Characteristics of Pre-colonial Decentralized Societies

These were political units organized on clan basis; the clan was the basic unit of social, political and economical organization. These societies are also referred to as Egalitarian or stateless societies. Examples of such societies in pre-colonial Africa include the Kikuyu, the Iteso, Bagisu, Karamojong, Ibo, Tiv, Khor among others. A general survey in such societies is in the 2^nd half of the 19^th century revealed common political, social and economic features as below:

1.Politically non-centralized societies did not have a central authority at the top of their leadership. The clan leadership was the basic political unit in segmentary societies.

2.Political power was distributed amongst many political players; an aspect that made it difficult to recognize and detect who actually was more authoritative than the other in a given stateless society. Power laid in the hands of clan heads who were democratically elected depending on merit.

3.The Egalitarian societies had strong participatory democracy i.e. every one had right to participate in decision making that was affecting the whole society.

4.Duties in this society concerning defence and security, communal work, consultation among others. were generally carried out through the guidance of the elders who was the leaders of the given society. The elders provided leadership because they were believed to be custodians of knowledge as compared to the young and experienced youth who were recognized as such in the field of defence and police. This was true of the Ibo, Kikuyu and Iteso.

5.These societies didn't have standing armies as found in most centralised societies. The defence of the clan was the responsibility of all adult able-bodied men. The military in these societies was not professional in nature unlike in most centralised societies.

6.The lack of standing army didn't mean that these societies were militarily weak. The 11 year Nandi resistance against the imposition of British colonial rule in Kenya is a testimony to this fact. The history of Iteso in "Uganda with such galant men such as Ogutu also illustrates the case in point.

7.It should also be noted that wars involving these segmentary societies were not common. There were minor conflicts involving different clans over cattle, trade and land but not for territorial expansion as the case was in the centralised societies.

8.In the Judicial organisations, these societies had no laws and rules recorded down to be followed by the society as the case was for the centralised society. But this didn't mean that they were politically unstable. Disputes were first solved on clan basis and in case of a failure at this, the matter was forwarded to village assembly where the criminal had the right to defend himself and to be defended by members of general assembly. The final decision was taken after the vote unlike in the centralised societies where the king took the decision over the judgement in the given case.

9.Crime also minimised by society sanctions, which were used to punish the uncooperative members and criminals in society in order for them to realise their mistakes.

10. Unity and cohesion was not absent in pre-colonial stateless societies, as Eurocentric scholars claim clan kingship, Inter clan, Intermarriage as well as other social ties, enhanced unity among these societies. This particular aspect is comparable to the royal regalia in Buganda and the part played by state ceremonies in forging unity. Marriage ties were very important.

11. Socially, the clan head wasn't the overall religious leader but in every family, the family head was the leader. Clans were united by language and culture. Therefore they were brought together by their African traditional strings or attachment. They recognised their African traditional religious leaders as their creators and respected their ancestors to whom they sacrificed through their mediators.

12. Members of each clan were considered to be close relatives and were not allowed to intermarry otherwise the inter clan marriages were strongly encouraged to enhance unity in the society.

13. Economically, the segmentary societies did not have the centralised control of the economy. Land was communally owned and production was based on the family. Each family was expected to be self sufficient in terms of food production and in provision of other needs, for example, everybody was free to participate in major items of trade such as gold, salt and ivory.

14. Economically, communal work and working together in provision of labour services was common among these societies. This was not a sign of primitivity but the nature of economic development in the given societies. Work was not for earning but rather for glorification of the whole stateless society. One worked for the other m expectation of a return in a related labour service to him or her if need arose in future, for example, among the Iteso, peasants were helping one another in the harvests of millet, sorghum, among others.

15. Contrary to the view that these societies had neither trade nor markets to talk of, trade was a very important economic activity. Commerce was recognised. The wealthy people were influential in social, economic, political and other affairs. The story ofAro clan among the Ibo people in owning most of the Ibo wealth and influencing Ibo politics can Justify this assertion. The Akamba traders were also a force to reckon with as they could even afford private armies. The trend of affairs can partly justify that wealth breeds power, ambition and influence.

16. It should also be noted that pre-colonial Africa segmetary societies were not pre-Indus trial, true there were no extensive industrial undertakings like the contemporary Europe but this doesn't erase the fact that Africans were industrial. The Ibo for example had bronze works, cotton weaving. Iron working and pottery while the Iteso carried out black smithing. One can safety urge that Africans were undergoing indigenous industralisation at the dawn of European colonisation of the continent.

17. Agriculture was another important economical activity. This involved both cultivation and pastoralism. The Ibo for example grew palm oil and yams while the Kikuyu are remembered for cultivating a variety of foods. The Karamajongs were pastoralists while the Iteso and the Nandi were mixed farmers. It should however be noted that agriculture was primarily for subsistance.

18. Raiding was the most important economic activity. Neighbouring societies were raided in search of trade items such as gold, slave, Ivory and cattle.

It has been pointed out that non centralized societies unlike the centralized and European capitalist ones were limited in social stratification as people were largely individualistic, competitive and believed in equality. No wonder it has been generalized that non- centralized societies were democratic rather with some bit of exaggeration. What is true is that although these societies were largely Egalitarian, the elders, influential youths and the wealth held some important social positions and enjoyed higher esteem for example the Arochuku people of Chuku among the Ibo were wealthy and influential which contributed to their Oracle (achievement) being recognized as the most important. Equally so elders were respected because of their age and priestly functions.

Thus in the above treatise the author has laboured to highlight the major distinctive features of pre-colonial African segmentary and centralized societies. It can be concluded that in as much as there were differences between the two, they were more mythical than real.

Question

“The Pre-colonial centralized societies were disorganized and lacked a mechanism of law and order”. Assess the validity of the statement.

A state refers to a political organized people of a definite territory responding to a common political control.

In light of stateless or decentralised societies, their communities were bound together by common ancestor or kinship that is linked by an assumed common ancestor who formed an act of political association. These could be described as clans, tribes, villages, chiefdoms under which each of the associations had councils of elders with men of 40 ages and above whose main work included; maintaining law and order in the whole clan or village, helping the clan to develop its own identity and to solve disputes within a clan or village or between two clans or villages.

Above the clan of village councils of elders were the great village or clan councils of elders which had men as members appointed from each clan or village council of elders whose main work included; maintaining law and order within the whole society, solve disputes in the whole society, defend the society against external aggression; and help to develop and maintain its identity among other societies.

Therefore while the clan councils of elders dealt with matters pertaining to a given clan, the great clan councils of elders dealt with matters pertaining to the whole society. In otherwords, wherever there was a dispute among members of any clan or village, it was the work of the clan councils or village councils of elders but if the problem involved the whole society, it was the work of the great clan council of elders to deal with it. It’s therefore from this basis that one can rightly argue that the stateless societies had a proper and democratic mechanism of maintaining law and order.

In some or all stateless societies, there were age-sets or age mate groups which were youths usually from ages 14 - 25 grouped together to form their age group. They were usually concerned with: Preparing themselves for marriage and manhood especially in those societies where circumcision was on of the customs or norms. They were used to solve disputes among fellow youth

Maintaining their societies’ customs and culture but most important of all the youth were used in maintaining and defending their societies given that stateless societies were characterized by the absence of standing armies.

Militarily, as opposed to centralized societies, decentralised societies did not have standing or regular armies so in times of a crisis or wars for example one society being invaded by another, the great clan or village councils would meet and if war was agreed upon, each clan or village council would recruit some youths, send them to the great clan or village councils of elders where they would be trained militarily, put under the command of a chosen elder to face the enemy. It therefore meant that the work of defending the society was an activity of everyone including the youth. This is a clear testimony of law and order in the pre-colonial stateless societies.

Economically, stateless economies did not have a central control but relied on a variety of economic activities although trade played a little role because these societies were found in areas where little contact had been made with the outside world but other aspects like agriculture, pastrolism, hunting, gathering of fruits provided their livelihood in otherwords generally the geographical and climatical conditions determined the economic activity.

Socially, women played a very small role in these societies which is because they were usually regarded as inferior or insurbodinates to men thus they were not given to any post of responsibility in these societies.

Marriage was another social aspect for it was a taboo for any one to marry within the same clan and the idea of crossing from one clan to another brought unity and bondage within a given society.

Religion played an important role in different clans because it brought people together especially in circumstances where a traditional religious leader or a diviner or a seer belonged to a given clan.

In conclusion, a critical analysis of the above aspects nullifies the view that stateless societies lacked a mechanism of maintaining law and order and it’s largely a Eurocentric view as opposed to the Afro-centric critics as evident from the Bakiga, Itesot, Karamojong, Acholi, Japadhola, Alur, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Akamba, Gishu, Chagga, Hehe, Yao, Ibo of Nigeria, Fante in Ghana among others.