political organisation of the acholi

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use this website. This made the chiefs more independent from Localized patrilineal lineages, some of which have "brother" lineages of the same or different name in other parts of Acholi, have long been the fundamental social and economic units in Acholi. [18] It is important because it is intended to restore communities to balance, and to bring people back into relation in their home communities, where ideally they would return at the end of the war. Out of these, the cookies that are categorised as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Girling, F. K. (1960). Hansen, Holger B., and Michael Twaddle, eds. [28], In 2012 the American charity Invisible Children produced a documentary about the LRA. A new sociopolitical orderand the basis of an Acholi identitywas established when chiefly institutions and ideology were introduced into Acholi by Luo-speaking Paluo from the neighboring kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara. Uganda - Government and society | Britannica sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the "Against Humanitarian Impunity: Rethinking Responsibility for Displacement and Disaster in Northern Uganda,", Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", pp. Encyclopedia.com. [19], The religious leaders have tried to help end the conflict in the country of the last two decades and to reconcile the parties. The Taxpayer First Act, Pub. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. During the later nineteenth century, the emergent Acholi became involved in the international trade in ivory and slaves, which were exchanged mainly for cattle, beads, blankets, cotton cloth, and firearms. It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak,Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri. The council's representatives could mediate issues between clans, and essentially covered both civil and criminal functions, like a Supreme Court. thesis, University of Nairobi. When Britain established its rule during the early twentieth century, both ideological predisposition and practical utility prompted the colonizers to consider the Acholi a "tribe" and to administer the area as a "tribal" unit. Encyclopedia.com. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [29], Media related to Acholi people at Wikimedia Commons. The Acholi of Uganda: Adjustment to Imperialism. - CORE Latigo, James, "The Acholi Traditional Conflict Resolution in Light of Current Circumstances:". This structure was maintained by the real anointed chiefs of the Acholi, the rwodi moo. The cult-like militia has abducted an estimated 25,000 children over the years, forcing them to commit heinous atrocities against civilians. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Many of the Acholi soldiers who joined the Kings African Rifles (KAR), the British colonial army, were deployed to the frontlines in southeast Asia especially in Singapore and Burma during the World War II where they held British positions against an intense Japanese offensive. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. Millet is the staple food of the Acholi, and tobacco is grown for trade. The term is derived from "Shuuli," first used by nineteenth-century ivory and slave traders who noted the similarity of Acholi Luo to the language of the previously encountered Shilluk or "Collo" of the southern Sudan (Crazzolara 1938, vii-viii). Ethnohistory 36(1): 19-43. of the nineteenth century, both among Acholi chiefdoms and with many of them children, the conflict led to the displacement of millions. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. point to the most recent violent conflict was the overthrow of the Okello-led government by the the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. [10] General Tito Okello was an Acholi, and came to power in a military coup. came a new hierarchy of chiefs, clerks, and policemen, all under the of mutual intelligibility amongst each other, they were at times interpreted as a dialectal cluster He has noted that the emphasis on the distinction among ethnic groups has even been part of the internal government dialogue." Identification. As they have for centuries, Acholi farmers rely mainly on iron hoes and other hand tools. The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. The available evidence suggests that conflict in Acholi before the end The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". solidification of an Acholi identity, with their common language becoming an important marker. Acholi | people | Britannica areas of the Buganda Kingdom and their main trading routes extended eastwards towards Kenya, However, to what degree this emergence was accompanied with the creation of a common This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. in Acholi since the mid-1980s) have led to a breakdown of any meaningful Social Organization. Verona: Editrice Nigrizia. More commonly, almost any salaried job in the public or private sector represents an income that averages several times that of a member of the majority peasant population. They are speakers of Western Nilotic languages and are traditionally farmers. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. Apoko, Anna (1967). The relationship between the Acholi and the British had for a long time been rather loose and contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and Peace negotiations to end the long-running rebellion by the Lords Resistance Army continued, while security in the north improved through 2007. [1994], p. 80). "Is Alice Lakwena a Witch? The n, Mende The third group of spirits were those of unknown persons and dangerous beasts; these were hostile, personified as ghosts, believed to cause sickness and other misfortunes, and dealt with by means of spirit possession. aimed at achieving clearly-defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. When conflict did These figures represent population densities of 20.4 persons per square kilometer in 1980, 16.5 per square kilometer in 1969, and about one-fourth and one-fifth the 1969 densities during the earlier two periods. This term then The documentary was met with mixed reactions, with many people familiar with the situation dubbing it a shallow and money-grabbing scheme. The system values peace over justice, and has retributive and restorative aspects. However, the date of retrieval is often important. While rwodi, The Fipa are a Bantu-speaking people of southwestern Tanzania in East-Central Africa. In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. population. in the Western Nilotic branch of Nilo-Saharan. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. Sociopolitical organization - Acholi Social Organization. Like Tattered Grass Beneath Warring Elephants: The Destruction of the colonial rule in their region for decades, before finally being integrated in the Ugandan territory A rebellion in 1911 in response to the British confiscation of Acholi guns was the last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. According to Latigo, prior to colonialism, "the Acholi people maintained a traditional government that was rooted firmly in their religious beliefs, norms, and customs, which demanded peace and stability in Acholiland at all times, based on their philosophy of life. Acholi form organisation - New Vision Official The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda - JSTOR Socialization. The Canadian government, for instance, will be more inclined to fund an organisation whose mandate is continental Africa rather than an association with a very narrow focus on Acholi problems. Acholi's role in the colonial economy was confined mainly to the peasant production of cotton as a cash crop and the provision of recruits for the colonial army or police and migrant labor for the more "developed" Buganda. Shilluk Acholi Identification. This complex process was helped along by two major droughts, probably during the 1720s and c. 1790, which promoted larger-scale political leadership that held the promise of greater stability and security, and by the formation of neighboring identities against which members of an emergent Acholi could compete, compare, and define themselves. Precolonial trade, both within Acholi and throughout the region, focused mainly on obtaining iron ore and finished iron products in exchange for baskets or products of the farm, herd, or hunt. "At Home in the Village: Growing Up in Acholi." Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. Trade. Numbering between 400 and 500 by the turn of the twentieth century, these exogamous groups claim descent from a common ancestor (although means exist to incorporate many types of "outsiders" as well) and have special lineage shrines, ritual ceremonies, praise-calls, and totems. Western Nilotic Eastern Nilotic Southern Nilotic, Burun Lwoo Nuer-Dinka Teso-Turkana Bari Maa-Lotuko, North South The men were skilled hunters, using nets and spears. Girling (1960) notes that as late as 1950 there was still no system of individual land tenure in Acholi; however, such tenure has become increasingly common since independence. Most political organizations take the form of a voluntary association of persons or organizations that pools its members' and constituents' financial and other resources, and engages in conventional political actions to affect policy-making outcomes. census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people But when Idi Amin overthrew Obotes first spell in power, and when Yoweri Musevini ousted Okello, the Acholi paid heavily for their allegiances. Orientation A typical household consists of a nuclear family (husband, wife, and unmarried children), although aged parents, unmarried siblings, offspring of deceased siblings, or others are often household members as well. Identification. 61). the area around Lake Victoria as early as the fourth century B.C. As some of these languages show some form 13.4 Organizational Politics - Organizational Behavior In such a context, the land rights of those with the least power widows, the disabled, the elderly were very insecure. //PDF Publications | International IDEA Acholi live in Northern Uganda, in the districts Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Relatively small numbers of Acholi have filled middle-level or senior civil-service positions in independent Uganda. While rwodi, members of royal lineages, and lineage heads all seem to have been somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth century, social stratification appears limited, owing primarily to both limited wealth in the society and redistribution. The name "Acholi" is used for peoples living in the former Acholi District of northern Uganda (now divided into the Gulu and Kitgum districts) and the adjoining area of the southern Sudan. World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. p. 41). [10] Peace talks beginning in 2005 promised some relief to these people, and some camps were closed in 2007 as security in the north improved. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. Orientation [CDATA[ 53- "Acholi-Arab Nubian Relations in the Nineteenth Century." The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". Figure 5. Okot p'Bitek's epic poem, Song of Lawino, debates Acholi customs around the time that Uganda became independent. Okeny, Kenneth (1982). [26] Conservative approaches estimates that at least 300,000 people died in the conflict that extended into the Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. The Acholi dialect is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo (or Lwo). The results showed that students had, On the one hand, languages are translatable, which can be demonstrated from different perspectives such as the general characteristics of language, the parallel linguistic, The purpose of this study was to examine the language attitudes and language practices of Arabic-speaking families living in the United States. It was not until 1995 that a constitutional reform recognized such cultural leaders, but they have not been fully restored to previous powers, as so much of society has changed. During the colonial period, political leadership in Acholi was contested among those with traditional leadership qualifications and others who benefited from the new dispensation, including collaborators with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. All lineage males, for example, are called "grandfather," "father," "brother," or "son," and all (likely resident) females "sister" or "daughter," depending upon their generational relationship to the speaker. the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, with chiefdoms providing a layer of organization above the lineages from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. Instead, the Acholi were integrated in the their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. Medicine. 13.4 Organizational Politics | Organizational Behavior - Lumen Learning Atkinson, Ronald R. (1989). The Acholi region and language 51. southern part of the country relatively young. A single rainy season, from April-May to October-November, produces a reliable annual rainfall nine years of every ten, ranging from 102 centimeters in the central and western portions of Acholi to only 51 centimeters in much of the north and east. The LRA has been targeting civilians, the majority being their own tribe, the Acholi. In September 1996, the Ugandan government moved hundreds of thousands of Acholi from the Gulu district into camps, ostensibly for their protection. ETHNONYMS: Mende (Men-day), Mendes, Huro, Wuro In the pre-colonial era, all the Acholi believed in the same superior being, YA Latwer. In . London: James Currey. Nevertheless, many remain in a state of displacement. This trade brought new wealth into Acholi that was unevenly accumulated, with rwodi and interpreters (and eventually their sons and other kinsmen) the major beneficiaries. Crazzolara, J. P. (1938). These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. alongside the other Luo groups in Uganda and Kenya following several waves of migration Despite their common language and ethnic designation, the Acholi of Uganda and the southern Sudan have distinct origins and developed along different historical trajectories; the remainder of this cultural summary will focus on the more populous Uganda Acholi. into the independence era. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. These rebellions sprung up in defiance and from disapproval of the conduct and legitimacy of the new NRA government. Doom, Ruddy and Koen Vlassenroot. This included both agricultural and hunting land. B.A. Over the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some seventy chiefdoms were founded throughout the area that became Acholi, leading to the development of a new social order and political culture, the spread of a new language (Luo), and the evolution of a new society and collective identity. [22], In January 1986, the junta government of Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa in Uganda was overthrown by Museveni and his NRA rebels. Once chiefdoms were established, Acholi religious beliefs focused on three types of spirits (jogi; sing. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. Traditional beliefs, however, still persist, often meshed with Christian doctrine in complex ways. "[21] In discussing the peace talks of 20052007, Latigo noted leaders who called for a revival of the traditional processes of the indigenous people by which they worked for accountability and justice, namely, mato oput. [7] During the second half of the nineteenth century, Arabic-speaking traders from the north started to call them Shooli, a term which was transformed into 'Acholi'.[8]. Uganda Journal 7(1): 27-43. Even in this . Much of that hierarchy continued into the independence era. Industrial Arts. Estimated at 1,470,554 (4.4 per cent in the 2014 census). "Land Tenure in Acholi." Behrend, Heike (1991). ETHNONYMS: Ebantfu ba kwa Ngwane (the people of Ngwane), emaSwati, emaSwazi, Swati and slave trades, and the firearms that accompanied them, conflict POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. The Acholi region and language 51 - The history and politics of Uganda journal 27(1): 15-30. The first leader was Kuturia as mentioned Pyerino Okoya and Lt. Gen Bazilio Olara-Okello. All affines, meanwhile, are known as "mother." Under Ugandan Pres. Certain rwodi and interpreters began to accumulate some of the new wealth brought into Acholi by international trade, and descendants of some of these men used their inherited wealth to build up prominent twentieth-century families. At the height of the insurgency, some 1.8 million people were living in camps in the north, and due to a combination of LRA activities and the Ugandan armys counter-offensives virtually the entire population of Acholiland was displaced. From the Holy Spirit Movement, the notorious Lords Resistance Army (LRA), led by Acholi Joseph Kony, emerged. Dances and other activities surrounding spirit possession seem to have been originally introduced from Bunyoro in the early nineteenth century and then became more wide-spread during the tumultuous years of the latter part of that century. last large-scale conflict in Acholi until Amin came to power in 1971. "State Formation in Acholi: The Emergence of Obbo, Pajok, and Panyikwara States c. The Acholi, a Nilotic Lwo-speaking ethnic group, live predominantly in the central region of northern Uganda, an space collectively named to known as Acholiland. Since independence, formal schooling has provided a strong socializing influence from outside the home for more and more Acholi, especially those attending secondary school. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan in 2005, and the establishment of the ex-rebel government in newly independent South Sudan in territory in which the LRA once operated freely, those lines of support have been substantially weakened, if not severed altogether. Central to the new order were a set of notions about political leadership in which chiefs (rwodi; sing, rwot ) shared power and decision making with the heads of chiefdoms' constituent lineages; a system of redistributive tribute within each polity, with the chief at the center; and royal, often rainmaking, drums as symbols of sovereignty and authority. InThe Roots of Ethnicity, Ronald R. Atkinson argues that although colonial rule and its aftermath have played a major role in shaping the particular manifestati. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. In the administrative structure of Uganda, Acholi is composed of the districts of: It encompasses about 28,500km2 (11,000 square miles) near the Uganda-Sudan border.[5]. Other uncategorised cookies are those that are being analysed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The civil war devastated the lives and livelihoods of the Acholi people of the north. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Stream and swamp fishing are important. Killing of a person was prohibited but if it took place, negotiations for blood money were led by the victim's family, with agreement followed by rituals of a reconciliation ceremony to restore the killer to the community, and to bring peace between clans. [23][24], The attempt to pacify the Northern Uganda was carried out recklessly with much brutality and unprofessionalism from the NRA soldiers and government. While Acholi also lives north of the South Sudaneseborder, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland". The Acholi, unlike many of their southern neighbours, did not create a form of The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. 26). Notable among the Acholi soldiers who made the ranks were Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa, Brig. in the form of the Acholi district (Vincent, 2012). million first language speakers at the time. rule and since independence, have often reflected preexisting Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. According to the Women daubed the walls with mud, decorating them with geometrical or conventional designs in red, white or grey. Congo. Chiefs are chosen from one lineage. development of the chiefdom and clan system in the 17th and 18th century that is still a vital Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. element of the social and political environment of the region. ." In 1986 Alice Lakwenas charismatic Holy Spirit Movement mounted an insurgency in the Acholi region. Abstract The aim of this thesis will be to decipher why Acholi ethnic identity remained such a critical political tool in late and post-colonial Uganda, from 1950-1985, just before the outbreak of civil war in 1986. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. The account of the Acholi reaching The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. Acholiland or "Acoli-land" (also known as the Acholi sub-region) is a necessarily inexact ethnolinguistic taxonomy that refers to the region traditionally inhabited by the Acholi. They were approached in regard to such general concerns as good health, fertility, and appeals or thanks for good harvests in ceremonies that usually emphasized the consciousness, cohesiveness, and continuation of their respective groups as functioning corporate entities. Bor Lango Each type of spirit had numerous ceremonies associated with it; many ceremonies included small offerings of food and drink. Despite the years of leadership by men from the North, that region continued to be marginalized economically after independence, and has suffered higher rates of poverty than other areas of the country. The dry season is long and hot, with temperatures that can reach more than 35 C. Demography. other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany When the camps were disbanded and people began to return to their land, customary rules for land tenure did not necessarily have the answers to some of the problems faced by Acholi people: men had lost their fathers from whom they would be granted land; children did not know where their clan land was; women were married to men without following the customary rules for marriage because of a lack of resources; and women were widowed and left with few options for survival. The thesis will centre not on the inevitability of the war, but will instead focus on the political processes that preceded it. Even bride-wealth marriages are now often mainly nuclear-family affairs, and other alternatives to traditional marriage are common. Kinship Terminology. the nations capital Kampala in 1988. A Study of the Acooli Language: Grammar and Vocabulary. jok ). He was defeated in January 1986. Dwyer, John Orr (1972) 'The Acholi of Uganda: adjustment to imperialism'. The major art forms of the Acholi have been drumming, singing, and dancing. Similarly, General Okello Lutwa who toppled the Obote II regime, was an Acholi. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that from early in the Christian era, Acholi was settled mainly by Central Sudanic (or "proto-Central Sudanic") speakers in the west and Eastern Nilotic ("proto-Eastern Nilotic") speakers in the east. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo. Traditionally, lineage heads and elders were the most knowledgeable aboutand involved withthe lineage and chiefdom jogi, although rwodi also had a role to play in ceremonies involving the latter. The personal and group loss resulting from death is acknowledged as real and permanent. [9], In the 2000s, James Ojent Latigo described some of Uganda's social problems as based on the way the political elites have used ethnicities to divide the country. prefix a- denoting the 1st Person Singular (Whitmire, 2013, p. 51). One illustration of this is the various spirit-possession-based millennial (and military) movements that have been prominent in Acholi during the extremely difficult period of the late 1980s and early 1990s, most famously the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Lakwena.

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