Towards Religio-Cultural Approach to Ethnic Conflict Peacebuilding: An Appraisal of The Luo-Nandi Ethnic Methods’ Contribution to Community Peace in Africa

The vital contribution of religio-cultural methods in peacebuilding has been instrumental in community peace before, during and after conflicts. Traditional societies and cultures are vested with a body of wisdom in myths, riddles, and proverbs relevant to providing meaning, continuity, and stability to a community’s social cohesion. This wisdom is propelled by values including restoration, community harmony, social cohesion, and shared life which are essential in healing broken relationships and enhancing community life. The potential nature of the Luo-Nandi religio-cultural methodology is embedded in their religion and culture as they deal with ethnic conflicts and peacebuilding. Matters of religious and cultural relationship-building are relevant to harmony, coexistence, and harmonious life as a community. The Luo-Nandi cultural approaches in peacebuilding consist of mediation and reconciliation, religious use of ethics and moral behaviour, religious rituals, and ceremonies, as well as the cultural wisdom in myths, proverbs, and wise sayings. Such actions incorporate principles of amicable solutions, negotiation, the consensus in decision-making, third-party principles, and interactivity of the process. The ultimate contribution of the Luo-Nandi religio-cultural methodology in peacebuilding is in enhancing mediation and reconciliation, religious rituals and ceremonies and moral and character transformation.