Abstract
Resolution of disputes and investigation of institutions that have attempted to right the wrongs (some of which have persisted for centuries) regarding pastoralists’ property rights over indigenous water sources in East Africa have rarely been the subject of formal study. Using a framework of water property rights, hereafter konfi, we report on contestations over rights to the ancient tula wells in southern Ethiopia, some of which have been in operation for more than 500 years. Unlike grazing lands, which are communal resources, wells are private properties managed by corporate clan members. We reconstructed the history of contests over property rights to 64 wells and found that some contests over konfi have remained unresolved for many generations. Only a small percentage (20%) of the wells have no history of disputes over property rights. The resolution of disputes relies on the principal tenet of the non-transferability of konfi property rights, except in the case of the family of the ancestral konfi dying out. Contestants are expected to reconstruct how they lost the konfi in the first place. The Borana tend to discourage contests over wells through the long duration of investigations, as well as myths associated with false claims that appeared to result in deaths among the claimants.
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Notes
This study excludes the alluvial shallow wells (adadi) that are common throughout the Borana rangelands. These shallow wells are excavated in sandy river beds called labu-waale.
Each watering day is coordinated by individuals known as the abba guya (father of the watering day) - mostly, the watering period spans three days, thus each well has three abba guya.
The clan representative in the gada government of the Borana.
Each gada leader (abba gada) governs for eight years without the possibility of a second term in office (see Legesse 1973).
We identify individuals involved in the contests, although we do not share the information provided by the individuals.
As they grow older, the priests are expected to pass this knowledge on to younger men.
Oba Sarite Kura at the age of 103 in 1993, and Borbor Bulle at the age of 65 in 1997.
Borana spiritual leaders play critical roles in blessing rituals offered at the wells and in settling disputes.
Qallicha Qancorro, 60, Web, December, 2007; Balambal Fayo, 102, March, 2008
Interview with Borbor Bulle in June 1998.
Interview with Borbor Bulle in June 1998.
Interview with Oba Sarite Kura in 1993, Sololo, Kenya.
Interview with Borbor Bulle, July 2012.
Interview with Fekadu Jaldessa, personal communication, 2009.
These structures include the watering trough, reservoir, and source at the bottom of the well.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank all the elders and other individuals interviewed during the study. This work was part of previous PhD work by WT and supervised by GO. Funding for the fieldwork was by NFR research project (1635/S30) granted to the second author.
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We have in some cases acknowledged the individuals who provided information. We however have no conflicts of interest.
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The term konfi literally means the ritual stick the ancestors used to start excavating a well on virgin land. Today the term refers to water property rights; in particular, the konfi is considered part of the traditional institution of righting past wrongs regarding property rights over wells.
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Tiki, W., Oba, G. Righting the Wrongs: Contesting Water Property Rights in Southern Ethiopia. Hum Ecol 45, 723–734 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9942-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9942-1