ABSTRACT

Academic literature gave less emphasis to the causes of insecurity of the society in Africa, and the role of the indigenous institutions to minimise the insecurity problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the sources of insecurity and the roles of the afersata (indigenous communal court) in solving insecurity problems in Ethiopia focusing on the Semen and Begemider Governorate General. This Governorate General existed in Ethiopia from the periods 1941–1974 comprising various cultural groups within it. It included Amhara, Agaw, Kimant, Tigrie, Kunama, and Bete Israel groups. Qualitative methodology was employed for this research, in which archival sources available in the North Gondar Administrative Zone were significantly utilised. Besides, secondary and oral sources were thoroughly scrutinised. The finding shows that banditry, imposition of unfair taxes and fees, and mal-administration had threatened the security of human livelihood in Semen and Begemider Governorate General from the periods 1941–1974. Indigenous institutions such as Afersata played pivotal roles in minimising these security problems at least by identifying unknown offenders in the community.

摘要

学术文献较少强调非洲社会不安全的原因，以及土著机构在尽量减少不安全问题方面的作用。因此，本研究的目的是研究不安全的根源以及 afersata（土著社区法院）在解决埃塞俄比亚不安全问题中的作用，重点是 Semen 和 Begemider 省。这个总督从 1941 年至 1974 年期间存在于埃塞俄比亚，其中包括各种文化团体。它包括 Amhara、Agaw、Kimant、Tigrie、Kunama 和 Bete Israel 团体。这项研究采用了定性方法，其中北贡德尔行政区可用的档案资源得到了显着利用。此外，对二手和口头来源进行了彻底审查。调查结果表明，土匪，从 1941 年到 1974 年，征收不公平的税费和管理不善已经威胁到塞门和贝格米德省的人类生计安全。Afersata 等土著机构至少通过识别社区中的未知罪犯，在最大限度地减少这些安全问题方面发挥了关键作用。