Mediating for Harmony: A Refugee Leader’s Role Transforms Conflict Resolution in Kakuma
Mediating for Harmony: A Refugee Leader’s Role Transforms Conflict Resolution in Kakuma
By: Harriet Ajiambo
Mr. Bol Mabil started disputes resolution in his community as an obligation imposed to him by the fact that he is a community leader. He is a Bor community youth leader. He believed and still believes human beings are naturally mediators. The South Sudanese refugee has been practicing mediation the traditional way, guided by the ways and decisions of the elders, based on winner takes it all as the finality to dispute settlement. He resorted to helping the community in disputes resolve pro-bono, to ensure cohesion and peace in his community.
The Haki na Ushirikiano Project has taken intentional strides to champion for use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. A speedy way to resolve disputes as compared the long process of the courts. The project has sponsored skills building of mediators in different regions of the country. Mr. Mabil is among several other mediators who have been trained by accredited training institutions through the support of The Royal Netherlands Embassy. He has been equipped with essential alternative dispute resolution skills for conflict resolve in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei Communities in Turkana.
“I relied on evidence brought to me by conflicting parties who came in for conflict settlement. Judgement was on a winner takes it all basis,” says Mr. Mabil. He admits that during this period the community experienced a lot of relationship constraints among neighbors. Now, he professionally and skillfully uses the skills and knowledge acquired from the trainings to mediate. The mediator is a neutral party to facilitate the process. Solutions to the conflicts are owned by the disputants on a win-win basis to maintain peaceful relationships amongst the parties.
Mr. Bol Daniel Mabil during an interview with the KNCHR at the Kakuma Refugee Camp
The Bor community leader acknowledges that the mediation training has benefited him a lot. It has become easier for him to do sessions professionally. He resolves disputes much faster and the process is economical for the community. Mr. Bol has successfully settled two cases from the refugee community. One, a family mediation issue and the other a religion mediation case. Upon completion of the matters, parties sign a settlement agreement statement which is then submitted to the courts as evidence of matter settlement and case closure.
Interference by external parties is a challenge experienced in the process of conflict management by mediation. There is also power play among the disputants creating a toxic environment for the mediation process to proceed. The council of elders not wanting to embrace the new alternative dispute resolution ways due to preference to their cultural ways of solving conflicts. The communities also trusting the elders more than the trained mediators. These are just but a few of the challenges Mr. Mabil has experienced during his mediation sessions.
From the pros shared by Mr. Mabil on mediation, there is a clear highlight that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms is the way to go. He calls upon the Haki na Ushirikiano Project to push for more community education and sensitization on the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms through more community conversations to streamline attitudinal change towards the embrace of mediation and other alternative forms of conflicts resolution. Mr. Mabil encourages the community to welcome the alternative ways to conflict management to ease dispute resolution to ensure peaceful coexistence and care for relationships amongst community members.