And discuss traditional reconciliation methods of the Acholi in terms of the 22-year war in the North versus the methods of the ICC and the current government, land security once the war is over, and the utmost importance of getting peace for these peoples.

An Acholi Chief and psycho-social counselor for CARITAS (an organization that trains community psychologists), an Acholi Historian who has written three books this past year about the Acholi culture and history, an Acholi Professor, Ron Atkinson (our Professor that taught us in the US and who has written extensively on the Acholi culture (see The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda)), my father (the Director of the National Teachers College in Gulu), Opiyo (Jacob White, my group mate), and I (me) sit at the dinner table at my pacho/gon (home).

We discuss a lot.

The Chief begins by emphasizing that the moment the ICC (International Criminal Court) lifts their indictments of LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) members, then it will create a sense of belonging for these members as peace can be signed. The war has created a sense of loss and ceremonies help the people become open so that others can be reintegrated. The process is dialogue: a sense of love and belonging is created. There is a human need for agreeability, and the Acholi see it as unfortunate that people, such as the ICC are putting reconciliation before peace. The Chief ends by saying that people still love and want us (the LRA) despite what we committed. For a man whose people have been killed by the LRA, he is so forgiving and so welcoming of the LRA back to his community and clan that he does not even differentiate between the people loving his clan (us) and the LRA. Amazing.

Ron then asks the four Acholi men how the ceremony of Mato Oput (the Acholi ceremony of forgiveness) will play out, specifically the aspect of it that includes compensations, given all the poverty and destruction from the war? The Chief answered that people need a situation of awareness of what took place, that some of what happened was not intentional (child soldiers and such forced to do it), but even if it was intentional, the gravity of the crimes can be too much. Reconciliation is not a one-man business, but it is spread to the entire extended family and clan. The obligation is that the entire clan participates in it because if you are the head of a family tomorrow it might be your family who is charged. There is a fear of revenge present so need to have a clear understanding because if it was one clan-mate harming another, then there is a great chance of revenge so every member of the clan participates so it is not just “one on one hate”, but a group reconciliation. All have to pay for the person that committed as the entire clan takes responsibility so therefore that will solve impunity and this ceremony is there (Ron agrees). In terms of larger compensation, beyond specific cases solved by the clan, there will need to be a general fund, with the government of Uganda with aid from foreign governments or NGOs contributing, to compensate victims because almost all of us are victims and no single source can help. But specific cases it is the clan. The Chief ended, “In our culture, there are some things you don’t force. A person who committed the crime will confess because of cen (the misfortune)”. Yet, it is not enough for religious people just to pray; need to find the root cause and nature of problem to combine spiritual and culture aspects. Reconciliation will not go bad if it is distributed in the right manner (Ron’s book Traditional Ways of Coping in Acholi, outlines these ceremonies). They will come back with the ceremonies as they synthesize and help people.

Another question which Ron poses for the Acholi men is how the Reconciliation and Accountability Document says that government actors can’t go through alternative justice methods and only go through Uganda Government legal methods. Are all government people excluded from cultural approaches then? Or what if it would not be the Uganda national legal system, but the military courts where the UPDF (the Ugandan military who has been fighting the LRA) people would be going through their own legal system.

The Chief is the first to answer again and he says it would look “funny” if the UPDF and the LRA committed crimes in the same community and then they were punished differently. If two parties go through Mato Oput then the person who committed the crime will feel free and accepted as people who were victims feel free since both parties are brought together to reconcile. The Chief adds that we can’t use two systems to recognize two people on one issue. This creates dissatisfaction and is not proper practice.

Ron then asks what about some LRA and UPDF people who committed crimes from other parts of Uganda so the Acholi justice and cultural practices do not apply to them? The Chief says that most of these people are higher-ups, but most on the ground who are Acholi and lower-rank and did the crime themselves need reconciliation. The Acholi Professor adds that someone of another culture wouldn’t get it or see value of it (their traditional justice). Those UPDF who are Acholi should go through Mato Oput and those not Acholi should go through the legal system.

The Chief then adds that different cultures have similar traditional legal systems. For example, if tell Buganda about the Mato Oput concept, they’ll tell you a similar concept in their culture. Forgiveness is in every culture and Mato Oput is a very strong part of forgiveness and reconciliation. If a Buganda kills an Acholi, then it is not the same ceremony, but it satisfies both sides. For example, the South Sudanese have ritual of killing a bull that still satisfies both sides. A second example is if one marries a girl from another tribe then he takes on their customs to marry her.

The most important thing in Mato Oput is acceptance and the truth that I committed the crime. Once this accepted (that I’ve confessed and been forgiven) it brings you together. Practical aspect of the ceremony is just symbolic. Difference with Acholi is actual drinking (symbolic part). In Buganda, they pray once accepted and then compensation determined and that’s it. Same for the Acholi as compensation is not looked at until after Mato Oput occurs. Another example was when people bended their spears to symbolize the rejecting of violence and making that a taboo now. Both sides accept that we were killing each other so that’s how bending spears started in Acholi culture. So different communities can look for something to symbolize the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. Doing this has a psychological aspect of healing. You can even do without it. So in Acholi, drinking itself depends on crime. If do it intentionally, then drink, but if not, then just accept it and done. If different communities sit down, they can come up with a similar tradition like Mato Oput and perform it.

Ron’s last big question was if the Acholi men see problems coming up with people returning in large-scale to their land like arguments over boundaries and customary clan land? The Chief answered that people have not yet returned on such a scale and as people want to go back there are already a lot of problems for people among their brothers and in same clans even. Lots of disagreement and conflict of various types will exist, especially psychological problems. They need lots of preparation in place and it is unfortunate that we are not preparing ourselves for it, the Chief goes on. We need to start thinking about such problems and visualize the likely problems and strategize for when the people return.

Ron then drew a picture of his idea for solving land disputes which is finding out through the catechists or elders and get young people on both sides with computers and devices like GPS tracking to mark the land and get the elders to agree on the boundaries. So get two groups, elders and youth, to walk boundaries and mark them. The Chief looked at the drawing and said the forefathers were smart and named and marked boundaries by natural resources. Although the boundaries are not physically seen, people are aware of them. For instance, he asked a district to give them all the sub-clans in the district and then mark off where they live and where others live around them. The people used the directions, like where the sun falls and rises, where Sudan is (North) and to the South (the Nile) and mentioned that these directions will be used to resolve land conflicts. The Chief admits that we can’t stop conflict, but can use a strategy like Ron’s to help.

Ron added how some people are trying to take land so if have these boundaries established then people don’t take empty land and say no one is using it and thus, it’s ours. There is an understanding and boundaries marked that it belongs to someone, and it is empty as it could be hunting land or wild land for timber that the clan isn’t using, but it’s their land. The Chief agreed that land has different purposes and that is not left for nothing, like to keep animals and that they know the value of land and that it is a God-given thing that people want to utilize. Even during Colonialism, the British told them their land would be better used for tourism to show the animals and the Acholi way of letting them graze was backwards. So today, land of Acholi is now a zoo and the Acholi were moved by force. The Chief added that when people were chased out, it included his Grandfather who was pushed out when his land was carved. So, two months ago the Chief went to check the land and his items are still there at his old home (from about 100 years ago!).

Another problem is that people may be forced out as the rate of birth in Uganda is very high and the population boom can lead to people impeding on other’s land. So people need to be secure in their land and to not let others take it. So he proposed that three clan elders (one a woman) who know the boundaries and survived the war will talk to the Chief and say where the land is and who has responsibility for it. So we have system and mechanism to know who has land. It should not be left to the young government people today who are in their 20s and don’t know. Now, these government people have their fourth land act and previous land acts with different presidents and different versions like the traditional land act, and it is confusing for people.

All of the men agree that a big problem is stopping the young people from selling their land as they who don’t see the future and want. The President pushes people to sell their land and says things like “are you anti-investment and backwards?”. The Chief adds that the land tenure system in Acholi doesn’t allow an individual to claim land, it is the clan’s land. Even though the present situation provokes us a lot, we know the value of the land so we shouldn’t finish ourselves. In the past, Acholi have been good with land and have shared it with others. Yet, the government can’t impose investments and investors on the land. Individuals will try and the Chairman has contacted them, but if people rise up then it won’t work. Ron adds that the people here won’t forget and will protect land. He closes that right after reconciliation, the most important thing is to have people secure with their land and that this is in fact very important for reconciliation.

The discussion then went into the role of Acholi Chiefs. My Dad said that the colonial governments did a lot to undermine the power of traditional chiefs of their people. The Chief added that greed for power contributed to this in the past, and now, people realize how the integration of components of both (government and chiefs) is essential. The current government understood the importance of reinstating traditional chiefs because current generation doesn’t understand it. Chiefs have stabilizing characteristics and looked to as divine authority and have more influence over people and more acceptance from people because they know chiefs aren’t divisive and people trust them. These are the qualities looked for in the chiefs. The colonial and past governments made a mistake by not partnering with them. There is a need to reinstate the chiefs when people go home after the war.

The Chief said that a power struggle occurs when the government tries to silence Chiefs. But even the Chiefs have checks and balances in conducting their work and they use views of their people for judgments. The Chief says “we have to be patient and listen and consult with counsel of elders”. He adds that they are neutral and can’t say “I’m the cultural leader so it’s this”. People don’t even vote for Chiefs because that divides people. People choose them and they are accepted.

Ron gets on the topic land again and says that young thing people need to realize in respect to communal land is that it this is their future. Even if they want to stay in town now or go to school or city, this land is important for them and the home is always there and can be security for them. The Chief agrees that the young ones in the past just had land there so didn’t have to worry about finding land for grazing and hunting. The problem now is people just want land for sale. People born in captivity don’t have identity and don’t know who their father is or where their land is. Giving people psycho-social support and counseling can help people outside of camps have a sense of belonging. People wasting their time if they are giving this support in the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camps. Instead, the people in the camps need to be shown where their land is and who their elders are. People born in bush without fathers don’t know. Can’t just say these people are primitive and don’t understand, but need to help remind and educate them that their communities have values and they deserve respect and recognition. All agree that this is the best so as not to alienate them and to do it practically with the elders finding the land and showing it to them rather than the ICC and the government deciding on their future.

That's a lot, but time to head out to work (so tired) and a Rotary meeting (see if we can connect Chaford who we work with),

Adong Maber (take care),

Nikolai Anywar