Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T15:44:32.948Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Internal Conflict on Customary Institutions and Law: The Case of Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2015

Joanna R Quinn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Customary institutions are used successfully in some Ugandan communities, but not in others. There may be several explanations for this. First, the nature of social institutions clearly changes over time; it is likely that the utility of traditional practices has also changed accordingly. Secondly, the presence of protracted civil conflict in various parts of the country has altered the manner in which people are able to live and deal with conflict. Thirdly, the scope of conflict may have caused traditions to become dislocated or modified beyond any recognizable or useful form, which may have caused traditional mechanisms to become less useful or entirely obsolete. Fourthly, societies in Uganda are stratified very differently; this organization has had a major role to play in whether and how such mechanisms are used. Fifthly, the homogeneity of the population could be a key factor in whether, and whose, “traditions” are used in a given community.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of African Law , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , October 2015 , pp. 220 - 236
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Research for this project was carried out with assistance from the Canada Corps University Partnership Program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

2 See A Branch “Ethnojustice: The theory and practice of ‘traditional justice’ in northern Uganda” (paper presented at the conference on Reconstructing Northern Uganda, held by the Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Research Group, The University of Western Ontario, London, 5–6 April 2008).

3 R Rugunda “A search for durable peace in northern Uganda” (keynote address to the Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on the Juba Peace Talks, Kampala, Uganda, 30 August 2006).

4 See Quinn, JR “Gender and customary mechanisms in Uganda” in Bergoffen, D, McNeely, C, Gilbert, PR and Harvey, T (eds) Confronting Gender Justice: Women's Lives, Human Rights (2010, Routledge) 482Google Scholar. See also Jabs, L “You can't kill a louse with one finger: A case study of intra-versus inter-group conflict in Karamoja, Uganda” (2010) 35/3Peace and Change 483CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Quinn, JR “Social reconstruction in Uganda: The role of informal mechanisms in transitional justice” (2007) 8/4Human Rights Review 389CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Briggs, PUganda (1998, The Globe Pequot Press)Google Scholar at 23.

6 Museveni, YKSowing the Mustard Seed (1997, Macmillan)Google Scholar at 41.

7 van Houten, H and Porter, G (eds) Spectrum Guide to Uganda (1998, Interlink Books)Google Scholar at 53; Ofcansky, TUganda: Tarnished Pearl of Africa (1996, Westview)Google Scholar at 55.

8 Interview with A Nadduli, LC5 district chairman, Luweero Town, Uganda, 17 November 2004 (on file with the author).

9 These include rebellions by Action Restore Peace, Allied Democratic Forces, Apac Rebellion, Citizen Army for Multiparty Politics, Force Obote Back, Former Uganda National Army, Holy Spirit Movement, The Lord's Army, LRA, National Federal Army, National Union for the Liberation of Uganda, Ninth October Movement, People's Redemption Army, Uganda Christian Democratic Army, Uganda Federal Democratic Front, Uganda Freedom Movement, Ugandan National Democratic Army, Uganda National Federal Army, Ugandan National Liberation Front, Ugandan National Rescue Fronts I and II, Ugandan People's Army, Ugandan People's Democratic Army, Uganda Salvation Army and the West Nile Bank Front. Compiled from L Hovil and Z Lomo “Behind the violence: Causes, consequences and the search for solutions to the war in northern Uganda” (2004, Refugee Law Project working paper 11) at 4; and L Hovil and Z Lomo “Whose justice? Perceptions of Uganda's Amnesty Act 2000: The potential for conflict resolution and long-term reconciliation” (2005, Refugee Law Project working paper 15) at 6.

10 Quinn, JR “Chicken and egg? Sequencing in transitional justice: The case of Uganda” (2009) 14/2International Journal of Peace Studies 35Google Scholar.

11 See Carver, R “Called to account: How African governments investigate human rights violations” (1990) 89/356African Affairs 391Google Scholar.

12 See Quinn, JRThe Politics of Acknowledgement: Truth Commissions in Uganda and Haiti (2010, University of British Columbia Press)Google Scholar.

13 Interview with M Draku, principal public relations officer, Amnesty Commission, Kampala, 7 July 2008 (copy on file with the author).

14 Quinn, JR “Getting to peace? Negotiating with the LRA in northern Uganda” (2009) 10/1Human Rights Review 55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Quinn, JR “Tradition?! Traditional cultural institutions on customary practices in Uganda” (2014) 3 Africa Spectrum 29Google Scholar; and id “Here, not there? Theorizing about why traditional mechanisms work in some communities, not others” (paper presented to the International Studies Association, New York, 15 February 2009).

16 JR Quinn “Accountability and reconciliation: Traditional mechanisms of acknowledgement and the implications of the Juba peace process” (paper presented at the conference on Reconstructing Northern Uganda, above at note 2).

17 Mamdani, MCitizen and Subject (1996, Fountain Publishers)Google Scholar at 109–10.

18 The British Colonial Office Report of the Uganda Relationship Committee (1961).

19 Briggs Uganda, above at note 5 at 22.

20 The local council courts were formerly known as resistance council courts and “were first introduced in Luweero in 1983 during the struggle for liberation. In 1987 they were legally recognized throughout the country”: JM Waliggo “The human right to peace for every person and every society” (paper presented at a public dialogue organized by the Faculty of Arts, Makerere University in conjunction with Uganda Human Rights Commission and NORAD, Kampala, 4 December 2003, on file with the author) at 7.

21 “Uganda: Constitution, government and legislation”, available at: <http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/uganda.htm> (last accessed 30 April 2005).

22 The Children's Statute, 1996, for example sec 6.

23 These documents were signed in June 2007 and February 2008 respectively and form part of a five-part agreement. Although these agreements were signed, at the time of writing this article the final agreement (which was to have been a comprehensive peace agreement) had not been signed and both parties had abandoned the talks. See Quinn “Accountability and reconciliation”, above at note 16. Through the Justice, Law and Order Sector Transitional Justice Working Group, the Ugandan government established a task force to try to determine the modalities of the inclusion of these practices within the International Criminal Division of the High Court and elsewhere (see interviews with C Gashirabake, of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kampala, 4 July 2008, and Hon Jus J Ogoola, principal justice, High Court and chairman of the Transitional Justice Working Group, Kampala, 25 September 2008: copies on file with the author). When Hon Jus Ogoola retired as the working group's chairman, much of the “attention fizzled out in the donor community for the work” (interview with GO Otobi, program manager, Northern Uganda Women's Empowerment Program, CARE, Kampala, 14 May 2012: copy on file with the author).

24 For a more in-depth discussion of the use of traditional mechanisms in Uganda, see Quinn, JR “What of reconciliation? Traditional mechanisms of acknowledgement in Uganda” in Quinn, JR (ed) Reconciliation(s) (2009, McGill-Queen's University Press) 174Google Scholar.

25 Novelli, BKarimojong Traditional Religion (1999, Comboni Missionaries)Google Scholar at 169–72 and 333–40.

26 Interview with P Lokeris, minister of state for Karamoja, Kampala, 18 November 2004 (copy on file with the author).

27 See Harlacher, T, Okot, FX, Obonyo, CA, Balthazard, M and Atkinson, RTraditional Ways of Coping in Acholi: Cultural Provisions for Reconciliation and Healing From War (2006, Thomas Harlacher and Caritas Gulu Archdiocese)Google Scholar.

28 For an excellent description of mato oput see Finnström, SLiving With Bad Surroundings: War and Existential Uncertainty in Acholiland in Northern Uganda (2003, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology no 35)Google Scholar at 297–99.

29 Annexure to the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation between the Ugandan government and LRA/Movement (Juba, 19 February 2008) (Annexure), art 21.1.

30 J Ndrua A Christian Study of the African Concept of Authority and the Administration of Justice Among the Lugbari of North Western Uganda (MA dissertation, 1988, Catholic Higher Institute of Eastern Africa) at 42–56.

31 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 299.

32 Iteso focus group, conducted by the author, Kampala, 31 August 2006.

33 See JR Quinn “Here, not there: Theorizing about why traditional mechanisms work in some communities, not others” (paper presented at the Canadian Political Science Association annual meeting, Saskatoon, 6 June 2007).

34 Waliggo “The human right to peace”, above at note 20 at 7. Also, JM Waliggo “On Kitewuliza in Buganda, 3 May 2005” (copy on file with the author) at 1.

35 Interview with Hon Jus P Tabaro, High Court justice, Kampala, 14 July 2008 (copy on file with the author).

36 Annexure, art 21.1.

37 Interview with GW Katatumba, enganzi [prime minister] of Ankole Kingdom and chairman of the Nkore Cultural Trust, Kampala, 24 June 2008 (copy on file with the author).

38 Confidential interview with Sabiny man studying at Makerere University, Kampala, 7 November 2004 (copy on file with the author).

39 Waliggo “The human right to peace”, above at note 20 at 9.

40 Northern Uganda focus group, conducted by the author, Kampala, 23 August 2006 (copy on file with the author).

41 Max Weber was one of the early proponents of the theory of social change; see Weber, MEconomy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology (1968, Bedminster Press)Google Scholar.

42 Andersen, ML and Taylor, HFSociology: Understanding a Diverse Society (2005, Thomson Wadsworth)Google Scholar at 618.

43 Ross, RReturning to the Teachings (1996, Penguin)Google Scholar.

44 Bluehouse, P and Zion, J “Hozhooji Naat'aanii: The Navajo justice and harmony ceremony” in (1993) 10/4The Mediation Quarterly 328CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 S Brown “Forging national unity in Rwanda: Government strategies and grassroots responses” (paper presented at Reconciliation, a conference held by the Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Research Centre at The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, 14–15 May 2005). See also Hayner, PUnspeakable Truths (2001, Routledge)Google Scholar at 192.

46 Eyber, C and Ager, A “Conselho: Psychological healing in displaced communities in Angola” (September 2002) 360/9336The Lancet 871CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed at 871.

47 R Shaw “Rethinking truth and reconciliation commissions: Lessons from Sierra Leone” (February 2005, United States Institute of Peace, special report 130) at 9.

48 Interview with J Kitakule, Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, Kampala, 24 September 2008 (copy on file with the author).

49 Interview with Hon K Sempange, Kampala, 18 November 2004.

50 T Allen War and Justice in Northern Uganda: An Assessment of the International Criminal Court’s Intervention (February 2005, Crisis States Research Centre, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics) at 80.

51 Allen reports that a study funded by the Belgian government revealed that young people no longer automatically respect the elders: id at 76.

52 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 201.

53 Harlacher et al Traditional Ways of Coping in Acholi, above at note 27 at 113.

54 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 298.

55 Ferdinand Tonnies made a distinction between gemeinschaft communities, which he saw as tightly-knit primary kinship groups, and gesellschaft communities, which he identified when “people ... leave their primary groups for association with those who may be strangers”: Tonnies, FCommunity and Society (translated by Loomis, CP, ed) (1957, University of Chicago Press)Google Scholar at 65.

56 Novelli Karimojong Traditional Religion, above at note 25 at 201–25.

57 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 76 and 219. See also Pritchard, EEEWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (1937, Clarendon Press)Google Scholar at 154.

58 Mbiti, JSAfrican Religions and Philosophy (1969, East African Educational Publishers)Google Scholar at xi.

59 Shorter, AAfrican Culture (1998, Paulines Publications Africa)Google Scholar at 61.

60 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 299.

61 B Afako “Reconciliation and justice: ‘Mato oput’ and the Amnesty Act”, available at: <http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/northern-uganda/reconciliation-justice.php> (last accessed 19 May 2008).

62 The exact number of abductees in the LRA conflict is unknown. Pham, Vinck and Stover estimate that “the LRA abducted 54,000 to 75,000 people, including 25,000 to 38,000 children, into their ranks between 1986 and 2006”: Pham, PN, Vinck, P and Stover, E “The Lord's Resistance Army and forced conscription in northern Uganda” (2008) 30/2Human Rights Quarterly 404CrossRefGoogle Scholar at 404. “The scale of abduction is a matter of speculation due to insufficient monitoring”: Allen War and Justice, above at note 51 at iii. Forced conscription has been reported in many of the conflicts that have taken place since 1962, into both government and rebel ranks; see Pain, DThe Bending of Spears: Producing Consensus for Peace and Development in Northern Uganda (1997, International Alert)Google Scholar at 29.

63 Interview with G Latim, secretary to the paramount chief of Acholi, Gulu Town, Uganda, 22 November 2004 (copy on file with the author); also Pawns of Politics: Children, Conflict and Peace in Northern Uganda (2004, World Vision)Google Scholar at 4.

64 Allen War and Justice, above at note 51 at 23.

65 M Odokonyero “Acholi's political ‘elephant breed’ fails” (10 March 2006) The Monitor (Kampala).

66 Enough “Northern Uganda monthly report” (April/May 2007), available at: <http://www.enoughproject.org/region/northern-uganda/overview.php> (last accessed 20 April 2007).

67 In medical terminology, “suspended animation” refers to the slowing of vital functions by external means without resulting in death.

68 EP Green “Communities in transition” (paper presented at the conference on Reconstructing Northern Uganda, above at note 2).

69 Ibid.

70 “UNDMT Technical Group status report: Preparatory planning for displaced persons”, cited in C Dolan Understanding War and Its Continuation: The Case of Northern Uganda (PhD dissertation, 2005, University of London) at 167.

71 L Hovil and JR Quinn “Peace first, justice later” (2005, Refugee Law Project (RLP) working paper 17) at 24.

72 RLP interview with young man, Acholi Bur IDP camp, Pader, 15 March 2005, id at 26.

73 RLP interview with elderly woman, Corner Kamdini, Kitgum Town, 14 March 2005, id at 27.

74 RLP interview with elderly man, Gulu Town, 3 March 2005, id at 27.

75 RLP interview with young man, Kichwa, 13 March 2005, id at 27.

76 Id at 24–25.

77 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 204.

78 Cited in Allen War and Justice, above at note 50 at 79.

79 Hovil and Quinn “Peace first”, above at note 71 at 24–25.

80 RLP interview with elderly woman, Kichwa, 14 March 2005, id at 28.

81 RLP interview with middle-aged man, Gulu Town, 3 March 2005 id at 28.

82 B Oballim, camp leader, Labuje Camp, Kitgum, cited in Trapped in Anguish: A call for Acholi reconciliation (2006, video produced by Northern Uganda Peace Initiative, Eyez on Africa).

83 RLP interview with middle-aged man in Acholi language, Gulu Town, 3 March 2005, in Hovil and Quinn “Peace first”, above at note 71 at 30.

84 Pain The Bending of Spears, above at note 62 at 88.

85 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 299.

86 Id at 299–300.

87 Interview with Dr L Walusimbe, Institute of Languages, Makerere University, Kampala, 16 May 2006 (copy on file with the author).

88 Pirouet, ML “Uganda: History to 1971” in Middleton, J (ed) Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara (1996, Charles Scribner's Sons)Google Scholar 303.

89 Berg-Schlosser, D and Siegler, RPolitical Stability and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (1990, Lynne Rienner Publishers)Google Scholar at 97.

90 Briggs Uganda, above at note 5 at 15.

91 Van Houten and Porter (eds) Spectrum, above at note 7 at 47.

92 Pazzaglia, AThe Karimojong: Some Aspects (1982, EMI della Coop Servizio Missionaria)Google Scholar at 59.

93 Briggs Uganda, above at note 5 at 17.

94 Van Houten and Porter (eds) Spectrum, above at note 7 at 46.

95 Kasozi, ABKThe Life of Prince Badru Kakungulu Wasajja (1996, Progressive Publishing House)Google Scholar at 81.

96 “The people of Buganda are referred to as Baganda (the singular form is Muganda), their language is referred to as Luganda, and they refer to their customs as Kiganda customs”: From The Buganda Home Page “Introduction”, available at: <http://www.buganda.com/bugintro.htm;internet> (last accessed 24 May 2003).

97 Briggs Uganda, above at note 5 at 25.

98 Van Houten and Porter (eds) Spectrum, above at note 7 at 298–99.

99 1995 Constitution, art 246.

100 Kasozi The Life of Prince Badru, above at note 95 at 81–82.

101 Finnström Living With Bad Surroundings, above at note 28 at 201.

102 Id at 298.

103 Kasozi The Life of Prince Badru, above at note 95 at 83.

104 Rural Poverty Portal “Rural poverty in Uganda”, available at: <http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/africa/uga/index.htm> (last accessed 19 May 2008); Earth Trends “Population, Health, and Human Well-Being - Uganda”, available at: <http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/pop_cou_800.pdf> (last accessed 19 May 2008).

105 “Uganda: City Population”, available at: <http://www.citypopulation.de/Uganda.html> (last accessed 19 May 2008); “2005 Population Estimates for Cities in Uganda”, available at: <http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/2005_world_city_populations/Uganda.html> (last accessed 19 May 2008). These figures represent actual cities only, not urban agglomerations including suburbs.

106 Ibid.

107 “Uganda” in “The world fact book” (Central Intelligence Agency), available at: <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html> (last accessed 19 May 2008).

108 S Ayo-Odango (ed) The Need for National Reconciliation: Perceptions of Ugandans on National Identity (December 2004, Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda and Jamii Ya Kupatanisha) at 3.

109 Northern Uganda focus group conducted by author, Kampala, 23 August 2006.

110 Interview with Dr G Bantebya, head, Women and Gender Studies Department, Makerere University, Kampala, 29 August 2006 (copy on file with the author).