The Role of Sidama Indigenous Institutions in Conflict Resolution

The Role of Sidama Indigenous Institutions in Conflict Resolution: In the Case of Dalle Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

Abebe Demewoz Mengesha

Anthropology, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia

Abstract

The major goal of this study was to assess the role of indigenous institutions in handling/ settling conflicts in the Sidama Society. Sidama Communities are found in Sidama Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS). The research was conducted in Dalle woreda, Sidama Zone and it was purposively selected. Qualitative research methodology was employed in the study for its appropriateness to assess the role of indigenous institutions in handling/ settling conflicts in the study area and data was collected through the use of interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion, personal observation and document review. The results obtained from the study suggest that Conflicts in Sidama, as in anywhere else, may vary from trivial interpersonal disagreements to a serious dispute which might eventually lead to homicide. The most common conflict issues in Sidama are grazing land, water, farmland and borderland. There are many deeds and accounts in the daily activities of the society which are considered to be crimes with regard to the norms and traditions of the Sidama community. However, the most serious ones are: beating a man with a slump and/or thin stick, Beating elderly, raping, murder, Physical damage, Adultery. Sidama indigenous institutions have played a great role to solve different local conflicts and for the development of modern institutions. The modern institutions (Courts) have and took a strong base from the indigenous institutions in resolving conflict and preserving peace and security. Besides to modern institution, the indigenous institutions have played a great role for the emergence of cooperative unions. To sum up, indigenous/traditional/ institutions are costly and time effective in addition to many other benefits provide for the society when we compare with modern institutions. Therefore, at this time government courts encourages indigenous/traditional/ institutions to promote peace and to solve conflicts at the grass root level or at the local level.

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ፓርቲው ምርጫ ቦርድ ከተፅዕኖ ነፃ ሳይሆን የምርጫ ጊዜ ሰሌዳ ማውጣቱን ተቃወመ

የመንግሥት ስልጠና የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ አካል ነው ብሏል የምርጫ ጊዜ ሰሌዳ ለምን ወጣ መባሉ ተገቢ አይደለም - ምርጫ ቦርድ ምርጫ ቦርድ ከኢህአዴግ ተፅዕኖ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ነፃ መሆኑ ሳይረጋገጥና የምርጫ አፈፃፀም ችግሮች ሳይወገዱ የምርጫ የጊዜ ሰሌዳ ለማወጅ መዘጋጀቱ ተገቢ አይደለም ሲል ፕ/ር በየነ ጴጥሮስ የሚመሩት ኢማዴ-ደህአፓ ተቃወመ፡፡ መንግስት፤ የዩኒቨርሲቲ መምህራንና ተማሪዎችን ጨምሮ ለተለያዩ የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎች እየሰጠ ያለው ስልጠና የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ አካል ነው ሲልም ፓርቲው ኮንኗል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ማህበረ ዴሞክራሲ ደቡብ ህዝቦች አንድነት ፓርቲ ሰሞኑን ለብሄራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ ባስገባው ግልፅ ደብዳቤ፤ ያለፉት አገር አቀፍና የአካባቢ ምርጫዎች ከመካሄዳቸው በፊት በምርጫ ችግሮችና መፍትሄዎቻቸው ዙሪያ ኢህአዴግ ከተቃዋሚዎች ጋር የሚወያይበት መድረክ እንዲዘጋጅ በተደጋጋሚ ብንጠይቅም እስካሁን ከቦርዱ የተሰጠ ተግባራዊ ምላሽ የለም ብሏል፡፡ ሃገሪቱ “በአንድ አውራ ፓርቲ” ብቸኛ ቁጥጥር ስር መውደቋ አደገኛና አሳሳቢ ነው ያለው ፓርቲው፤ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርአት የመገንባት ተስፋችን ጨርሶ እንዳይከስም ቦርዱ ሃላፊነቱን መወጣት እንዳለበት አሳስቧል፡፡ ነፃና ፍትሃዊ ምርጫ የሚካሄድበትን ሁኔታ ለመፍጠር ገዥው ፓርቲና ሃቀኛ ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች የሚወያዩበት መድረክ እንዲያመቻች በህግ ስልጣን የተሰጠው ምርጫ ቦርድ የገባውን ቃል በማጠፍ መድረኩን ሳያመቻች የምርጫ ጊዜ ሰሌዳ ማዘጋጀቱ ፋይዳ የለውም ብሏል - ፓርቲው፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ ኢህአዴግ በተሻሻለው የምርጫ ህግ፣ ለቦርዱ የተሰጠውን የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች የጋራ መድረክ የማስተባበር ስልጣን ለመቀማት ታማኝ ፓርቲዎችን በተቃዋሚ ስም አሰባስቦ “የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች የጋራ መድረክ” በመፍጠር የምርጫ ውድድር አሯሯጭ አሰልፏል ሲ

የሐዋሳ ሐይቅ ትሩፋት

የለበሰው ያደፈ ቁምጣና ሹራብ ከቅዝቃዜው አላዳነውም፡፡ ካፊያው ልብሱን አርሶታል፡፡ ሽው እያለ ከሐይቁ የሚነሳው ነፋስ የሚፈጥረው ቅዝቃዜ ያንቀጠቅጠዋል፡፡ የተጫማው ያረጀ ሲሊፐር እግሩን ከምንም አላዳነውም፡፡ በባዶ እግሩ የሚራመድ ያህል ጨቅይቷል፡፡ ተደባዳቢ ይመስል ፊቱ የተሞነጫጨረ ነው፡፡ ገና 12 ዓመቱ ቢሆንም፣ ቁመናው እንደ ትልቅ ሰው ግዙፍ ነው፡፡ የሚለብሰውን እንደ ልቡ ባያገኝም፣ የሚያስፈልገውን ነገር ለማሟላት ቤሳቢስቲን የሌላቸው ወላጆቹን አያስቸግርም፡፡ ከቤተሰቦቹ ጋር ከሚኖሩበት ታቦር ተራራ ጀርባ ወዳለው ሐዋሳ ሐይቅ ከወረደ እንኳንስ የራሱን የቤተሰቦቹንም የዕለት ጉርስ የሚሸፍንበት ገንዘብ አያጣም፡፡ የአስጎብኚነት ዕውቀት፣ ከሐይቁም ውስጥ ዓሳ የሚያጠምድበት መረብም ሆነ ፈቃድ የለውም፡፡ ሙሉቀን (ስሙ ተቀይሯል) እና ጓደኞቹ ሐይቁን ለመጎብኘት የሚሄዱ ጎብኚዎች በካሜራቸው ጥሩ ፎቶ እንዲያስቀሩ ድባቡን የማሳመር ሥራ ይሠራሉ፡፡ ካሜራውን ይዞ ቁጭ ብድግ እያለ ጥሩ ፎቶ ለማንሳት ጥረት የሚያደርግ ሲያዩ፣ ቆርጠው የያዙትን የዓሳ ሥጋ ይዘው ጠጋ ጠጋ ይላሉ፡፡ ቁርጥራጩን የዓሳ ሥጋ ምግብ ለሚቀሙት አባኮዳዎች ሻሞ ይላሉ፡፡ የተወረወረላቸውን ቀድመው ለመቅለብ አባኮዳዎቹ ክንፋቸውን እየመቱ ወደ ላይ ብድግ ይላሉ፡፡ የናሽናል ጆግሪፊ የፎቶግራፍ ባለሙያዎች ያነሱት ዓይነት ፎቶዎች ሳያስቡት ያነሳሉ፡፡ በሁኔታው ተደስተው ደጋግመው ድንቅ ፎቶዎችን ለመውሰድ ሲዘጋጁ እነ ሙሉቀንም አጀንዳቸውን ይፋ ማድረግ ይጀምራሉ፡፡ አቶ ዳዊት አብርሃም ‹‹አንዱን ዓሳ በአሥር ብር ገዝቼ ነው እንዲህ የማዘጋጀው፤›› በማለት በቅድሚያ መረጃ ይሰጣሉ፡፡ ለቀጣዩ ዜና በዚህ መልኩ እንዲዘጋጁ ካደረጉ በኋላ፣ ሌሎች ሰዎች መቶም ሁለት መቶም ብር እንደሚሰጧቸው ቀለል

Sidama: the Luwa and the Anga Culture and their Social Implications

By Wolassa Kumo 1. Introduction In my previous articles, I mentioned the Sidama grand social constitution Seera, and various sub constitutions which derive from this grand constitution. We have also seen that all social constitutions or Seera in Sidama were based on the Sidama moral code of halale, the true way of life. In this socio-cultural and socio-political system, the role of the elders was very important. Elders were bestowed with the power of enforcing the Seera and referring the recalcitrant to Magano or God if he/she refuses to abide by the Seera. The power of elders in the Sidama society was not based on a simple age count as is the case in most modern societies. The Sidama elder is more the product of various social processes through which he passes than the product of a simple aging. For a person to become a recognised elder with authority in Sidama, he has to become a Cimeessa (respected elder with authority) or Cimeeyye for many respected elders. There are three importa

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