Indigenous Conflict Resolution Mechanisms among the Kembata Society

The major goal of this study was to assess the role of indigenous institutions in handling/ settling conflicts in the Kembata people in Kembata-Tembaro Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS).The research was conducted in Kedida Gamelo woreda and it was purposively selected. To achieve this goal, an attempt was made to collect the data in the study area by using different mechanisms. Qualitative research method was employed. The results obtained from the study suggest that Conflicts in Kambata, as in anywhere else, may vary from trivial interpersonal disagreements to a serious dispute which might eventually lead to homicide. The most common conflict issues in Kambata are grazing land, water, farmland and borderland. There are many deeds and accounts in the daily activities of the society which are considered to be crimes vis-à-vis the norms and traditions of the Kembata community. However, the most serious ones are: beating a man with a slump and/or thin stick, Beating elderly, raping, murder, Physical damage, Adultery.