What happens when those responsibilities are violated
What happens when those responsibilities are violated
When a house fails to uphold the responsibilities tied to its authority, the authority does not automatically remain intact. Authority is conditional, not absolute. Violation triggers response.
1. Loss of moral standing
A house that violates its responsibilities loses legitimacy, even if it still claims the name or territory. People stop following. Witnesses remember. Trust erodes. The house may still exist, but its authority becomes contested.
2. Witnessed accountability
Violations are not private matters. They are witnessed and carried forward through:
- adaawk and house records
- public speech in feasts and gatherings
- inter-house memory and testimony
This public memory functions as enforcement. Nothing simply disappears.
3. Obligation to make things right
Violation creates debt. That debt may require:
- compensation
- restitution
- public acknowledgement
- restoration of balance
Refusal to address harm deepens the violation.
4. Intervention by other houses
When a house fails its duty, other houses may step in—not as conquest, but as guardians of balance. Authority can be checked, limited, or temporarily overridden when the well-being of the people, the land, or the law is at risk.
5. Removal or dormancy of authority
In severe or sustained violations, authority may be:
- withdrawn
- rendered dormant
- passed to others better able to uphold responsibility
Names do not protect misconduct. Titles do not shield failure.
6. Long memory (authority follows responsibility across generations)
The most serious consequence is that violations follow the name. Future holders inherit:
- the responsibility
- unfinished obligations
- the memory of failure
Time does not erase duty.
Core principle
Authority exists only as long as responsibility is honored. When responsibility is broken, authority must answer—or it ends.