Ethnic Conflict, Interaction and Cohabitation in Africa: The Case of Nuer and Anuak

This paper describes the progress of the Nuer civil wars of the 1990s, focusing particularly on how the superimposition of national conflict affected local confrontations, and analyzing the ways in which local civil wars were being brought to an end by the time the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was concluded in 2005. It offers a comparative look at an earlier period of state generated violence in the Southern Sudan during the nineteenth century and identifies older patterns that can help understand more recent events. Written before the current crisis in South Sudan, it provides some background to events now unfolding there.

African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 2009

The world-wide surge in the number and violence of open conflicts revolving around ethnic or religious identities towards the end of the 20 th century is a powerful reminder that communal identities are not a remnant of the past but a potent force in contemporary politics. After three decades of independence, ethnicity is more central than ever to the political process of many African countries. Africa has had more than its fair share of ethnic dissent which has sometimes plummeted states into civil war as was experienced in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and reached frightening proportions in Rwanda and now Sudan. Political openings and multiparty elections have led to the formation of innumerable overtly or covertly ethnic political parties, which serve more often to increase civil strife of which the most recent addition to the long list in Africa is Kenya.

Inter-ethnic relations in Ethiopia have always been complex and dynamic. As home to diverse ethnic groups with differing livelihood strategies and diverging social institutions, this country is beset with fluidity of relations, shifting allegiances, as well as building and breaking alliances. Yet, the amplitude of political temperature at the center seems to play a decisive role in the making or breaking of these relations at all levels: center and periphery. This article examines the dynamics of inter-ethnic relations in two districts, Gidda and Kiremu, located on the western edge of northern plateau of Ethiopia in East Wollega, Oromiya Regional State, in historical perspective. Based on extensive review of historical documents and on empirical data generated through successive fieldwork conducted during the early 2000s, the paper tries to shed light on changing trends of inter-ethnic relations among diverse communities inhabiting the two districts. The economic, political, cultural and ecological dynamics of these relations are placed in a wider regional and historical context, which includes the former Horro-Gudru Awraja (Amharic: "sub-province"). Competition over resources, particularly land, is identified as a major driving factor in conflict.

Religación. Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 2021

10.46652/rgn.v6i29.804 Since 1991 Ethiopia has made a change in thinking favoring federalism against the centralized hierarchical power to radically respond to the problem of diversity and better recognize and accommodate the country's ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity. Paradoxically, Ethiopia had experienced more ethnic-based conflict in its post-1991 existence than ever before. Among others, the Somali-Oromo conflict is the worst ethnic-based conflict in the country's history. Though the two communities, have a long tradition of coexistence and strong socio-cultural integrations due to their shared Muslim-Cushitic identity, economic interdependence, and shared cultural practices; antagonistic relationships, and intermittent conflicts due to resource competition, territorial expansion, bad governance, and other factors have prevailed in the last three decades. It is the objective of this paper, therefore, to investigate and analyze factors of ethnic conflict along the shared border of the Somali and Oromia regional administrations, specifically Bable and Bobas districts, within the context of Ethiopian federalism. Methodologically, the study employed a comparative research approach and made use of key informant interview and survey questionnaires' techniques in gathering the relevant data, and in effect, both qualitative and quantitative data interpretation and analysis methods were utilized in the analysis section. The findings of this study demonstrate that the Somali-Oromo conflict is complex & dynamics and the result of the interplay of historical, institutional/structural/political, economic, sociocultural, and environmental factors. Furthermore, the result of the study reveals that major drivers of ethnic conflict in both areas are similar.

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2017

Inter-ethnic relations in Ethiopia have always been complex and dynamic. As home to diverse ethnic groups with differing livelihood strategies and diverging social institutions, this country is beset with fluidity of relations, shifting allegiances, as well as building and breaking alliances. Yet, the amplitude of political temperature at the center seems to play a decisive role in the making or breaking of these relations at all levels: center and periphery. This article examines the dynamics of inter-ethnic relations in two districts, Gidda and Kiremu, located on the western edge of northern plateau of Ethiopia in East Wollega, Oromiya Regional State, in historical perspective. Based on extensive review of historical documents and on empirical data generated through successive fieldwork conducted during the early 2000s, the paper tries to shed light on changing trends of inter-ethnic relations among diverse communities inhabiting the two districts. The economic, political, cultural and ecological dynamics of these relations are placed in a wider regional and historical context, which includes the former Horro-Gudru Awraja (Amharic: "sub-province"). Competition over resources, particularly land, is identified as a major driving factor in conflict.

Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution, 2012

The purpose of this research was to investigate the main causes of the post 1991 ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia based on secondary data. The theoretical ground of the study was the instrumentalist paradigm which claims that ethnic conflict is a clash between rational agents over scarce resources. Accordingly, the research has established that the post 1991 ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia consisted of multifaceted variables which made the conflicts simply appear as a mere inter-ethnic differences. The real causes of the conflicts were inequitable distributions of economic and political power or the demand for access to political and economic benefits. Furthermore, almost all of the major conflicts were not based on ethnic antagonisms. Yet, they were labeled as 'inter-ethnic conflicts' simply due to the fact that they bear the names of the participant ethnic groups. Above all, the conflicts seemed to be inter-ethnic clashes resulting from sheer ethnic differences on account of the previously created interethnic distances among the various ethnic groups of the country.

The origin of border conflicts in the Horn of Africa to a large extent dated back to the European colonial experience in the region, even though most of the conflicts' root causes predate this experience. The issue of borders has become a recurrent source of conflicts and disputes on the continent also. This is because the national territorial boundaries presently in existence in Africa were drawn up during the scramble and partition of Africa by rival European colonizers. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the role played by African Union in managing the current interstate border conflict between Ethiopia and Sudan. To address the problem stated the study employed the qualitative research approach of exploratory nature. From the finding the study also discussed causes of border conflicts, AU's involvement role, the mechanisms adopted by AU in settlement of border conflicts and key challenges of the AU in settlement of border conflicts like; the presence of colonial boundary treaty, difficult environment of border governance, lack of availability of funds, lack of expertise/manpower and lack of political commitment among member states. By considering those challenges on the role of African Union in management of current border conflict between Ethiopia and Sudan, the study concluded that both countries must solve their dispute by negotiation rather than accusing or claiming each other to settle or de-escalate the current border conflict between the two countries/ AU's involvement is important. This study will hopefully be important either to academicians as a source of reference for their further studies in specific areas, for policy makers in their decision making or for AU it self.

2021

This dissertation starts with a theoretical discussion on the primordial, perennial, and constructivist approaches to the concept of ethnicity. It argues that ethnic politics is positively correlated with ethnic conflict through ethnic security dilemmas, amplifying grievances, and feeding on greed. Although ethnic diversity and polarisation may affect the degree of ethnic conflict, the key factor is the political structure. Ethnic federalism and ethnic parties are structural elements that feed ethnic conflict. Since 1991, Ethiopian politics has been highly ethnicised; ethnic parties flourished, an ethnic federal system has been implemented. The 1995 constitution which exists to date institutionalised ethnic politics in Ethiopia. The implications have been massive internal displacements, the proliferation of ethnicity in every aspect of life, further disintegration due to the emergence of new ethnic groups, increasing rivalry between regional states, ethnic voting, and polarised cities. The dissertation provides some recommendations to the government of Ethiopia. Keywords: ethnicity, ethnic politics, ethnic conflict, ethnic federalism, ethnic parties, Ethiopia.

2013

This study is an investigation of the causes of local conflict between the Konso and Derashe people of Southern Ethiopia. The principal objective of this study is to unearth the causes of the conflict between these two ethnic groups. The methodology employed relied on qualitative approach using both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was generated through both in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions. The study indicated that the causes of conflicts in these areas are multiple relating to economic, political, social and cultural factors like, incompatible attempt of using protected areas, a gradual weakening of indigenous institutions, inefficient mechanism of diagnosing and concomitant handling strategies of conflicts by the political authority, dalliance of justice delivery for complaints filed, and the circulations of false allegation by individuals are mentionable. Despite conflict, Konso and Derashe people have many symbiotic relations. They share similar tr...

The purpose of this research was to investigate the main causes of the post 1991 ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia based on secondary data. The theoretical ground of the study was the instrumentalist paradigm which claims that ethnic conflict is a clash between rational agents over scarce resources. Accordingly, the research has established that the post 1991 ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia consisted of multifaceted variables which made the conflicts simply appear as a mere inter-ethnic differences. The real causes of the conflicts were inequitable distributions of economic and political power or the demand for access to political and economic benefits. Furthermore, almost all of the major conflicts were not based on ethnic antagonisms. Yet, they were labeled as 'inter-ethnic conflicts' simply due to the fact that they bear the names of the participant ethnic groups. Above all, the conflicts seemed to be inter-ethnic clashes resulting from sheer ethnic differences on account of the previously created inter-ethnic distances among the various ethnic groups of the country.