relationships in places like Sudan and Nigeria; and, (c) the proliferation of local IS or Al Qaeda franchises in remote, under-governed spaces. Cold War geopolitics reinforced in some ways the state-society gap as the global rivalry tended to favor African incumbents and frequently assured they would receive significant assistance from external powers seeking to build diplomatic ties with the new states. Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. African states, along with Asian, Middle Eastern, and even European governments, have all been affected. Additionally, the Guurti is charged with resolving conflicts in the country using traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. "Law" in traditional Africa includes enforceable traditions, customs, and laws. However, they do not have custodianship of land and they generally do not dispense justice on their own. 1.4. A second argument is that traditional institutions are hindrances to the development of democratic governance (Mamdani, 1996; Ntsebeza, 2005). by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University. It considers the nature of the state in sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. The arguments against traditional institutions are countered by arguments that consider traditional institutions to be indispensable and that they should be the foundations of African institutions of governance (Davidson, 1992). They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. These migrations resulted in part from the formation and disintegration of a series of large states in the western Sudan (the region north of modern Ghana drained by the Niger River). Against this backdrop, where is African governance headed? This discussion leads to an analysis of African conflict trends to help identify the most conflict-burdened sub-regions and to highlight the intimate link between governance and conflict patterns. Due to the influence of previous South African and Nigerian leaders, the African Union established the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to review and report on a range of governance criteria. The usual plethora of bour- In direct contrast is the second model: statist, performance-based legitimacy, measured typically in terms of economic growth and domestic stability as well as government-provided servicesthe legitimacy claimed by leaders in Uganda and Rwanda, among others. example of a traditional African political system. Pastoral economic systems, for example, foster communal land tenure systems that allow unhindered mobility of livestock, while a capitalist economic system requires a private land ownership system that excludes access to others and allows long-term investments on land. Chiefs administer land and people, contribute to the creation of rules that regulate the lives of those under their jurisdiction, and are called on to solve disputes among their subjects. Nonhereditary selected leaders with constitutional power: A good example of this is the Gada system of the Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya. With the exceptions of a few works, such as Legesse (1973), the institutions of the decentralized political systems, which are often elder-based with group leadership, have received little attention, even though these systems are widespread and have the institutions of judicial systems and mechanisms of conflict resolution and allocation of resources, like the institutions of the centralized systems. Obstruction of nation-building: Nation-building entails a process of integrating different segments of the citizenry to form a community of citizens under shared institutions. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. The Chinese understand the basics. The debate is defined by "traditionalists" and "modernists." . African Governance: Challenges and Their Implications. In this regard, the president is both the head of state and government, and there are three arms and tiers of rules by which the country is ruled. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. There is no more critical variable than governance, for it is governance that determines whether there are durable links between the state and the society it purports to govern. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. Ndlela (2007: 34) confirms that traditional leaders continue to enjoy their role and recognition in the new dispensation, just like in other African states; and Good (2002: 3) argues that the system of traditional leadership in Botswana exists parallel to the democratic system of government and the challenge is of forging unity. (2005), customary systems operating outside of the state regime are often the dominant form of regulation and dispute resolution, covering up to 90% of the population in parts of Africa. African governance trends were transformed by the geopolitical changes that came with the end of the Cold War. This category of chiefs serves their communities in various and sometimes complex roles, which includes spiritual service. It also develops a theoretical framework for the . Such a transformation would render traditional institutions dispensable. "Law" in traditional Igbo and other African societies assumes a wide dimension and should be understood, interpreted, and applied as such, even if such a definition conflicts with the Western idea. South Africas strategy revolves around recognition of customary law when it does not conflict with the constitution and involves traditional authorities in local governance. Both can be identified as forms of governance. This situation supported an external orientation in African politics in which Cold War reference points and former colonial relationships assured that African governments often developed only a limited sense of connection to their own societies. As a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) study (2007) notes, traditional leaders often operate as custodians of customary law and communal assets, especially land. There was a lot of consultation between the elders before any major decision was made. On the opposite side are the decentralized systems, led by a council of elders, that command little formal power. During the colonial period, "tribe" was used to identify specific cultural and political groups in much the same way as "nation" is defined above. On the one side, there are the centralized systems where leaders command near absolute power. For example, the electoral college forces a republic type of voting system. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed? Any insurrection by a segment of the population has the potential to bring about not only the downfall of governments but also the collapse of the entire apparatus of the state because the popular foundation of the African state is weak. By the mid-1970s, the military held power in one-third of the nations of sub-Saharan Africa. The colonial state, for example, invented chiefs where there were no centralized authority systems and imposed them on the decentralized traditional systems, as among the Ibo of Eastern Nigeria, the Tonga in Zambia, various communities in Kenya, and the communities in Somalia. Despite the adoption of constitutional term limits in many African countries during the 1990s, such restrictions have been reversed or defied in at least 15 countries since 2000, according to a recent report.6, The conflict-governance link takes various forms, and it points to the centrality of the variable of leadership. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. Many African countries, Ghana and Uganda, for example, have, like all other states, formal institutions of the state and informal institutions (societal norms, customs, and practices). An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. The colonial state modified their precolonial roles. One scholar specializing on the Horn of Africa likens the situation a political marketplace in which politics and violence are simply options along the spectrum pursued by powerful actors.5. Presently, Nigeria practices the federal system. This short article does not attempt to provide answers to all these questions, which require extensive empirical study. It may be useful to recall that historical kingships or dynasties were the common form of rule in Europe, India, China until modern times, and still is the predominant form of rule on the Arabian Peninsula. Among them were those in Ethiopia, Morocco, Swaziland, and Lesotho. 14 L.A. Ayinla 'African Philosophy of Law: A Critique' 151, available at The term covers the expressed commands of Government as a Structural Element of Society 2.2.
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