Afoča

Afoča (Harari: አፎቻ) also spelled as Afocha is a Harari community neighborhood association.[1][2][3]

History

Anthropologist Elisabeth-Dorthea Hecht, states Afočas have existed for at least three generations within the Harari society.[4] While others assert that it traces its origins to the seventeenth century Emirate of Harar.[5] American sociologist Sidney Waldron posits that neighborhood associations might have influenced the political landscape of Harar in the mid-1800s. After the passing of Emir Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr, Abdallahi Abd al-Mejid took temporary control but was ousted as a result of a consensus among the five Afochas.[6]

According to Ethiopian historian Mohammed Hassen, the Afoča played a key role as a Harari defense measure, orchestrating national mobilization, which thwarted the city of Harar and its inhabitants from suffering the same fate as their kin, the now extinct Harla people.[7]

Aspects

An Afoča consists of the following:

Membership

The coalition is customarily based on age and gender.[8] Men's Afoča is generally complimentary, while the women's Afocha includes a charge due to high expenditures linked to the latter on special occasions.[9][10]

Objectives

Some of its main focuses are to assist members financially during their funerals (amuta gar) and weddings (balachu gar).[11][12][13] Chairman of the men's Afoča prioritizes economic support while the chairwoman of the women's Afoča focuses mainly on the mutual sharing of jubilation and melancholy.[14]

Further reading

  • Peter H. Koehn, Afocha: A Link Between Community and Administration in Hārar, Ethiopia. Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 1978

References

  1. ^ Baynes-Rock, Marcus. Among the Bone Eaters Encounters with Hyenas in Harar. Penn State University Press. p. 16.
  2. ^ Leslau, Wolf. Fifty Years of Research Selection of Articles on Semitic, Ethiopian Semitic and Cushitic. O. Harrassowitz. p. 386.
  3. ^ Weekes, Richard. Muslim Peoples: Acehnese. Greenwood Press. p. 318.
  4. ^ Afocha. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  5. ^ Ibrahim, Abadir. The Role of Civil Society in Africa's Quest for Democratization. Springer International Publishing. p. 133.
  6. ^ Waldron, Sidney. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HARARI-OROMO RELATIONSHIPS, 1559-1874. Michigan State University Press. p. 31.
  7. ^ Hassen, Mohammed. The Oromo of Ethiopia, 1500-1850: With special emphasis on the Gibe region. University of London. p. 213.
  8. ^ Hecht, Elisabeth-Dorothea. The Voluntary Associations and the Social Status of Harari Women. Institute of African Studies, University of Nairobi. p. 303.
  9. ^ Ahmed, Yusuf. AFOČA. Institute of Ethiopian Studies. p. 126.
  10. ^ Stauth, Laura. Rethinking the Anthropology of Islam Dynamics of Change in Muslim Societies. In Honour of Roman Loimeier. De Gruyter. p. 103.
  11. ^ Pankhurst, Alula; Assefa, Getachew. Grass-roots Justice in Ethiopia The Contribution of Customary Dispute Resolution. Centre Français d'Études Éthiopiennes. p. 157.
  12. ^ Skutsch, Carl. Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Taylor & Francis. p. 548.
  13. ^ Sartori, Ilaria. Gey fäqär, the songs of the City ? Voices of tradition and transition in Harar. Annales d'Éthiopie. p. 141.
  14. ^ Schulpen, Dr. L. A study about the contributions of indigenous social security systems to poverty reduction (PDF). Radboud University Nijmegen. p. 57.
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