n Ihorombe, the regional dina (collective convention) has been suspended. And for good reason, the collective agreement was trapped by multiple abuses of power. Corruption and nepotism have destroyed the spirit of the dina.
In Ihorombe, the regional dina (collective convention) has been suspended. And for good reason, the collective agreement was trapped by multiple abuses of power. Corruption and nepotism have destroyed the spirit of the dina.
Tsierene, a lonaky (a wiseman, a dean) from Ranotsara Avaratra, in the Iakora district, confirms Monja’s statements, and emphasizes an important aspect of the dina: understanding the cultural aspect. “Indeed, some officials use the dina to enrich themselves. There is certainly corruption, but also abuse of power by the representatives of the authorities and officials. But most of the time, they have no idea of the local context, do not understand our culture and traditional society, and are blowing up our whole organization. This only serves to aggravate insecurity. The high authority’s interference only cultivates a vindictive spirit among the population.”
WE MUST PRESERVE THE DINA FROM ANY DICTATORSHIP AND ANY IMPUNITY, EVEN FROM ANY UNDERMINING OF THE STATE’ AUTHORITY
Public Prosecutor Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia
In Ihorombe, the Public Prosecutor Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia is not as categorical as to the existence of a network of corruption within the judiciary and the administration: “I cannot be as affirmative as to the existence or not of facts of corruption. But I have observed the way the dina is applied. I cannot accept the deviations in this application. We must preserve the dina from any dictatorship and any impunity, even from any undermining of the State’ authority.”
An internal regulation in the framework of the dina
But while the Ihorombe dina is still suspended today, debates continue as to the most effective and healthy way to re-establish it. Local actors are unanimous about the usefulness of the dina for Ihorombe, if the convention is applied intelligently and with respect for the law. The idea of a common settlement based on community consultation, without interference or imposition by higher authorities, is circulating among the actors in Ihorombe. In fact, this is the principle of the dina: an initiative belonging to the Fokonolona and its representatives. Elder Monja, together with the mayors of Ivohibe and Iakora, Lemanambison Zedler and Manambelo Dolph, explains: “In this way, the implementation of the dina is simpler and we escape the various interpretations of the content when the time comes to apply the convention.”
A concept shared by the public Prosecutor, who adds, however, the requirement of an internal regulation so that the actors can mutually set boundaries. “When you consider it, the dina is the only collective structure that does not have internal regulations”, she underlines. “But in red zones, as is actually the case in Ihorombe, the dina can be salutary. But it will be necessary to set up conditions and internal regulations for it to work.”
Preconditions to serve as safeguards and to preserve the Dina spirit as specified in the explanatory memorandum of Law No. 2001-004 of October 25, 2001, on the general regulation of the Dina in matters of public security, states in its grounds: “(…) the supporters maintain that the Dina is the best way to revive the efficiency of the traditional organization of social life, the most democratic method of empowering the rural population, especially in the area of public security, and more particularly in the fight against cattle rustling. Moreover, it is difficult to provoke a brutal disruption of practices and traditions, such as the Dina, which have been anchored for a long time in the population’ daily life and which are in conformity with the principles of democracy, especially since the laws currently in force recognize their value (…) Therefore, the legitimacy of the Dina’s maintenance must be considered just and licit.”
Betroka: hundreds of people are looting villages in the name of an unknown dina
Beyond Ihorombe’s borders, in other areas of the southern part of the island, Dina enforcement is also uncertain. In the Betroka district, groups of several hundred people who claim to be affiliated with the local dina are attacking the population. They destroy and loot villages as they pass. In a month and a half, three similar incidents were recorded in the Jangany commune, on the edge of Ihosy, and in localities in the Betroka district.
The dina referred to by these groups is unknown to the population and has not been validated by the authorities. But the gendarmes are unable to repel the attackers. According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, these groups of people benefit from the protection of officials from the Betroka district and the Department of Justice. According to the source, “As far as we know, these high-ranking officials have stated that it is forbidden to arrest or punish these groups of people, in order to avoid bloodshed and clashes with the forces of order. Gendarmes have been deployed to localities where these criminals are active, but these forces of law and order are not taking action. We do not know if they are in complicity with these groups of people or if they have been ordered not to intervene and are thus obeying the authorities at the district or judicial level.”
These perpetrators, who claim to be affiliated with the Dinan’i Betroka, had already formed plans to invade the Ihorombe and Atsimo Andrefana regions. Fortunately, the local authorities reacted quickly to thwart their progression. The forces of law and order, the judicial authorities, and State representatives and the Mixed Design Operation (OMC) also met to decide what measures to take. “We have issued warnings,” a senior officer of the National Gendarmerie of Ihorombe explained, requesting anonymity. We were not received by Colonel Ramaminirina Solofoniaina, Commander of the Ihorombe National Gendarmerie group, to collect more information.
The viewpoint of Rakotomahanina Andrianiaina Franklin James, collaborating magistrate with the Ministry of Justice’s Direction of Programs and Resources, adds explanations that, in the context of the assault on southern localities by these groups of people, sheds another light on the dina: “The establishment of a Dina at the regional level is a sign that the central State is vulnerable. It means that certain laws cannot affect certain areas of Madagascar or that the strategy for managing the affairs of the State and its departments within the regions has failed.”
Both Lemambison Zedler, Ivohibe mayor, and Manambelo Adolph, Ranotsara Avaratra mayor, are dina chiefs in this region of Ihorombe. They are well positioned to observe the movements around the application of this collective agreement, and they have observed violations of this traditional regulation. The first source of corruption is the charging of the “vonodina”. This is the fine the person found guilty by the dina committee must pay. “This share taken from the “vonodina” is supposed to be used as a source of income, but is sometimes embezzled,” explains Ivohibe Mayor Lemanambison Zedler. As a result, some people who are supposed to be the leaders and first people in charge of the collective agreement are suddenly getting richer, taking advantage of the share taken from the “vonodina”.
While they jointly confirm that cases of corruption linked to dina application exist, these two elected officials from Ivohibe and Ranotsara Avaratra say they themselves are outside this corrupt circuit. On the other hand, they point the finger at officials and State agents for being behind this vicious circle of corruption around the dina. “We will not mention names, but several areas and personalities are involved; the judiciary, law enforcement officers, politicians, and even within the dina, some of us are advancing against the collective agreement.”
The Ihorombe lonaka are concerned about the future of the collective agreement in their region
But why does the dina raise so much interest? Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia, the public prosecutor of the Court of First Instance of Ihosy, capital of the Ihorombe region, explains: “There is abuse of power, corruption because of very private benefits” that some people protect in this region. The manipulation is such that the very principle of the collective agreement is being abused. The prosecutor is indignant: “We have seen situations where a case is presented at the dina level, without the owner of the stolen zebus receiving his share of the fine paid by the culprit. Dina leaders dare to tell the owner that he will get his share in the next round. This is illegal and goes against the spirit of the dina. This is unacceptable and is potentially a source of offenses in the eyes of the law, a source of disorder within communities, instead of bringing harmony.”
In the rural communes, the dina’s presence helps to calm conflicts: “In our area, I can say that the existence of a dina is beneficial. This convention helps us to maintain order. When the commune is at peace, the farmers can work in tranquility,” the Mayor of Ivohibe, Lemanambison Zedler, observed. “The dina bring order, security, as long as the rules are set,” confirms Ranotsara Avaratra’s mayor. For the deputy elected in Ivohibe, Randrianarison Temis Tocles, if the dina is important in rural areas, “its application must be monitored. Some politicians use it as a means to make money”.
A State within the State ?
Besides taking the fine and/or the recovered zebus, some adherents of the dina establish a real dictatorship. “In several cases, we have seen dina executors refuse to be subject to the law in force. They think that if the dina has been approved and validated by the justice and the different authorities, they are free to act as they please, without having to respect the law. This is unacceptable,” the Republic Prosecutor, Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia, said. Findings that motivated her decision to suspend the Dinan’Ihorombe in 2017.
Since the dina at the regional level has been suspended, each locality is organizing itself to set up a regulation according to the scale of their fokontany, as Lemanambison Zedler, mayor of Ivohibe commune, explains: “Each fokontany within the commune is working on setting up its own dina. They are currently in the midst of consultations to develop this dina, which will then be presented to the authorities as soon as the document is ready.”
Despite the official suspension of the regional dina and the fact that the dina in the fokontany are being developed, some dina committee leaders are continuing to act. For example, a family in Iakora complained that they had been ordered to pay MGA 7 million to the dina officials, according to their testimony. The father of the family was accused by the dina of being a dahalo and of illegally possessing weapons. The sister of the accused testified: “The leaders of the dina led by Begogo’s mayor, Soja Raymond, gathered the population in the middle of the village of Iakora. They made a long speech about my brother. They threatened to decapitate him. They demanded a huge sum from us, which we gave because we were afraid. They were outnumbered.” The father of the family accused by the dina says he filed a complaint with the justice and the gendarmerie, but his approach would have remained fruitless.
Public servants are being pointed at
Civil servants are not immune to criticism and suspicions of corruption. In the case of Dinan’Ihorombe, the traditional community of elders accuses the local authorities and State servants of being at the origin of this collective agreement’s degradation. The lonaky, the elders, whom we met are unanimous: the involvement of the forces of law and order and the Justice officials has become a problematic interference. Monja, a Lonaky from Andriambe, Ivohibe, confides: “There are gendarmes, and messengers within the Justice Department, and even judges, who mess up the initial organization of the dina, in order to find a way to squeeze out benefits. These people are setting the inhabitants against each other, or the leaders of the dina against each other. They make backroom deals with people who have been found guilty by the convention. The agents of the Department of Justice, who act as intermediaries, incite these people indicted by the dina to rebel. So much so that the case is transformed into a trial against the dina or against the leaders of the dina”.
THESE PEOPLE ARE SETTING THE INHABITANTS AGAINST EACH OTHER, OR THE LEADERS OF THE DINA AGAINST EACH OTHER.
Monja, a Lonaky from Andriambe, Ivohibe
In the context of applying the dina, the law condemns any form of remuneration, payment or gift in kind for administrative and judicial authorities, elected representatives and law enforcement officers. The penalty is two to ten years imprisonment or a maximum fine of MGA 300,000.
Cover photo source :
n Ihorombe, the regional dina (collective convention) has been suspended. And for good reason, the collective agreement was trapped by multiple abuses of power. Corruption and nepotism have destroyed the spirit of the dina.
By Riana Raymond, translated by Litera.
In Ihorombe, the regional dina (collective convention) has been suspended. And for good reason, the collective agreement was trapped by multiple abuses of power. Corruption and nepotism have destroyed the spirit of the dina.
Tsierene, a lonaky (a wiseman, a dean) from Ranotsara Avaratra, in the Iakora district, confirms Monja’s statements, and emphasizes an important aspect of the dina: understanding the cultural aspect. “Indeed, some officials use the dina to enrich themselves. There is certainly corruption, but also abuse of power by the representatives of the authorities and officials. But most of the time, they have no idea of the local context, do not understand our culture and traditional society, and are blowing up our whole organization. This only serves to aggravate insecurity. The high authority’s interference only cultivates a vindictive spirit among the population.”
WE MUST PRESERVE THE DINA FROM ANY DICTATORSHIP AND ANY IMPUNITY, EVEN FROM ANY UNDERMINING OF THE STATE’ AUTHORITY
Public Prosecutor Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia
In Ihorombe, the Public Prosecutor Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia is not as categorical as to the existence of a network of corruption within the judiciary and the administration: “I cannot be as affirmative as to the existence or not of facts of corruption. But I have observed the way the dina is applied. I cannot accept the deviations in this application. We must preserve the dina from any dictatorship and any impunity, even from any undermining of the State’ authority.”
An internal regulation in the framework of the dina
But while the Ihorombe dina is still suspended today, debates continue as to the most effective and healthy way to re-establish it. Local actors are unanimous about the usefulness of the dina for Ihorombe, if the convention is applied intelligently and with respect for the law. The idea of a common settlement based on community consultation, without interference or imposition by higher authorities, is circulating among the actors in Ihorombe. In fact, this is the principle of the dina: an initiative belonging to the Fokonolona and its representatives. Elder Monja, together with the mayors of Ivohibe and Iakora, Lemanambison Zedler and Manambelo Dolph, explains: “In this way, the implementation of the dina is simpler and we escape the various interpretations of the content when the time comes to apply the convention.”
A concept shared by the public Prosecutor, who adds, however, the requirement of an internal regulation so that the actors can mutually set boundaries. “When you consider it, the dina is the only collective structure that does not have internal regulations”, she underlines. “But in red zones, as is actually the case in Ihorombe, the dina can be salutary. But it will be necessary to set up conditions and internal regulations for it to work.”
Preconditions to serve as safeguards and to preserve the Dina spirit as specified in the explanatory memorandum of Law No. 2001-004 of October 25, 2001, on the general regulation of the Dina in matters of public security, states in its grounds: “(…) the supporters maintain that the Dina is the best way to revive the efficiency of the traditional organization of social life, the most democratic method of empowering the rural population, especially in the area of public security, and more particularly in the fight against cattle rustling. Moreover, it is difficult to provoke a brutal disruption of practices and traditions, such as the Dina, which have been anchored for a long time in the population’ daily life and which are in conformity with the principles of democracy, especially since the laws currently in force recognize their value (…) Therefore, the legitimacy of the Dina’s maintenance must be considered just and licit.”
Betroka: hundreds of people are looting villages in the name of an unknown dina
Beyond Ihorombe’s borders, in other areas of the southern part of the island, Dina enforcement is also uncertain. In the Betroka district, groups of several hundred people who claim to be affiliated with the local dina are attacking the population. They destroy and loot villages as they pass. In a month and a half, three similar incidents were recorded in the Jangany commune, on the edge of Ihosy, and in localities in the Betroka district.
The dina referred to by these groups is unknown to the population and has not been validated by the authorities. But the gendarmes are unable to repel the attackers. According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, these groups of people benefit from the protection of officials from the Betroka district and the Department of Justice. According to the source, “As far as we know, these high-ranking officials have stated that it is forbidden to arrest or punish these groups of people, in order to avoid bloodshed and clashes with the forces of order. Gendarmes have been deployed to localities where these criminals are active, but these forces of law and order are not taking action. We do not know if they are in complicity with these groups of people or if they have been ordered not to intervene and are thus obeying the authorities at the district or judicial level.”
These perpetrators, who claim to be affiliated with the Dinan’i Betroka, had already formed plans to invade the Ihorombe and Atsimo Andrefana regions. Fortunately, the local authorities reacted quickly to thwart their progression. The forces of law and order, the judicial authorities, and State representatives and the Mixed Design Operation (OMC) also met to decide what measures to take. “We have issued warnings,” a senior officer of the National Gendarmerie of Ihorombe explained, requesting anonymity. We were not received by Colonel Ramaminirina Solofoniaina, Commander of the Ihorombe National Gendarmerie group, to collect more information.
The viewpoint of Rakotomahanina Andrianiaina Franklin James, collaborating magistrate with the Ministry of Justice’s Direction of Programs and Resources, adds explanations that, in the context of the assault on southern localities by these groups of people, sheds another light on the dina: “The establishment of a Dina at the regional level is a sign that the central State is vulnerable. It means that certain laws cannot affect certain areas of Madagascar or that the strategy for managing the affairs of the State and its departments within the regions has failed.”
Both Lemambison Zedler, Ivohibe mayor, and Manambelo Adolph, Ranotsara Avaratra mayor, are dina chiefs in this region of Ihorombe. They are well positioned to observe the movements around the application of this collective agreement, and they have observed violations of this traditional regulation. The first source of corruption is the charging of the “vonodina”. This is the fine the person found guilty by the dina committee must pay. “This share taken from the “vonodina” is supposed to be used as a source of income, but is sometimes embezzled,” explains Ivohibe Mayor Lemanambison Zedler. As a result, some people who are supposed to be the leaders and first people in charge of the collective agreement are suddenly getting richer, taking advantage of the share taken from the “vonodina”.
While they jointly confirm that cases of corruption linked to dina application exist, these two elected officials from Ivohibe and Ranotsara Avaratra say they themselves are outside this corrupt circuit. On the other hand, they point the finger at officials and State agents for being behind this vicious circle of corruption around the dina. “We will not mention names, but several areas and personalities are involved; the judiciary, law enforcement officers, politicians, and even within the dina, some of us are advancing against the collective agreement.”
The Ihorombe lonaka are concerned about the future of the collective agreement in their region
But why does the dina raise so much interest? Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia, the public prosecutor of the Court of First Instance of Ihosy, capital of the Ihorombe region, explains: “There is abuse of power, corruption because of very private benefits” that some people protect in this region. The manipulation is such that the very principle of the collective agreement is being abused. The prosecutor is indignant: “We have seen situations where a case is presented at the dina level, without the owner of the stolen zebus receiving his share of the fine paid by the culprit. Dina leaders dare to tell the owner that he will get his share in the next round. This is illegal and goes against the spirit of the dina. This is unacceptable and is potentially a source of offenses in the eyes of the law, a source of disorder within communities, instead of bringing harmony.”
In the rural communes, the dina’s presence helps to calm conflicts: “In our area, I can say that the existence of a dina is beneficial. This convention helps us to maintain order. When the commune is at peace, the farmers can work in tranquility,” the Mayor of Ivohibe, Lemanambison Zedler, observed. “The dina bring order, security, as long as the rules are set,” confirms Ranotsara Avaratra’s mayor. For the deputy elected in Ivohibe, Randrianarison Temis Tocles, if the dina is important in rural areas, “its application must be monitored. Some politicians use it as a means to make money”.
A State within the State ?
Besides taking the fine and/or the recovered zebus, some adherents of the dina establish a real dictatorship. “In several cases, we have seen dina executors refuse to be subject to the law in force. They think that if the dina has been approved and validated by the justice and the different authorities, they are free to act as they please, without having to respect the law. This is unacceptable,” the Republic Prosecutor, Rabenindrainy Tinah Sylvia, said. Findings that motivated her decision to suspend the Dinan’Ihorombe in 2017.
Since the dina at the regional level has been suspended, each locality is organizing itself to set up a regulation according to the scale of their fokontany, as Lemanambison Zedler, mayor of Ivohibe commune, explains: “Each fokontany within the commune is working on setting up its own dina. They are currently in the midst of consultations to develop this dina, which will then be presented to the authorities as soon as the document is ready.”
Despite the official suspension of the regional dina and the fact that the dina in the fokontany are being developed, some dina committee leaders are continuing to act. For example, a family in Iakora complained that they had been ordered to pay MGA 7 million to the dina officials, according to their testimony. The father of the family was accused by the dina of being a dahalo and of illegally possessing weapons. The sister of the accused testified: “The leaders of the dina led by Begogo’s mayor, Soja Raymond, gathered the population in the middle of the village of Iakora. They made a long speech about my brother. They threatened to decapitate him. They demanded a huge sum from us, which we gave because we were afraid. They were outnumbered.” The father of the family accused by the dina says he filed a complaint with the justice and the gendarmerie, but his approach would have remained fruitless.
Public servants are being pointed at
Civil servants are not immune to criticism and suspicions of corruption. In the case of Dinan’Ihorombe, the traditional community of elders accuses the local authorities and State servants of being at the origin of this collective agreement’s degradation. The lonaky, the elders, whom we met are unanimous: the involvement of the forces of law and order and the Justice officials has become a problematic interference. Monja, a Lonaky from Andriambe, Ivohibe, confides: “There are gendarmes, and messengers within the Justice Department, and even judges, who mess up the initial organization of the dina, in order to find a way to squeeze out benefits. These people are setting the inhabitants against each other, or the leaders of the dina against each other. They make backroom deals with people who have been found guilty by the convention. The agents of the Department of Justice, who act as intermediaries, incite these people indicted by the dina to rebel. So much so that the case is transformed into a trial against the dina or against the leaders of the dina”.
THESE PEOPLE ARE SETTING THE INHABITANTS AGAINST EACH OTHER, OR THE LEADERS OF THE DINA AGAINST EACH OTHER.
Monja, a Lonaky from Andriambe, Ivohibe
In the context of applying the dina, the law condemns any form of remuneration, payment or gift in kind for administrative and judicial authorities, elected representatives and law enforcement officers. The penalty is two to ten years imprisonment or a maximum fine of MGA 300,000.
Cover photo source : https://www.gasigasy.mg/
