ESSENCE: Interdisciplinary- International Journal of Concerned African Philosophers

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Gacaca justice system as a traditional African justice system in resolving conflicts and promoting criminal justice in Nigeria. The conventional criminal justice system in Nigeria has been criticized for its inadequacies and ineffectiveness due to corruption, biases and delays in dispensation of justice, leading to widespread cynicism. It has become so bad that even the common man on the street do not have any single trust in the existing criminal justice system. Hence, going to court now appears to be a waste of resources and time. However, the Gacaca, a Rwandan traditional justice system, rooted in communal values and restorative justice, appears to offer a promising alternative. Conflict resolution in Gacaca justice system is not only community-based but aims more at correcting an offender rather than punishing him. This paper thereforeexamines the conflict resolution mechanisms of the Gacaca justice system and recommends same as a panacea to the Nigerian criminal justice system. Adopting the comparative analysis and descriptive methods, the work argues that the Gacaca as a traditional African justice system, offers a viable alternative to the Nigerian criminal justice system in conflictresolution. The aim of this paper is to show how the Gacaca approach could be integrated into the criminal justice system of Nigeria to help solve the various challenges plaguing conflict resolution in Nigerian criminal justice system. It concludes that integrating elements such as community involvement, reconciliatory and restorative approaches could help solve the various challenges of conflict resolution plaguing the Nigerian criminal justice system, thus ensuring a more efficient, effective and responsive approach devoid of corruption, delays in dispensation of justice and biases.

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