Abstract
In the 1990s several countries in Africa adopted decentralisation policy reforms that coincided with a renewed interest in traditional institutions. This development has since sparked an intense debate on the compatibility of traditional systems of governance with decentralisation. The present article documents a case study conducted in Uganda’s Karamoja sub-region, a stronghold of traditionalism despite local government reforms. It concludes that although the traditional system of governance could help to link local communities with the modern local government system, the two structures have not been harmonised. Instead, they run on parallel and contradictory paths, which has had negative consequences for local governance and service delivery. The paper advocates blending the two to form a hybrid system in which they complement each other rather than being a source of conflict.
Highlights
This article analyses the problematic relationship between ‘modern’ local government and the traditional system of governance in Karamoja, Uganda
Recent times have witnessed increased calls for the revival of traditional institutions in Africa, largely due to flaws in the modern Western governance systems (Ubink 2008, p. 13), which have been less inclusive in terms of political participation and social justice (Munkaila and Agbley 2018)
This resurgent quest to have traditional authorities recognised and given a role in day-to-day governance systems in many African countries calls for a review of the earlier assumption that modern systems of governance are superior and best suited to bring about development
Summary
This article analyses the problematic relationship between ‘modern’ local government and the traditional system of governance in Karamoja, Uganda. These steps do not amount to the integration of the two authority structures, because the two new older persons were elected on individual merit and a) were not necessarily representative of the CoE and b) did not necessarily represent the views of traditional elders, since (as the present study found) they at no time consulted the CoE (KII, programme coordinator for Caritas, Kotido district, June 2018).
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