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. Countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, for example, attempted to strip chiefs of most of their authority or even abolish chieftaincy altogether. 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. 1.4. South Africa has a mixed economy in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic . The leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. Another layer represents the societal norms and customs that differ along various cultural traits. They also serve as guardians and symbols of cultural values and practices. There is a basic distinction between those systems with a centralized authority exercised through the machinery of government and those without any such authority in which . The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. The government is undertaking a review of local government, which includes a commitment to introduce direct election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs). Before delving into the inquiry, clarification of some issues would be helpful in avoiding confusion. Non-official institutions and civil society may have very different ideas from the national government on this issue, leading to debates about legitimacy. That is, each society had a set of rules, laws, and traditions, sometimes called customs, that established how the people would live together peacefully as part of larger group. The essay concludes with a sobering reflection on the challenge of achieving resilient governance. Others contend that African countries need to follow a mixed institutional system incorporating the traditional and formal systems (Sklar, 2003). There are several types of government systems in African politics: in an absolute monarchy, the head of state and head of government is a monarch with unlimited legal authority,; in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences,; in a presidential system, the president is the head of state and head of government, Using a second conflict lens, the number of non-state conflicts has increased dramatically in recent years, peaking in 2017 with 50 non-state conflicts, compared to 24 in 2011. The Alafin as the political head of the empire was . 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? The guiding principle behind these two attributes is that conflict is a societal problem and that resolving conflict requires societal engagement. The geography of South Africa is vast scrubland in the interior, the Namib Desert in the northwest, and tropics in the southeast. According to this analysis, Africas traditional institutional systems are likely to endure as long as the traditional subsistent economic systems continue to exist. 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. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. The Sultanes of Somalia are examples of this category and the community has specific criteria as to who is qualified to be a chief (Ahmed, 2017). 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. The modern African state system has been gradually Africanized, albeit on more or less the identical territorial basis it began with at the time of decolonization in the second half of the 20th century. The terms Afrocentrism, Afrocology, and Afrocentricity were coined in the 1980s by the African American scholar and activist Molefi Asante. In many tribes, the chief was the representative of the ancestors. Leaders may not be the only ones who support this definition of legitimacy. As a result, they are not dispensable as long as the traditional economic systems endure. 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. The formal institutions of checks and balances and accountability of leaders to the population are rather weak in this system. As a result, it becomes highly complex to analyze their roles and structures without specifying the time frame. The political systems of most African nations are based on forms of government put in place by colonial authorities during the era of European rule. Botswanas strategy has largely revolved around integrating parallel judicial systems. Issues of corruption and transparency are likely to become driving themes in African politics. They must know the traditional songs and must also be able to improvise songs about current events and chance incidents. 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. Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. 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. It is too soon to tell whether such institutions can evolve in modern Africa as a result of gradual tinkering with reformist agendas, as the legacy of wise leaders; or whether they will only happen as a result of fundamental tests of strength between social and political groups. 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. Chieftaincy is further plagued with its own internal problems, including issues of relevance, succession, patriarchy, jurisdiction, corruption and intra-tribal conflict. Since institutional fragmentation is a major obstacle to nation-building and democratization, it is imperative that African countries address it and forge institutional harmony. (No award was made in 50% of the years since the program was launched in 2007; former Liberian president Ellen John Sirleaf won the award in 2017. With its eminent scholars and world-renowned library and archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind. The traditional Africa system of government is open and inclusive, where strangers, foreigners and even slaves could participate in the decision-making process. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . This can happen in several ways. Stagnant economy, absence of diversification in occupational patterns and allegiance to traditionall these have a bearing on the system of education prevailing in these societies. The population in the traditional system thus faces a vicious cycle of deprivation. 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. Towards a Definition of Government 1.3. 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. In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). These consisted of monarchy, aristocracy and polity. As noted, African countries have experienced the rise of the modern (capitalist) economic system along with its corresponding institutional systems. 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. These circumstances can generate an authoritarian reflex and the temptation to circle the wagons against all sources of potential opposition. Prominent among these Sudanic states was the Soninke Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. Beyond the traditional sector, traditional institutions also have important attributes that can benefit formal institutions. Cookie Settings. Located on the campus of Stanford University and in Washington, DC, the Hoover Institution is the nations preeminent research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity, national security, and democratic governance. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. This layer of institutions is the subject of inquiry of this article. 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. Africas geopolitical environment is shaped by Africans to a considerable degree. One of these will be the role and weight of various powerful external actors. The Ibo village assembly in eastern Nigeria, the Eritrean village Baito (assembly), the council of elders (kiama) of the Kikuyu in Kenya, and the kaya elders of the Mijikenda in the coast of Kenya are among well-known examples where decisions are largely made in a consensual manner of one kind or another (Andemariam, 2017; Mengisteab, 2003). Aristotle was the first to define three principal types of government systems in the fourth century B.C. The rise of non-Western centers of power and the return of global polarization among major powers reduce the presence and weight of western influence. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. 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 challenge facing Africas leadersperhaps above all othersis how to govern under conditions of ethnic diversity. African political elites are more determined than ever to shape their own destiny, and they are doing so. 1. (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. 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. Strictly speaking, Ghana was the title of the King, but the Arabs, who left records . For example, the election day itself goes more or less peacefully, the vote tabulation process is opaque or obscure, and the entire process is shaped by a pre-election playing field skewed decisively in favor of the incumbents. 20-27, at p. 21; Carey N. Vicenti 'The re-emergence of tribal society and traditional justice systems' Judicature, Vol. 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. Political leaders everywhere face competing demands in this regard. These features include nonprofits, non-profits and hybrid entities are now provide goods and services that were once delivered by the government. 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. On the one hand, traditional institutions are highly relevant and indispensable, although there are arguments to the contrary (see Mengisteab & Hagg [2017] for a summary of such arguments). How these differences in leadership structures impinge on the broader institutions of resources allocation patterns, judicial systems, and decision-making and conflict resolution mechanisms is still understudied. Reconciling the parallel institutional systems is also unlikely to deliver the intended results in a short time; however, there may not be any better alternatives. This provides wide opportunity for governments to experiment, to chart a course independent of Western preferences, but it can also encourage them to move toward authoritarian, state capitalist policies when that is the necessary or the expedient thing to do. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. Because these governmental institutions reject the indigenous political systems on which African society was built, they have generally failed to bring political . Command economies, as opposed to free-market economies, do not allow market forces like supply and demand to determine production or prices. Africas states are the worlds newest, and it can hardly be surprising that Africans define themselves in terms of multiple identities including regional, tribal, clan-based, and religious onesin addition to being citizens of a relatively new state. South Africas strategy revolves around recognition of customary law when it does not conflict with the constitution and involves traditional authorities in local governance. The point here is that peer pressure, examples, and precedents are especially important in a region of 54 states, many of them dependent on satisfactory relations with their neighbors. Ethiopias monarchy ended in 1974 while the other three remain, with only the king of Swaziland enjoying absolute power. By the mid-1970s, the military held power in one-third of the nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Such a consensus-building mechanism can help resolve many of the conflicts related to diversity management and nation-building. Not surprisingly, incumbent leaders facing these challenges look to short-term military remedies and extend a welcome to military partnerswith France, the United States, and the United Nations the leading candidates. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. Africas economic systems range from a modestly advanced capitalist system, symbolized by modern banking and stock markets, to traditional economic systems, represented by subsistent peasant and pastoral systems. Keywords: Legal Pluralism, African Customary Law, Traditional Leadership, Chieftaincy, Formal Legal System Relationship With, Human Rights, Traditional Norms, Suggested Citation: In Module Seven A: African History, you explored the histories of a wide diversity of pre-colonial African societies. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. African Governance: Challenges and Their Implications. President Muhammadu Buhari is currently the federal head of state and government. In new countries such as most of those in Africa,7 where the rule of law is in competition with the rule of men, leaders play a strikingly critical role, for good or ill. 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. 2. Similarities between Democratic and Authoritarian Government. 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. They are already governing much of rural Africa. Decision making is generally participatory and often consensus-based. The political history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. These communities select the Aba Gada, who serves a nonrenewable term of 8 years as leader. Hindrance to democratization: Perhaps among the most important challenges institutional fragmentation poses is to the process of democratization. Abstract. The abolishment of chieftaincy does not eradicate the systems broader underlying features, such as customary law, decision-making systems, and conflict resolution practices. 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. While traditional institutions remain indispensable for the communities operating under traditional economic systems, they also represent institutional fragmentation, although the underlying factor for fragmentation is the prevailing dichotomy of economic systems. 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.) Violating customary property rights, especially land takings, without adequate compensation impedes institutional reconciliation by impoverishing rather than transforming communities operating in the traditional economic system. This enhanced his authority. The optimistic replyand it is a powerful oneis that Africans will gradually build inclusive political and economic institutions.18 This, however, requires wise leadership. Rule that is based on predation and political monopoly is unlikely to enjoy genuine popular legitimacy, but it can linger for decades unless there are effective countervailing institutions and power centers. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. However, there are customs and various arrangements that restrain their power. 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 . The cases of Nigeria, Kenya, and South Sudan suggest that each case must be assessed on its own merits. In African-style democracy the rule of law is only applicable to ordinary people unconnected to the governing party leadership or leader. The article has three principal objectives and is organized into four parts. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. Of the latter, 10 achieved the top rating of free, a conclusion close to ratings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).9 A more bullish reading drawn again from multiple sources is that over 60% of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in free or partly free countries, a situation that enabled a Brookings Institution study to conclude that the region [is] moving in fits and starts towards greater democratic consolidation.10 Countries absent from the apparent democratic wave missed its beginnings in the early and mid-1990s, became caught up in protracted or recurrent civil conflicts, or degenerated as a result of electoral violence or big men patrimonialism. A third objective is to examine the relevance of traditional institutions. Institutional systems emanate from the broader economic and political systems, although they also affect the performance of the economic and political systems. The long-term, global pushback by the leading authoritarian powers against liberal governance norms has consequences in Africa and other regions as governments directly act to close the space for civil society to operate. This study points to a marked increase in state-based conflicts, owing in significant part to the inter-mixture of Islamic State factions into pre-existing conflicts. African Traditional Political System and Institution: University of The Gambia, Faculty of humanities and social sciences. 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. A strict democracy would enforce the "popular vote" total over the entire United States. Large segments of the rural populations, the overwhelming majority in most African countries, continue to adhere principally to traditional institutions. Among the attributes of the traditional system with such potential is the systems transparent and participatory process of resolving conflicts, which takes place in open public meetings. THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CUSTOMARY LAW, Fenrich, Galizzi, Higgins, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011, 27 Pages The implementation of these systems often . Oftentimes, however, they contradict each other, creating problems associated with institutional incoherence. MyHoover delivers a personalized experience atHoover.org. The three countries have pursued rather different strategies of reconciling their institutional systems and it remains to be seen if any of their strategies will deliver the expected results, although all three countries have already registered some progress in reducing conflicts and in advancing the democratization process relative to countries around them. Tribe Versus Ethnic Group. Among them were those in Ethiopia, Morocco, Swaziland, and Lesotho. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed? 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. The key lies in identifying the variables that will shape its context. We know a good deal about what Africans want and demand from their governments from public opinion surveys by Afrobarometer. Features Of Traditional Government Administration. A Functional Approach to define Government 2. The Constitution states that the institution, status and roles of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised. Key Takeaways. States would be more effective in reforming the traditional judicial system if they recognized them rather than neglecting them, as often is the case. 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. By Sulayman Sanneh Date: September 10th, 2021. fIntroduction Africa is a vast and . Their endurance and coexistence with the institutions of the state has created an institutional dichotomy in much of Africa. The first objective of the article is to shed light on the socioeconomic foundations for the resilience of Africas traditional institutions. In some cases, they are also denied child custody rights. Typically, such leaders scheme to rig elections or to change constitutional term limitsactions seen in recent years in such countries as Rwanda and Uganda. If a critical mass of the leaderse.g., South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cote dIvoire, Algeria, Egyptare heading in a positive direction, they will pull some others along in their wake; of course, the reverse is also true. 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. It then analyzes the implications of the dual allegiance of the citizenry to chiefs and the government. 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). Additionally, the transaction costs for services provided by the traditional institutions are much lower than the services provided by the state. The kings and chiefs of Angola and Asante, for example, allowed European merchants to send their representatives to their courts. The same technology vectors can also empower criminal, trafficking, and terrorist networks, all of which pose threats to state sovereignty. They are the key players in providing judicial service and in conflict management in much of rural Africa. 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. Judicial Administration. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals .