The higher body of YeMula Siltie assembly can resolve murder cases, arson (Garemagdot), conflicts over land among clans, inter-clan disputes like boundary disputes with neighboring societies and other related issues. Gerad Abo is also responsible for the highest assembly of the Siltie, YeMula Siltie Chale (the whole Siltie assembly). Scholars such as Walelign (2010) and Bustorf (2011) stated that the Siltie did not experience a convenient form of jury-political systems. Key informants88 , however, said the Siltie had the centralized judiciary and political systems that were functional until Menilik's incorporation of the area in the late 19th century.
However, I did not see the whole Siltie meeting where all clans gather for a common cause.
Rather there are meetings in which majority of clans summon to discuss the peace of the country, which is locally called Yebad Wegeret. It is also stated that YeMula Siltie Chale had tiers of political power that was intact until the late 19th century
88 This is based on information mentioned above in 72.
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The graph below illustrates the local political power configurations practiced in the area.
(YeSiltie Harbe-Gifat)
Army Chiefs - Mulla Gerad - Imam - Wegagenge
Wezir - Weleb Gerad (Spokesman) - Sheikh - Ferezagegne (Shenecha) Azma - Yesar Gerad - Raga
Abegaz - Maga Azmach
Graph Two: Local Political Power Configuration Hierarchy YeMula Siltie Chale (Assembly)
Gerad Abo Religious
System
Legal leaders
147 Figure 6 YeMula Siltie Melcho, Lanfuro Wereda (December, 2015)
It is also observed that those issues that could not get a final decision at lower levels will be resolved at the highest authority of the Siltie: YeMula Siltie Melcho or Chale (the whole Siltie assembly). Thus, those issues that were considered at Maga and Raga levels will finally be adjudicated at the whole Siltie council. Other FGD participants89, however, said that the Siltie did not experience centralized administration. Nevertheless, they agreed that the whole Siltie clans met in the customary court forums, and commonality has further been strengthened by their common language and religion.
89 This is based on FGD that was conducted with eight informants, namely; Hajji Hussein Hassan, Gerad Awel, Hajji Hussein Bussera, Sheik Yusuf, Hajji Mifta, Gerad Kedir, Ato Kaire Sule, and Ato Hamid Azma Hassan on April 1/2013 on the annual Siltie History, culture and language Symposium in Werabe town.
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Informants further noted that the whole Siltie community came together under the leadership of Gerad to defend their land from invading armies. This was achieved under the guidance of local leaders like Gerad during 18th and the late 20th centuries when the Shoan invading armies and the neighboring people tried to conquer their lands. The Siltie defended their lands from invading forces of Libid.o, Gurage, and Shashogo people’s right from 17th to 19th centuries under the leadership of Azma Qalebo, Azma Atero, Umar Bele, Mula Gerad Teme Lezbo, Azma Ormora Gona, Haruna Goshute, and Azma Sugato indicating some form of centralized leadership.
During Menilik's expansion, the Siltie also set up a military alliance with each other and with the neighboring groups, an alliance referred to as Gogot. Some informants called this level of administration as Gogot or YeSiltieSerra while Bustorf (2011) describes it as a system of clan federations (Bustorf, 2011:461). According to Bustorf (2010), the Siltie had no common political or judiciary body above the elder council (Baliqe). However, the empirical data indicate that Siltie Islamic leaders such as Haruna Goshute and Sheik Walle in the 19th century and Sheik Alkesiye conducted supra-tribal integration in the 20th century. This was achieved by a military and political alliance of two or more Siltie subgroups including neighboring Mesqan and Hallaba.
Even if the existence of a centralized form of leadership seems a contentious issue, YeMula Siltie Melcho still exists in the community. Thus, YeMula Siltie Melcho (the whole Siltie groups' council) was the final authoritative body where the various lineages and sublineage groups of the Siltie gathered under a large tree to discuss the general situations of the Siltie country. At this level, the members of the Siltie Bade (country) discussed the implementations of the decisions of the elders (Baliqes) of the Siltie. Elders checked the implementations of sanctions, harvesting conditions of the various Siltie areas, and they also make and unmake leaders such as Azmas and Gerads. The assembly would set the future directions of the society. They also discuss how they can cope up with changes and developments in the area. At the YeMula Siltie Melcho which was held under a tree called Chale, the Gerad Abo heard the general situations of the various Siltie groupings. The Gerad Abo’s spokesperson is known as Weleb Gerad who acted as a common channel between the leader and the participants. The various issues that the assembly would discuss include death, marriage, harvest, natural disasters, the preservation of the environment, and the norms and values of the Siltie.
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This situation has been called Yebad Wegeret (the security of the Siltie country). At this national or higher level, YeSiltieSerra works as a centripetal force that unites both the territorial and lineage groups. Some respondents90 referred to this level as Gogot, while FGD participants91 identified it as YeMula Siltie Melcho or YeSiltieSerra. Therefore, YeMula Siltie Melcho is the Siltie level organization where every local elder’s decisions and murder cases will get final approval by Gerad Abo, and the Siltie assembly. I also observed that in the meeting, it is not only most of Siltie clans that gathered together, but neighboring people of Hallaba also took part.
According to YeSiltieSerra, every Siltie clan has the right to govern its land. Although it is hard for one to locate the area of each clan exactly, the Siltie simply tell that such „Mewta“ belongs to this or that clan. So, each clan is expected to graze its cattle on its land, defend its boundary from aggression either from other clans or from a neighboring community.
The assembly has the right to adjudicate murder cases. The sentence of death by YeSiltieSerra Shengo was executed by the members of the accused. Accordingly, relatives of the defendant would be asked to throw him into a deep gorge called Yelemorefane. The throwing of the defendant by his family would help the two parties avoid further retaliation or revenge upon each other. According to an informant92, although it has been improved since Menilik's incorporation of the area, theft case was previously punished by death penalty. This time theft is punished in kind; especially the suspect is expected to pay back the material or cattle with some form of compensation to the victim. The plaintiff and defendant can appeal against the verdict reached by YeMula Siltie Melcho (Shengo). YeSiltieSerra Shengo is the general assembly of all Siltie male elders. Women provide food for the participants. It is linked with the concomitant territorial unit of YeBadenet (YeSiltie Bade Serra) at the Siltie level organization. YeSiltieSerra Shengo would also come together to set up a united front against external aggression by neighboring ethnic groups such as the Mareqo, the Shashogo, and the Oromo in the past. Such incidents helped the Silties to strengthen the spirit of oneness and solidarity among the people. Gogot, as the Siltie general assembly is called, has now become a forum where not only the Siltie clans but also neighboring Hallaba people can attend to discuss inter-ethnic issues, peace, and local development programs.
90 Interview with Ato Hamid Azma Hussein,
91 This is based on FGD that was conducted with Ato Dilebo Gebre, Ato Kairedin Azma Hussein, Hajji Abdurrahman Shewajo, Hajji Hussein Barsebo on September 2015 in Werabe Town
92 Interview with Hajji Hamid, and Hajji Shewmolo on April 25/2016 and October 11 April 2016 in Silti Wereda.
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The gathering summons in various parts of the Siltie and in adjacent areas whereby a clan or clans are pre-informed to prepare the venue or YeOdda Chale and coffee for the participants. I understand that the smallest state administrative bodies are more answerable to the clan leaders than the state officials.
4.7. Concluding Remarks
To recapitulate, the territorial and lineage local administrations have played important roles in maintaining the social order of the community and its members. Even if the various regimes tried to supplant the local systems, the people employs the systems so far. Maneuvering the constitutional concessions they have got since the 1990s, non-state actors have been playing paramount roles in delivering justice and regulating the socio-political lives of the community at the grassroots level. YeSiltie Serra has become not only an integral part of dispute settlement process but also has been employed by the dispute settlers and the community alike as an instrument to protect the identity of the people. The political and judicial natures of local institutions and the less legitimate state actors among the community have earned local actors more social acceptance and legitimacy on one hand and have made the local modes of governance become alternative modes of institutions in the study area, on the other hand.
However, the state actors’ endeavors to co-opt local actors for political ends have made the relationship between the state and local institutions unpredictable, i.e. it is characterized by enmity and friendship. The state actors, who are also abide by the local custom and values, have developed a sort of divided loyalty between the custom and the state.
151 CHAPTER FIVE
5. THE PRAXIS OF DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: STATE, RELIGIOUS MODES OF DISPUTE SETTLEMENT AND THE LOCAL BELIEFS AND VALUES
5.1. Introduction
This chapter discusses the genesis and consolidation of state dispute resolution institutions, the different mechanisms the state used to get involved in the local life and how the state has also used the judiciary as a weapon for state building processes since at least the late 19th century. By exploring various state and non-state actors' perspectives on legal pluralism, the chapter argues that there is not a normative commitment to legal pluralism in the study area. Rather, the various political interferences into the state legal systems, and the religious, as well as the customary systems, partly indicate the existence of temporary accommodation in the process of legal re-centralization in the study area and possibly beyond. It will illustrate how the state encroaches its legal system with various pretexts including achieving development.
The chapter also looks into the legal transplantation processes, the resistances it has met from the local community, and how the local community uses state and non-state laws to make state agents abide by the law. It has also gone through the different incidents the local community has passed in its appropriation of the social transformation process that depicts the existence of grassroots justice or democracy from below. Additionally, the chapter investigates the formation of religious courts, notably Sharia courts in Ethiopia, the historical trajectories they have undergone, and the natures of Islamic pluralism. It also looks into the coping mechanisms or strategies the Qadis develop to compete with other legal actors in the context of the plural legal setting. It also indicates the intra-faith interactions and the various ways the Qadis employ to attract clients in the plural legal setting. It also portrays the agencies the religious legal actors use to make their courts not only resistance to the interferences of the government but also against the Muslim youths who accuse the Qadi of playing „government agenda“ rather than standing for Islam. Moreover, the chapter will examine the local politico-legal contexts, the various values, and belief systems, their natures of conquering all aspects of life and the enormous pressures they impose on the local community to abide by not only the social norms but also, by legal norms too. It also casts a glimpse on the intertwined natures of actors in the field and how
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local settlers dispute use local values and beliefs to accumulate power and hence negotiate with actors including the state. The chapter contains some dispute cases that indicate the interactions of various legal systems which will also help partly understand the legal realities in the study area.
The chapter argues that law has become a weapon of the strong, an instrument state officials use to hunt those who oppose their interests. The chapter argues also that state legal actors' activities are influenced by local values and norms, indicating the emergence of hybridized legal practices as a new legal reality in the area. The chapter also argues that both state and non-state actors reshape the norms, institutions, and activities of modes of dispute settlement in the process of hybridization indicating the emergence of cross legal referencing which in turn boosts the legal agency of local legal actors.