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Kabila

How a council of elders reaches a decision

A common way of deciding without voting: talk until nearly everyone can accept the outcome.

is brought toonce agreedAn issue arisesCouncil is calledEveryone is heardCustom is weighedConsensus is soughtDecision announcedRelations repaired

  1. An issue arises. Something needs settling. Two families quarrel over a field boundary, or the village must decide whether to accept a road. The matter is raised with a headman or an elder.
  2. Council is called. The council gathers at a customary place. In Botswana the Tswana meet at the kgotla, an open public court. Khasi villages in Meghalaya hold a dorbar, an assembly of the village.
  3. Everyone is heard. People speak in turn. In many councils anyone affected may talk for as long as they need. Listening fully is part of the process, not a delay before it.
  4. Custom is weighed. Elders set the case against custom: the unwritten rules and remembered past decisions of the community. They ask what was done before and what would be fair now.
  5. Consensus is sought. The aim is consensus, meaning an outcome everyone can live with, not a majority vote. The Haudenosaunee Grand Council passes a matter between groups of chiefs until they agree.
  6. Decision announced. When the talk settles, a senior person states the decision aloud. Saying it in public makes it binding, because the whole community has witnessed it.
  7. Relations repaired. The goal is to repair relations. The party at fault may pay compensation or host a meal. Many councils now debate who gets a seat, including women and the young.

Read the lesson

  1. How peoples govern themselves: elders, chiefs, councils and customary lawEvery society has ways of making decisions and settling disputes. You will learn the main forms of leadership, how councils work, and what customary law is.

Seven peoples, once a week

Every Monday: seven peoples you may never have heard of, who they are and where they live.