Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

Lederach (1997) also discusses the importance of grassroots
actors in peace-building, a theme that is reminiscent of the
decentralization thesis. Lederach underscores that peacebuilding
should have space for diverse actors, from the state to
civil society and local community members, and advocates
grassroots peace0building instead of state-centric peacebuilding.
Lederach emphasizes the role of grassroots actors and
members of local communities in peace-building, arguing that
they not only experience the day-to-day impact of conflict, but are
also best positioned to resolve that conflict because they are
aware of their environment and the needs of the community.
Using this line of thinking, one could conceive of the abunzi as
grassroots actors in peace-building as they actively play
prominent roles in resolving conflicts at the local level.
The abunzi are not the only institution of local justice that has
been mandated by the Rwandan government to decentralize
justice. In fact, the abunzi system exists amidst a myriad of other
decentralization initiatives of justice including the gacaca,
ingando, nyumba kumi, umudugudu as well as other fairly
modern systems of justice. The government's major initiative to
decentralise the justice system and to provide advice and support
at the community level, is existent through the establishment of
Access to Justice Office (MAJ) in every district throughout the
country. Interestingly, although the local institution of abunzi
can be explained by the decentralization thesis, it is inevitable to
recognize that although the government of Rwanda has
decentralized administrative and governance structures at the
local level, it has not fully devolved power. Critics posit that the
decentralization of the law is just a means by the Rwandan
government to extend its authoritarian control to the grassroots
locales, hence the concept of 'lawfare' (Chakravarty, 2009;
Thomson and Nagy, 2010). Through decentralized structures,
government is able to keep vigilance over everyday activities,
looking for signs of dissent.
Insight into abunzi justice
Abunzi: Opportunities for sustainable conflict resolution and
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