“Mato Oput is an elaborate system of reconciliation and mediation which was developed by the Luo community to settle disputes among their community.
However, Acholi leaders argue that unlike the formal justice system that alienates the offender, the Mato Oput system focuses on reconciliation and compensation of the victims.
“Mato Oput is one of the best justice systems in the world because it forgives, restores the broken relationship and creates the process of healing in the hearts of those who have been wounded by violence and death. Mato Oput has a process which starts with truth telling. The public expression of remorse through truth telling is meant to do away with intent of impunity,” says Macleod Ochola, retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum.
“This is a point of departure between formal justice system and Mato Oput. A formal system is retributive or punitive so it leads to polarization, hatred, bitterness, alienation or death. Mato Oput is a pro life and holistic and transformative justice system,” he adds.
The proponents of Mato Oput argue that while the traditional justice system should be implemented together with the formal justice system, the two do not compliment each other. “There are aspects of the war which can be handled under Mato Oput- like a person abducted and forced to kill and is now back. You cannot take that person to court for murder yet you cannot also just forgive him because the community from whom he killed will still point fingers at him. So you need to go through Mato Oput, which involves truth telling, asking for forgiveness and the offended community also accepting,” says Oketta.
What is Mato Oput?
So, what does Mato Oput mean and necessitate? Mato Oput literally means “drinking the bitter root of an oput tree”. Oketta says it symbolizes the end to a bitter relationship between two clan communities or families of offenders and the offended.
Because of the emphasis on community, it is believed in Acholi that when a person commits a crime, his or her family or clan is also guilty of the same crime, just like all members of the victim’s family or clan are taken to be aggrieved.
Whenever a homicide takes place in Acholi, the Rwot (cultural chief) intervenes in the situation to offer mediation between the offended and offending families. The process that leads up to taking of mato oput, or drinking of bitter solution from roots and leaves of an oput tree, is carefully handled for the offenders to get back to their senses so that they can admit guilt during a hearing led by chiefs and elders.
“We mix blood from lambs with a powder of roots from Oput tree and local brew. The tree is bitter and the solution is also bitter. The essence of taking the bitter solution is to signify the end of a bitter relationship. After the two families have shared the drink, they also share the meat of a sacrificial lamb. In our culture, sharing means friendship and this marks the return of peace,” explains Rwot Otinga Atuka Ottoyai of Lamogi.
David Okidi Lumedo, author and consultant on Acholi culture says the processes and rites of Mato Oput are preceded by culuko-paying of blood feud. “The paying of blood feud is meant to stop any act of revenge. In addition, the side of a clan that has lost a person brings a he-goat or a she goat depending on the sex of the victim, while on the side of the offender, they bring a male sheep,” Lumedo says.
After the negotiations, it is a celebratory proceeding during Mato oput. The sheep and goat are laid close to each other but facing in opposite directions. They are then split into two pieces and shared between the offending and offended clans (communities).
Mato Oput at work
Acholi’s application of Mato Oput to achieve justice has for long been extended to solve inter tribal crimes as a way of fostering unity and co-existence.
At Patiko village in Gulu, we stumbled upon a climax of mato oput ceremony. The case being settled involved two feuding co-wives who had fought two years ago, causing a still birth by one of the women. The pregnant woman was identified as the victim because she lost a baby after she had been beaten.
These women came from different tribes. The victim was an Alur from Jonam clan of West Nile and the offender was an Acholi from Paweli clan. Following negations between clan leaders of both women with mediation of Rwot Otinga Ottoyai, the two sides agreed a compensation of five cows devalued to just three hundred thirty thousand Uganda shillings (330,000 /=) due to resource constraint on the side of the offender.
Lumdo says under Acholi restorative justice system, there is no provision for death penalty for a homicide offender. “This is because the Acholi culture values the sanctity of life and preserves it. The offender must be rehabilitated into society,” he says.
Mrs. Cissy Charity Ojok, Women’s representative in Ker Kwaro, Acholi says that women play a crucial role in the Mato Oput process. “We disclose what men would not disclose. Sometimes men dodge the full truth but women do not hide because it is us who suffer most whenever there is violence. If your husband or son has killed or been killed, we suffer double trauma. Women, being close to their children are privy to the information from their children, especially related to heinous crimes so we are in a position of telling the full truth,” Mrs. Ojok says.
