Article Published In Vol.3 (March-April-2015)

Traditional Conflict Resolution as a Better Option to Court Proceeding: An Attitude and Practice in Ambo Town

Author : Endalcachew Bayeh, Gashaw Ayferam and Zelalem Muchie

The central objective of this paper is to examine the attitude and practice of Ambo town people towards traditional conflict resolution mechanisms vis-à-vis the modern court system. To this end, the study used both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were gathered from interview and personal observations whereas secondary sources were obtained from articles. The findings of the study show that there exists a high tendency among Ambo town people to solve their conflicts mostly through traditional mechanisms like Jaarsummaa. This is due to the fact that they have a belief that traditional mechanisms are by far better than the modern court procedure as the former is: possible to produce win-win result which is instrumental for conflicting parties’ future cordial relationship, easily accessible, time saving, less costly and vital for social stability, though it has its own blemishes like lack of documentation and enforcement mechanisms.

Keywords: Ambo town, conflict, traditional conflict resolution mechanisms, modern court system