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- Description:
- Conflicts have always been part of human society and mechanisms to resolve them have often tended to reflect the level of political organisation in a particular society. The traditional African society is rife with varied approaches to conflict management. Uganda, for example, is a heterogeneous society which prior to colonial rule was organised around chiefdoms among some tribes and clan elders among others. In the Kingdom areas such as Buganda, Ankore, Bunyoro, Toro and to some extent in Busoga the king ruled through institutions such as the hierarchy of chiefs and laws. In segmentary societies such as Kigezi, Bugisu, Bamba, Bakonjo and the Iteso, the political and social organisation was clan based, regulated by customs and values. In pre-colonial Uganda each society had set conventions, customs and traditions which regulated social behaviour, harmony and stability. These unwritten laws provided a set of acceptable behaviour and controlled deviants in society. Despite the differences in political organisation, it is generally agreed that each of these societies had elaborate systems of governance, rule of law, justice and administrative organs. Each member of society was supposed to know his rights and sanctions were imposed on those individuals who did not comply with the norms. This article will address the issue of conflict, how it was dealt with in traditional African culture, the methods of communication both in traditional and modern Uganda and the question of rights and responsibilities in promoting cross-cultural amity.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The current state of most African countries cannot be dissociated from the Berlin Treaty of 1885, which divided the continent into zones of European influence. Before this year, most communities in this continent ran their own affairs in relative independence, within a clearly understood ethnic region. The most significant characteristics of an ethnic community were it's language and culture. Although the new foreign masters did not always clearly perceive or appreciate these social elements, the diversity and the wealth of these entities was enormous in the African continent. The greatest injustice the colonial masters committed was, undoubtedly, the imposition of their language and culture on the colonized minority groups. This article discusses the consequences of this phenomenon in post-colonial Africa and evaluates the alternative possibilities in relation to conflict resolution in Africa.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review