Uganda: Understanding customary law to guide conflict mitigation and livelihoods management in Karamoja
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- Uganda
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- Govt. Ireland
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Introduction
In Karamoja, customary law is more than a legalistic code governing right from wrong. Unlike the relatively narrow confines of Western justice systems, customary law is the normative framework that regulates the judicial, political, social, and religious processes of the groups that live within the region. The central principle to customary law in Karamoja is to maintain community bonds and group integrity with the aim of restoring harmony and unity between individuals of communities when disputes and conflicts arise. Customary law is the mechanism that also governs the performance of religious ceremonies and divination rituals concerning matters of security, community health, animal migration, marriage and other important aspects of life in Karamoja. The spiritual component of customary law threads together the judicial, political and social elements of daily life in Karamoja. To fulfill individual responsibilities in accordance with customary law, each member within a community has roles to perform – depending on age, sex and group affiliation – that maintain social organization and support the cultural norms and values.
For the populations of this study – the Tepeth, Matheniko, Jie and Dodoth – customary law is at its root a local and regional mechanism that promotes and maintains cultural values. It is a mechanism to resolve disputes at the household level and guide protocols concerning the mitigation and resolution of inter-group conflict. Formed over the course of many generations, customary law provides the guiding principles on management of important resources like water, animals, and grazing land. It is also an instrument of power, giving authority to elders to enforce discipline upon members of their communities with the aim of punishing perpetrators of violence or reforming degenerative behavior. Based on its breadth and cultural resonance, customary law systems are often central to the identity of a people or peoples, especially for groups that have been marginalized by or excluded from centralized power and state and judicial processes for decades or generations.
Once we understand the all-encompassing nature of customary law and the linkages to individual and group identity we can better comprehend the extent of disputes and controversy over customary interpretations and challenges.
Within Uganda there are multiple systems of customary law in accordance with the multiple and diverse regions of the country. The Ugandan constitution allows for customary legal practices to exist as long as these are compatible with constitutional norms.