features of traditional african system of government

Sometimes, another precedent flows from thesenamely, pressure from outside the country but with some support internally as well for creating a transitional government of national unity. We do not yet know whether such institutions will consistently emerge, starting with relatively well-governed states, such as Ghana or Senegal, as a result of repeated, successful alternations of power; or whether they will only occur when Africas political systems burst apart and are reconfigured. The traditional African religions (or traditional beliefs and practices of African people) are a set of highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions . 14 L.A. Ayinla 'African Philosophy of Law: A Critique' 151, available at The Pre-Colonial Period: From the Ashes of Pharaohs to the Berlin Conference At the end of the prehistoric period (10 000 BC), some African nomadic bands began to The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. But it also reflects the impact of Arab, Russian, Chinese, Indian, European and U.S. vectors of influence which project their differences into African societies. 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). Note: The term rural population is used as a proxy for the population operating under traditional economic systems. References: Blakemore and Cooksey (1980). They are well known, among others, for their advancement of an indigenous democratic process known as Gadaa. 1.4. To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. Among the key challenges associated with institutional fragmentation are the following: Policy incoherence: Fragmented economies and institutions represent dichotomous socioeconomic spaces, which makes it highly challenging for policy to address equitably the interests of the populations in these separate socioeconomic spaces. Another basic question is, whom to include? Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. A partial explanation as to why the traditional systems endure was given in the section Why African Traditional Institutions Endure. The argument in that section was that they endure primarily because they are compatible with traditional economic systems, under which large segments of the African population still operate. Poor gender relations: Traditional institutions share some common weaknesses. Additionally, inequalities between parallel socioeconomic spaces, especially with respect to influence on policy, hinder a democratic system, which requires equitable representation and inclusive participation. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. This is done through the enforcement agencies such as the police force. It should not be surprising that there is a weak social compact between state and society in many African states. 17-19 1.6. Hoover scholars form the Institutions core and create breakthrough ideas aligned with our mission and ideals. The institution of traditional leadership in Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems and was the only known system of governance among indigenous people. These include macro variables such as educational access (especially for women), climate change impact and mitigation, development and income growth rates, demographic trends, internet access, urbanization rates, and conflict events. The third section looks at the critical role of political and economic inclusion in shaping peace and stability and points to some of the primary challenges leaders face in deciding how to manage inclusion: whom to include and how to pay for it. After examining the history, challenges, and opportunities for the institution of traditional leadership within a modern democracy, the chapter considers the effect of the current constitutional guarantee for chieftaincy and evaluates its practical workability and structural efficiency under the current governance system. 2. Indeed, it should be added that a high percentage of todays conflicts are recurrences of previous ones, often in slightly modified form with parties that may organize under more than one flag. 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. (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 traditional administrative system with bureaucratization in the emerged new states of Africa. The Aqils (elders) of Somalia and the chiefs in Kenya are good examples. Competing land rights laws, for instance, often lead to appropriations by the state of land customarily held by communities, triggering various land-related conflicts in much of Africa, especially in areas where population growth and environmental degradation have led to land scarcity. One of these is the potential influence exerted by the regions leading states, measured in terms of size, population, economic weight, and overall political clout and leadership prestige. Less than 20% of Africas states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from peaceful transfers of authority from colonial officials to African political elites. The quality and durability of such leader-defined adaptive resilience cannot be assured and can be reversed unless the associated norms become institutionalized. Prominent among these Sudanic states was the Soninke Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. Womens inequality in the traditional system is related, at least in part, to age- and gender-based divisions of labor characterizing traditional economic systems. A more recent example of adaptive resilience is being demonstrated by Ethiopias Abiy Ahmed. For example, is it more effective to negotiate a power-sharing pact among key parties and social groups (as in Kenya) or is there possible merit in a periodic national dialogue to address issues that risk triggering conflict? If inclusion is the central ingredient, it will be necessary to explore in greater depth the resources leaders have available to pay for including various social groups and demographic cohorts. According to the African Development Bank, good governance should be built on a foundation of (I) effective states, (ii) mobilized civil societies, and (iii) an efficient private sector. Traditional institutions already adjudicate undisclosed but large proportions of rural disputes. 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). Traditional leaders would also be able to use local governance as a platform for exerting some influence on national policymaking. Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. A second attribute is the participatory decision-making system. This enhanced his authority. Their "rediscovery" in modern times has led to an important decolonization of local and community management in order to pursue genuine self-determination. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. The leader is accountable to various levels of elders, who serve as legislators and as judges (Legesse, 1973; Taa, 2017). The same technology vectors can also empower criminal, trafficking, and terrorist networks, all of which pose threats to state sovereignty. Similarities between Democratic and Authoritarian Government. This section attempts to explain these seemingly contradictory implications of traditional institutions. South Africa has a mixed economy in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic . There are very few similarities between democracy and dictatorship. for a democratic system of government. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . 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 role of chieftaincy within post-colonial African countries continues to incite lively debates, as the case of Ghana exemplifies. Virtually every group was involved in the . For example, the electoral college forces a republic type of voting system. Even old-fashioned tyrants learn that inclusion or co-option are expensive. The formal institutions of checks and balances and accountability of leaders to the population are rather weak in this system. Features Of Traditional Government Administration. Strictly speaking, Ghana was the title of the King, but the Arabs, who left records . The fourth part draws a conclusion with a tentative proposal on how the traditional institutions might be reconciled with the formal institutions to address the problem of institutional incoherence. Figure 1 captures this turn to authoritarianism in postindependence Africa. Perhaps one of the most serious shared weakness relates to gender relations. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. The council system of the Berbers in Northern Africa also falls within this category (UNECA, 2007). President Muhammadu Buhari is currently the federal head of state and government. Allocation of resources, such as land, is also much more egalitarian under the traditional system than it is under the private ownership system in the formal state system. Safeguarding womens rights thus becomes hard without transforming the economic system under which they operate. We know a good deal about what Africans want and demand from their governments from public opinion surveys by Afrobarometer. African political elites are more determined than ever to shape their own destiny, and they are doing so. The imperative for inclusion raises many questions: should the priority be to achieve inclusion of diverse elites, of ethnic and confessional constituencies, of a sample of grass roots opinion leaders? Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. Examine the definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of several common governments: monarchy, theocracy . As a result, customary law, which often is not recognized by the state or is recognized only when it does not contradict the constitution, does not protect communities from possible transgressions by the state. In addition, according to Chirayath et al. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. One common feature is recognition of customary property rights laws, especially that of land. 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. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. By the mid-1970s, the military held power in one-third of the nations of sub-Saharan Africa. In this context the chapter further touches on the compatibility of the institution of chieftaincy with constitutional principles such as equality, accountability, natural justice, good governance, and respect for fundamental human rights. This section grapples with the questions of whether traditional institutions are relevant in the governance of contemporary Africa and what implications their endurance has on Africas socioeconomic development. Some African nations are prosperous while others struggle. There is one constitution and one set of laws and rules for ordinary people, and quite other for the ruling family and the politically connected elite. Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. But established and recognized forms of inherited rule cannot be lightly dismissed as un-modern, especially when linked to the identity of an ethnic or tribal group, and could be construed as a building block of legitimacy. Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society. Chiefs with limited power: Another category of chiefs is those that are hereditary, like the paramount chiefs, but have limited powers. However, institutions are rarely static and they undergo changes induced by internal transformations of broader socioeconomic systems or by external influences or imposition, and in some cases by a combination of the two forces. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. Before then, traditional authorities essentially provided leadership for the various communities and kingdoms. For Acemoglu and Robinson, such turning points occur in specific, unique historical circumstances that arise in a societys development. Finally, the chapter considers the future of the institution against the background of the many issues and challenges considered. Large countries such as the DRC, Ethiopia, and Mozambique are likely to experience pressures against centralized, authoritarian, or one-party governance (whether accompanied by real elections or not). In West Africa, a griot is a praise singer or poet who possesses a repository of oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, little attention by African governments has been given to this paradoxical aspect of traditional institutions. One of these will be the role and weight of various powerful external actors. Poor statesociety relations and weak state legitimacy: Another critical outcome of institutional fragmentation and institutional detachment of the state from the overwhelming majority of the population is weak legitimacy of the state (Englebert, 2000). In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). Introduction: The Meaning of the Concept Government 1.1. In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. In some countries, such as Botswana, customary courts are estimated to handle approximately 80% of criminal cases and 90% of civil cases (Sharma, 2004). What policies and laws will determine relations between farmers and urban dwellers, between farmers and herders, between diverse identity groups living in close proximity or encroaching on each others farm land, and between public officials, criminal networks and ordinary citizens? The first type is rights-based legitimacy deriving from rule of law, periodic elections, and alternation of political power, the kind generally supported by western and some African governments such as Ghana and Senegal. It then analyzes the implications of the dual allegiance of the citizenry to chiefs and the government. Under the circumstances, it becomes critical that traditional leaders are directly involved in local governance so that they protect the interests of their communities. It is also highly unlikely that such broader aspects of traditional institutions can be eliminated without transforming the traditional modes of production that foster them. Somalilands strategy has brought traditional leaders into an active role in the countrys formal governance by creating an upper house in parliament, the Guurti, where traditional leaders exercise the power of approving all bills drafted by the lower house of parliament. Legitimacy based on successful predation and state capture was well known to the Plantagenets and Tudors as well as the Hapsburgs, Medicis, and Romanovs, to say nothing of the Mughal descendants of Genghis Khan.14 In this fifth model of imagined legitimacy, some African leaders operate essentially on patrimonial principles that Vladimir Putin can easily recognize (the Dos Santos era in Angola, the DRC under Mobutu and Kabila, the Eyadema, Bongo, Biya, and Obiang regimes in Togo, Gabon, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, respectively).15 Such regimes may seek to perpetuate themselves by positioning wives or sons to inherit power. THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CUSTOMARY LAW, Fenrich, Galizzi, Higgins, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011, 27 Pages A strict democracy would enforce the "popular vote" total over the entire United States. Key Takeaways. 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. African Traditional Political System and Institution: University of The Gambia, Faculty of humanities and social sciences. The colonial state modified their precolonial roles. 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. With respect to their relevance, traditional institutions remain indispensable for several reasons. 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. However, their participation in the electoral process has not enabled them to influence policy, protect their customary land rights, and secure access to public services that would help them overcome their deprivation. On the opposite side are the decentralized systems, led by a council of elders, that command little formal power. A third layer lies between the other two layers and is referred to in this article as traditional institutions. The regime in this case captures the state, co-opts the security organs, and dissolves civil society. Yet, the traditional judicial system in most cases operates outside of the states institutional framework. In these relatively new nations, the critical task for leadership is to build a social contract that is sufficiently inclusive to permit the management of diversity. Rather, they are conveners of assemblies of elders or lower level chiefs who deliberate on settlement of disputes. This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded Nonhereditary selected leaders with constitutional power: A good example of this is the Gada system of the Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya. 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. The council of elders, religious leaders, and administrative staff of the chiefs exercise checks on the power of the leaders and keep them accountable (Beattie, 1967; Busia, 1968; Coplan & Quinlan, 1997; Jones, 1983; Osaghae, 1989). The leaders, their families and allies are exempt. Changes in economic and political systems trigger the need for new institutional systems to manage the new economic and political systems, while endurance of economic and political systems foster durability of existing institutional systems. Paramount chieftaincy is a traditional system of local government and an integral element of governance in some African countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Because these governmental institutions reject the indigenous political systems on which African society was built, they have generally failed to bring political . In many tribes, the chief was the representative of the ancestors. For these and other reasons, the state-society gap lies at the heart of the problems faced by many states. The selection, however, is often from the children of a chief. This theme, which is further developed below, is especially critical bearing in mind that Africa is the worlds most ethnically complex region, home to 20 of the worlds most diverse countries in terms of ethnic composition.8. Some African leaders such as Ghanas Jerry Rawlings, Zambias Kenneth Kaunda, or Mozambiques Joachim Chissano accept and respect term limits and stand down. One is that the leaders of the postcolonial state saw traditional institutions and their leadership as archaic vestiges of the past that no longer had a place in Africas modern system of governance. There are several types of government that are traditionally instituted around the world. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. This principle is particularly relevant for diversity management, nation-building, and democratization in contemporary Africa. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. Their endurance and coexistence with the institutions of the state has created an institutional dichotomy in much of Africa. Womens access to property rights is also limited, as they are often denied the right of access to inheritance as well as equal division of property in cases of divorce. Following decolonization, several African countries attempted to abolish aspects of the traditional institutional systems. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. 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. The swing against western norms was captured in an interview with Ugandas repeatedly re-elected president Yoweri Museveni who remarked How can you have structural adjustment without electricity? They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. Oromos are one of the largest ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa belonging to the Cushitic-speaking peoples in Northeastern Africa in general and in modern Ethiopia and Kenya in particular. An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. Botswanas strategy has largely revolved around integrating parallel judicial systems. The abolishment of chieftaincy does not eradicate the systems broader underlying features, such as customary law, decision-making systems, and conflict resolution practices. Traditional leadership in South Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems of governance and was the main known system of governance amongst indigenous people. Non-official institutions and civil society may have very different ideas from the national government on this issue, leading to debates about legitimacy. There are also various arguments in the literature against traditional institutions.2 One argument is that chieftaincy impedes the pace of development as it reduces the relevance of the state in the area of social services (Tom Mboya in Osaghae, 1989). 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. In this paper, I look first at the emergence of the African state system historically, including colonial legacies and the Cold Wars impact on governance dynamics. 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.

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