The Kadume dispute concerned land. It was a dispute between Kadume – Makara’s son and Soine – Makara’s half brother. Both Kadume and Soine took advantage of the inner lineage of Mesuji. They therefore aimed at restoring the agnatic cooperation established by Mesuji.
Kadume’s mother had separated from Makara ten year before the dispute arose. She took her son Kadume and went to live in her brother’s home – Kadume’s uncle. Makara’s life depended on his half-brother – Soine and Soine’s wife. On the death of Makara, Soine took Makara’s land. Kadume got married and was given two heads of cattle and three goats from the estate of Makara. Kadume agreed with Soine that Kadume’s herds would graze at Makara’s paddock. Kadume was therefore accepted as one of the members of the inner lineage.
One year after the grazing agreement, Kadume claimed possession of all of his father’s land. Soine refused and a quarrel ensued between them. Soine barred Kadume altogether from grazing his herds in Soine’s paddock. Kadume went to the lineage counselor to present his case.
The lineage counselor convened the inner conclave of the inner lineage. Further quarrels ensued and the inner conclave failed to reconcile the disputants. Some argued that Kadume has no right over the land because he had not cultivated it. Some further argued that since the time Kadume’s mother disserted her husband Makara, Soine had been looking after Kadume and that Kadume had already acquired land in his uncle’s farm, while Soine had got only a small plot of land. The lineage counselor decided in favor of Soine. Kadume was aggrieved with the decision and insisted that the lineage counselor should convene the internal moot.
At the internal moot Kadume was represented by Kirevi. Kirevi argued that Kadume was the only son of Makara and because he was now a big man – olokitok, and had inherited Makara’s animals, he should also inherit the land. Soine reiterated his former position and advanced the same arguments he had presented at the conclave of the inner lineage and emphasized that he had shortage of land, so he should take the disputed land. Kadume cautioned that in principle “Brothers do not inherit, sons do. That is a custom long ago”. Soine answered back that “Not always”.
Kirevi then stood up and advanced three principles:
1. That Soine in refusing to give the land to Kadume was going against established customs of the ancestors;
2 That Soine must honour the young generation for they will not honour him when he is dead, and
3. That Kadume having came of age should be given full responsibility to look after his own life.
The arguments met with approval from among the members with a word by the lineage counselor that sons should honour their elders irrespective of what wrong the elders do to them. This was further reinforced by Olmal, Kadume’s paternal cousin, that Kadume should be given responsibilities as a full and grown up member of the family and that norms should be honoured.
The internal moot finally reached a conclusion after examining all the evidence and relevant facts and divided the land into two in which both Kadume and Soine got a share. The internal moot retired for beer in a cordial way and members congratulated each other for the final settlement of both Makara’s inheritance matters and the land dispute.
If you wish you may try these few questions
QUESTIONS
i. What procedure led up to the settlement of the dispute in Kadume’s case?
ii. What things were taken into account in reaching to result or decision?
iii. On what ground did Soine claim the land? On What ground did Kadume?
iv. What was the end result of the dispute? Did the “litigants” in Kadume’s Case accept the final result of the dispute because they both were persuaded that it was a reasonable one, or were they in any way “forced” to accept it?
