Umunna

Umunna (Mwo term meaning familyhood) is a Majulan conception of statehood and form of socio-political, economic and cultural organisation. Having roots in the indigenous republican and democratic institutions of the various pre-colonial states and village-federations that inhabited the continent, Umunna distinguishes itself from monarchy in that power is not passed down by hereditary lineage and from Asuran republicanism by its strong emphasis on political decentralization down to the municipal level within a federal framework, subsidiarity and direct democracy for local issues, popular control over elected representatives through recall, reciprocity, directorialism, communalism, and collective ownership, management and distribution of resources.

The political system first emerged in the late 19th century and associated with the early far-left factions of the Rally for Majulan Independence and the writings of the faction's most prominent leader, Chukwuemeka Obibuzor, a pan-Majulan nationalist and political theorist. His ideas where soon adopted by the Revolutionary Liberation Front in Odo where it became the country's presiding political system following independence. Today the political system is often associated with Majulan Socialism and the larger post-colonial indigenisation movement. Given its emphasis on decentralized collective authority and self-management Umunna as often been characterized as Libertarian socialist, but has also been compared to third way or even third positionism due to its emphasis on culture and nationalist tendencies, generally incorporating ideas from across the political spectrum.

History

Pre-colonial era

Umunna as a mode of political organisation can largely trace its origin to the Bara political system which largely came to dominate most of Western and Southern Majula as far back as the 15th century BCE. The Bara political model differed from the Asuro-Cataian concept of states as territorially-defined entities with extensive bureaucratic bodies in its emphasis on decentralization, mutual aid and interlocking centres of authority. A typical Bara consisted of a central city-state that indirectly exercises power over de facto sovereign villages, smaller towns and other surrounding settlements, often through tribute and recognized religious authority. The Bara commonly formed interlocking associations based largely on reciprocity and mutual exchange, closely resembling confederations, which in-turn often intersected with each other as it wasn't uncommon for individual Baras to be a member of two or more associations.

Baras were often ruled by a council of elders composed of familial clan leaders known as Ofos, headed by an appointed Oba, who in theory had absolute power, but in practice their power was heavily muted and kept in check through two institutions; the priestly assemblies and popular gatherings. Every Bara had an priestly council usually composed of internally-appointed old men of the priestly caste and organised frequent general gatherings where all males of age were given a voice in decision-making and were often overseen by the elder council. Baras sent sent appointed Ofos with popular approval to represent them in larger regional assemblies. While Majulan states became increasingly more centralized, much of the Bara political structure still remained intact. The Sosso dynasty kept the practice of local direct democracy and elected regionally assemblies and largely delegated much of its administrative power to local political entities that made up the empire.

Government structure

Decentralization and Majulan Federalism

One of Umunna's most defining aspects is the concept of "Majulan Federalism" which is in turn rooted in the idea of subsidiarity ― the principle that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most local level with the central government largely serving as a supplementary and regulatory role when it comes to domestic affairs. The delegation of authority away from seats of power to local autonomous rulers were commonplace in pre-colonial Majulan polities such as the Sosso Empire due to the immense ethno-cultural diversity in the region and sought to use this model of devolution as a means of reducing sectarianism. Most Umunna-states maintain a strict, constitutionally enshrined separation of authority between the federal government and subdivisions, with the former usually being heavily restricted to affairs that are distinctly national concerns such as foreign relations, declarations of war, defense and coordinating inter-regional initiatives with local divisions handling domestic affairs such as policing, healthcare and education. Umunna-states typically also maintain several layers of administration depending on the size of the state in question. Majulan Federalism is often contrasted with confederalism in that the central government maintains legal supremacy over individual subdivision on issues within its legal jurisdiction, and exercises its powers within this jurisdiction in a sovereign manner, maintaining separate executive, judicial and legislative authorities. Umunna-states are considered to be closer to supranational associations than states due to these qualities.

Delegated power and direct democracy

Umunna-states place heavy emphasis on democratic institutions. Due to the practice of subsidiarity municipal governments have far more autonomy over their domestic affairs and almost always maintain some variant of direct democracy. Rural municipal governments and villages typically use popular assemblies that meet on biweekly basis to deliberate on issues, usually with a council of democratically elected officials overseeing the process and serving as an administrative/commissioning role, while in more heavily populated municipalities and urban areas democratic councils take the form of citizens' assemblies and play a much greater role in dictating policy, however, local inhabitants still maintain a degree of control over them through petitions for recall elections, referenda and popular initiatives. Both models have their origins in traditional forms of village governance which existed in the pre-colonial and transitional era whereas village elders, while de jure having absolute control over local affairs, still held frequent meetings with all free male inhabitants of age to deliberate on issues. Municipal councils nominate delegates to represent themselves in regional and state legislative bodies and are subject to recall. Referenda and popular initiatives can still be executed on the national level, but require a set percentage of the population (often between 0.8 to 2%) to petition for one, and are usually limited to constitutional amendments.

Collective authority

Due to Majula's ethno-cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, directorialism and consociationalism are a major component of Umunna. Typically, most Umunna-states maintain an "executive council" composed of members of the cabinet and elected representatives from the highest subdivisions. Often times this council forms the executive change with each member hold an equal status with one another, with a prime minister that is largely primus inter pares. The executive council holds equal powers with the legislative branch invoking a dualistic separation of powers.

Legal system

The Bara judicial system was highly community-centred, nonadversarial and placed heavier emphasis on reconciliation. At its center were the elder councils which worked in tandem with the local inhabitants and the clan leaders of the accuser and accused to reach a resolution. Under modern Umunna the judiciary is similarly highly decentralized, incorporates some degree of public participation im the judicial process and geared towards restorative justice and rehabilitation. Municipal courts are composed of elected judges known as Elders who are trained legal professionals, a jury composed of randomly selected individuals and volunteers trained in conciliation, arbitration and mediation who conduct trials. Trained volunteers serve as a cost effective, community-oriented alternative to Asurovestric-style lawyers and place heavier focus on cooperation and reconciliation between both parties in place of the more competitive and adversarial system found in the Global North. Capital crimes like rape and more complex legal issues are processed in a western-style court. Each municipality typical has at least one court capable of processing such matters as well as functioning as a court of appeal. Above there are courts for each subsequent subdivision. Umunna-states maintain constitutional courts separate from national supreme courts which handle constitutional issues.

Economic system

Umunna has historically always held communitarian values and the philosophy of Ubuntu at the core of its economic system. In many pre-colonial states, especially those that could trace its origins to the Bara political system, land was held in common and sometimes distributed among individual clans and based on ownership-by-use and harvests were usually kept in communal storage-houses. It was common for Baras to freely provide goods to other Baras to become indebted to them and resources to be given on the basis of mutual aid and reciprocity. Most modern-day Umunna economies are often characterized as socialist and considered as a form of cooperative-driven distributed planned economy.

Under the Umunna economic model, private property is abolished in favour of cooperative ownership with individual firms organised along democratic lines and align themselves with their municipal governments whilst still being self-managed. All local firms form industry-specific worker associations which in turn send re-callable delegates to their respective municipal labour councils, which comprise of all local associations from all industries active in the area, and collectively negotiate and manage the local economy alongside the municipally-owned, communally-managed consumer cooperatives for sectors such as local finance, retailing, land management, healthcare and housing. These municipal councils would in-turn send multiple delegates to regional coordinative councils which manage all the inter-municipal economic activity of the municipalities that comprise of the region. Regional councils in-turn elect delegates to a national coordinative assembly.

Criticism

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