How to use ADR to knock out community related conflicts

Op-Ed: No society or organization can live in the world without entangling itself in  some sort of  conflict ,  , conflicts crop up in civil organizations such as cultural institutions LGs ,as well as  military organizations  including our homes.

However what is important is how such conflicts are managed once they crop up , without proper resolution of disputes, this can lead to organizational entropy and will result in disorder and where necessary collapse of the organization.

A Dispute is a product of unresolved conflict and conflicts can be viewed as misunderstandings between people, cultural institutions or between different Governments including wives and husbands.

The general causes of such rivalries could be due to differences in resource sharing, differences in ideology, unnecessary expectations, unfilled promises among others.

Uganda has a series of laws on how to extinguish such conflicts once they crop up, in the context cultural institutions elders are clothed with a lot of authority to extinguish any power wrangle to leadership which is seen in section 15(1) of the cultural Leaders Act 2011.

Other equally important provisions to rely on in resolving conflicts locally inculde the constitution of Uganda itself, the Magistrate courts Act 2007 and the Arbitration and conciliation Act  cap 4 all this highlight the need to resolve societal disputes outside Main court systems.

Under Alternative dispute resolution mechanism conflicts are resolved using other processes other ligation.

Both the Bible and The Quran, have very many guiding verses on how conflicts can be  extinguished once they crop up using this procedure prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encouraged and practiced tehkim the equivalent of arbitration to solve a number of conflicts and using ADR prophet Muhammad was able to avoid  a very nasty war over the construction of the kabba, and another prophet had also used the same technique much earlier to resolve a conflict bordering on the parentage of a baby ,when prophet Solomon used ADR though a little bit ,in  extremity but it delivered immense successes.

In law litigants are argued to use ADR procedures,whenever appropriate and not to  over load courts with cases.

The constitution of Uganda in Art 126(2)(e) encourages all Ugandans inculding the Bamasaba or bagisu people as the law refers to them ,  to resolve conflicts in societies using ADR in order to avoid any delays connected to using the conventional court systems.

Why alternative dispute resolution should be pursued at the  expense of conventional court trials is that you don’t need lawyers to do this conflicting persons  are free to tell their side of the story and one does not need any rules to follow while stating the  points that led to the disagreement as it is with litigation and other benefits like being much cheaper and available to the common man.

Many conflicting parties often have lost out a lot of cash to cunning lawyers ,who ask for huge costs in clientele fees , transport ,and feeding allowances among others ,the best remedy to cure this ,is reliance on ADR.

Available legal literature also suggests that with ADR many disputes are kept in secrecy unlike conventional court trials .and  ADR , is an activation of the constitutional provisions in Art 126(2)(a) that say that justice is for all irrespective of their economic or social status ,ADR comes in handy to support this constitutional provision.

Many cultural institutions and any other aggrieved persons , should utilize this principles connected to the usefulness of ADR in order to cure conflicts in communities as the outcomes bind courts of law .and are fully supported by all rules of civil law.

Many courts of law are reluctant to entertain any matter before them, unless it is shown on record of court that other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms were utilized although with limited success on the matter.

I therefore encourage Bamasaba to be very alive on the usefulness of Alternative dispute resolutions in any conflict available except Capital offences.

The site of arresting a  litigant for failing to pay legal  fees or court awards is too disgusting in my own opinion,ADR is justice to man and man ,with it’s agility in delivering outcomes let us all rush for it .

The author is Steven Masiga, the spokesperson Inzuyamasaba and a Masters student of Laws.

Disclaimer: As UG Reports Media LTD, we welcome any opinion from anyone if it’s constructive for the development of Uganda. All the expressions and opinions in this write-up are not those of UG Reports Media Ltd. but of the author of the article.

Would you like to share your opinion with us? Please send it to this email: theugreports@gmail.com.