features of traditional african system of government features of traditional african system of government

First, many of the conflicts enumerated take place within a limited number of conflict-affected countries and in clearly-defined geographic zones (the Sahel and Nigeria; Central Africa; and the Horn.) This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded The reasons why rural communities adhere to the traditional institutions are many (Logan, 2011; Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). African Politics: A Very Short Introduction explores how politics is practised on the African continent, providing an overview of the different states and their systems. Womens inequality in the traditional system is related, at least in part, to age- and gender-based divisions of labor characterizing traditional economic systems. 1. The traditional and informal justice systems, it is argued offers greater access to justice. Chief among them is that they remain key players in governing and providing various types of service in the traditional sector of the economy because of their compatibility with that economic system. Government and Political Systems. It is unlikely, however, that such harmony can be brought about by measures that aim to abolish the traditional system, as was attempted by some countries in the aftermath of decolonization. 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. Large states and those with complex ethnic and geographic featurese.g., the DRC, Nigeria, Uganda, the Sudans, Ethiopiamay be especially prone to such multi-sourced violence. They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. All life was religious . As Legesse (1973, 2000) notes, the fundamental principles that guide the consensus-based (decentralized) authority systems include curbing the concentration of power in an institution or a person and averting the emergence of a rigid hierarchy. But African societies are exposed to especially severe pressures, and governments must operate in an environment of high social demands and limited resources and capacity with which to meet them. 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. Botswanas strategy has largely revolved around integrating parallel judicial systems. Indigenous education is a process of passing the inherited knowledge, skills, cultural traditions norms and values of the tribe, among the tribal member from one generation to another Mushi (2009). 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. example of a traditional African political system. Almost at a stroke, the relationships between African governments and the major powers and major sources of concessional finance were upended, while political liberalization in the former Soviet bloc helped to trigger global political shock waves. The quality and durability of such leader-defined adaptive resilience cannot be assured and can be reversed unless the associated norms become institutionalized. Music is a form of communication and it plays a functional role in African society . There is strong demand for jobs, better economic management, reduced inequality and corruption and such outcome deliverables as health, education and infrastructure.22 Those outcomes require effective governance institutions. References: Blakemore and Cooksey (1980). A Long Journey: The Bantu Migrations. A Sociology of Education for Africa . This outline leads us to examine more closely the sources of legitimacy in African governance systems. Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. Furthermore, for generations, Africans were taught the Western notion of the tribe as . The Dutch dispatched an embassy to the Asantehene's . The features associated with this new form of governmental administration deal with smaller government responsibility for providing goods and services. No doubt rural communities participate in elections, although they are hardly represented in national assemblies by people from their own socioeconomic space. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. 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. Yet, governments are expected to govern and make decisions after consulting relevant stakeholders. It may be good to note, as a preliminary, that African political systems of the past dis played considerable variety. This concept paper focuses on the traditional system of governance in Africa including their consensual decision-making models, as part of a broader effort to better define and advocate their role in achieving good governance. Ideally, African nations will benefit when civil society respects the states role (as well as the other way around); rather than one-sided advocacy, both sides should strive to create a space for debate in order to legitimize tolerance of multiple views in society. 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. 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. the system even after independence. Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. In the postcolonial era, their roles changed again. 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 traditional African religions (or traditional beliefs and practices of African people) are a set of highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions . Subsequent to the colonial experience, traditional institutions may be considered to be informal institutions in the sense that they are often not sanctioned by the state. Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. At times, these traditional security system elements are sufficient enough for some uses, but there's certainly no denying . Traditional governments have the following functions; Land privatization is, thus, unworkable in pastoral communities, as communal land ownership would be unworkable in a capitalist economy. However, the traditional modes of production and the institutional systems associated with them also remain entrenched among large segments of the population. Virtually every group was involved in the . 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). The scope of the article is limited to an attempt to explain how the endurance of African traditional institutions is related to the continents economic systems and to shed light on the implications of fragmented institutional systems. All the characteristic features of a traditional society are, for obvious reasons, reflected in the education system. In West Africa, a griot is a praise singer or poet who possesses a repository of oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. Nonhereditary selected leaders with constitutional power: A good example of this is the Gada system of the Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya. African Governance: Challenges and Their Implications. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. We know a good deal about what Africans want and demand from their governments from public opinion surveys by Afrobarometer. Third, Africas conflict burden reflects different forms and sources of violence that sometimes become linked to each other: political movements may gain financing and coercive support from criminal networks and traffickers, while religious militants with connections to terrorist groups are often adept at making common cause with local grievance activists. The first three parts deal with the principal objectives of the article. However, they are not merely customs and norms; rather they are systems of governance, which were formal in precolonial times and continue to exist in a semiformal manner in some countries and in an informal manner in others. A more recent example of adaptive resilience is being demonstrated by Ethiopias Abiy Ahmed. 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. Interestingly, small and mid-size state leaders have won the award so far.) Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional African . They also serve as guardians and symbols of cultural values and practices. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. Even old-fashioned tyrants learn that inclusion or co-option are expensive. African governance trends were transformed by the geopolitical changes that came with the end of the Cold War. The African Charter embodies some of the human . Poor gender relations: Traditional institutions share some common weaknesses. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. A second attribute is the participatory decision-making system. Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. The third section deals with the post-colonial period and discusses some problems associated with African administration. A related reason for their relevance is that traditional institutions, unlike the state, provide rural communities the platform to participate directly in their own governance. African states, along with Asian, Middle Eastern, and even European governments, have all been affected. With the introduction of the Black Administration Act the African system of governance and administration was changed and the white government took control of the African population. Ethiopias monarchy ended in 1974 while the other three remain, with only the king of Swaziland enjoying absolute power. Its lack of influence on policy also leads to its marginalization in accessing resources and public services, resulting in poverty, poor knowledge, and a poor information base, which, in turn, limits its ability to exert influence on policy. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. 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). 1. Despite such changes, these institutions are referred to as traditional not because they continue to exist in an unadulterated form as they did in Africas precolonial past but because they are largely born of the precolonial political systems and are adhered to principally, although not exclusively, by the population in the traditional (subsistent) sectors of the economy. Yet political stability cannot be based on state power alone, except in the short run. An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. Relatively unfettered access to the internet via smart phones and laptops brings informationand hence potential powerto individuals and groups about all kinds of things: e.g., market prices, the views of relatives in the diaspora, conditions in the country next door, and the self-enrichment of corrupt officials. The term covers the expressed commands of On the opposite side are the decentralized systems, led by a council of elders, that command little formal power. The Alafin as the political head of the empire was . In general, 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. Should inclusion be an ongoing process or a single event? Similarly, the process of conflict resolution is undertaken in an open assembly and is intended to reconcile parties in conflict rather than to merely punish offenders. Examine the definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of several common governments: monarchy, theocracy . Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. Uneven access to public services, such as educational, health, and communication services, and the disproportionately high poverty rates in the traditional sector are manifestations of the sectors marginalization. This process becomes difficult when citizens are divided into parallel socioeconomic spaces with different judicial systems, property rights laws, and resource allocation mechanisms, which often may conflict with each other. Under conditions where nation-building is in a formative stage, the retribution-seeking judicial system and the winner-take-all multiparty election systems often lead to combustible conditions, which undermine the democratization process.