BAHIR DAR INSTITUTE

OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER
SCIENCE
SECTION “B”
SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY GROUP
ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO: ABREHAM

FENTAHUN
SUBMISSION DATE- 9/05/2013
GROUP MEMBERS ID
1.Mahlet Yimenu 1208964
2.Hailemariam Yaregal 1208709
3.Fitsum Seid 1208664
4.Habtamu Kassahun 1208698
5.Bahren Alkadir 1208897
6.Fentanesh Kassahun 1208651
7.Brhan Ayalew 1208906
THE OROMO
GADAA
Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................1
What Is Oromo Gadaa?..................................................................................2
Origins and Development..............................................................................3
Main Features of the Gadaa System..............................................................3
How Gadaa Works..........................................................................................5
 Procedures in General...............................................................................6
The essence and main characteristics of Gadaa............................................7
Grades of Gadaa...........................................................................................8
Women and the Gadaa System...................................................................10
Regional and global challenges....................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................14
Introduction
The Oromo people are the largest of about 80 ethnonational groups in

Ethiopia today. The Oromo population is estimated at 40 million of the 80 million

people living in Ethiopia. Although they are the largest population group, they are a

political minority because, along with all but two of the ethnonational groups, they have

been colonial subjects within the Ethiopian Empire since the last decades of the 19th

century. The conquered peoples lack genuine political representation; they have been

ruled by the successive regimes of t he Amh ar a- T ig r ay (Ab yssin ian ) e t h n o-

national groups that have been supported by Western power. Before the conquest of

their land and their subjugation, the Oromo people were organized both culturally and

politically using the social institution of Gadaa/Siqqee to maintain their security and

sovereignty. Although Siqqee was a component of Gadaa and women were denied

formal leadership positions in politics, the military and religion, the latter could not

function without the full participation of women.

T h e h i s t o r i c a l l e g a c y o f O r o m o p o l i t i cal leadership is the sovereignty the

Oromo people experienced under the Siqqee/Gadaa government and its

egalitarian framework. Long before democracy and social equality were the norm in

Europe and North America, the design of Siqqee/Gadaa as a social and political

institution worked to prevent exploitation and political domination in Oromo

society.

Consequently, under the Siqqee/Gadaa sys tem, Oromo society enjoyed

relative peace, stability, sustainable prosperity and political sovereignty. Before

their colonization by the alliance of European imperialism and Ethiopian

Colonialism, the Oromo people were independent and organized both culturally

and politically using the Gadaa/Siqqee system to promote their wellbeing and to

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maintain their security and sovereignty. As Virginia Luling (1965) asserts, “from the

mid- sixteenth to the mid- nineteenth century the [Oromo] were dominant on them

own territories; no people of other cultures were in a position to exercise compulsion over

them”.

Gadaa has three interrelated meanings: it is the grade during which a class of people

assumes politico- ritual leadership, a period of eight years during which elected officials

take power from the previous ones, and the institution of Oromo.

What Is Oromo Gadaa?

Gadaa is the indigenous democratic system of governance used by the Oromos in

Ethiopia and northern Kenya. It is also practiced by the Konso and Gedeo people of

southern Ethiopia. The system regulates political, economic, social and religious

activities of the community.

Under Gadaa, every eight years, the Oromo would choose by consensus nine leaders

known as Salgan ya’ii Borana (the nine Borana assemblies). A leader elected by the

gadaa system remains in power only for 8 years, with an election taking place at the end

of those 8 years. Whenever an Abbaa Gadaa dies while exercising his functions, the

bokkuu (the symbol of power) passes to his wife and she keeps the bokkuu and
proclaims the laws.

The Oromo governed themselves in accordance with the Gadaa system long before the

16th century, when major three-party wars commenced between them and the Christian

kingdom to their north and Islamic sultanates to their east and south. The result is that

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Oromo absorbs of the Christian and Islam religions. The Borana and Guji groups near

the Ethiopian-Kenyan border able to practice Gadaa without interruption

Origins and Development

It is difficult to tell when exactly the Gadaa  system began since is seems as an intrinsic

element of the indigenous Oromo's everyday lives and not an 'institution'. However,

counting back the Gadaa leaders in power, now at its 71st Gadaa leader and multiplying

it by eight years, one can reasonably conclude it has been practiced since at least the

early 1400s. Moreover, gathering under a sycamore tree known as Odaa  is part of

traditional Oromo culture. Today, the sycamore tree is a symbolic representation of

dialogue and consensus, where the local community comes together to make new rules

and resolve disputes. Given the vastness of the Oromia (363,136 square kilometres) and

its population (50 million), assemblies take place in several places and assemblies are

named after the place of gatherings. For instance, among the Borana-Oromo it is known

as Gumi-gayo (Gumi  means assembly and  Gayo refers to a place of water well); among

the central Oromo it is called as Chaffe (meaning, assembly at the edge of prairie grass);

among the Guji-Oromo it is known as Yaa’ii Me’ee-Bokuu (Yaa ́ii  means multitude

and Me’ee-Boku refers to the place).

Main Features of the Gadaa System

Gadaa is an invaluable ancient civilization that the Oromo offered to the world as an
intangible cultural heritage. The concept Gadaa could refer to the whole system, the

eight-year period of government or the class in power. In this piece of writing, it refers

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to the whole system of governance that entails social, economic, political and religious

life of the society.

It is a complex system in which the Oromo were divided into age groups and enjoyed

rights and disposed duties and responsibilities. Duties and responsibilities in military,

political, legal and cultural affairs were placed on individuals of each Gadaa group from

childhood to adulthood known as miseensa or parties. Each miseensa had specific roles

and functions to perform in five stages of eight.

Although the Gadaa class in power held the administrative position, the responsibilities

to run social, religious and economic aspects of the society rested upon different

sections of the society. For instance, when the elected Gadaa leaders administered

justice, maintained law and order, the local councils followed Gadaa laws and practices

in the same way at grass root level. This nature of the Gadaa system provided the

Oromo with the mechanism for participation in public affairs or self-government. The

system was based on the rule of law (seera-tumaa caffee) and institutional checks and

balances that supported the removal of unfit or corrupt officials even before their term

expired.

In the Gadaa System the Oromo were able to participate in self-rule, elect their leaders

and change them every eight years, recall (buqqisu) those who fail to discharge

responsibilities, make laws through their representatives, settle disputes according to

the law and others. The Gadaa system of governance is also rich in institutions for

resource management, peace restoration and social integration that are worth in the

modern system of governance. These traditional institutions have been functional

among the Oromo groups who have retained their indigenous system of governance.

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Among the Booranaa of southern Ethiopia these traditional institutions essentially have

significant functions among the community. They have been administering themselves

according to the indigenous institutions of the Gadaa System. As a system of

government, it is based on elections, with democratic procedures, of a new leadership

after every eight years with smooth transition of power known as Baalii walirra fuudhuu

in afaan Oromo, meaning handing over the symbol of power. The system does not

accept the leadership of one person as is often done in monarchical institutions. Up-to-

date the Gadaa culture has more or less remained intact among the Booranaa (also

among the Gujii) as a traditional system capable of providing leadership, spiritual

guidance, structural organization and division of labor. During our recent fieldwork

among the Booranaa we have particularly observed that the Gadaa system has proven

its significance in the assignment of property rights, allocation of resources as well as in

the management, prevention and resolution of conflicts.

How Gadaa Works

The Gadaa system is an indigenous egalitarian democratic system practiced among the

Oromo nation. The Gadaa General Assembly takes place under a sycamore tree a

symbolic representation of dialogue and consensus.

A holistic system of governance, the Gadaa operates in stages (often ten stages with

eight years separation). Unlike other Western democratic systems, the Gadaa system has

five permanent political parties whose members assume leadership once every eight

years. Within forty years, all five parties serve their nation constituting 'One Gadaa'.

The power of the Gadaa general assembly is to exercise supreme legislative authority. Its

functions include (but are not limited to) reviewing laws at work, proclaiming new laws,

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impeaching the men in power, and settling major disputes that could not have been

resolved at the lower levels of its judicial organ(s). Any decision passed by the general

assembly is final and cannot be reversed by any other assembly.

Historically, the process of enacting laws by the general assembly across central Oromo

was quite different, especially before the mid-19th century. The process is dramatic,

beginning with the Gadaa leader climbing to the top of a large stone from which he

jumps down solemnly, shouting "serri bu'e" meaning “the law has fallen!” this

dramatization as “an expedient of infantile simplicity but by its nature it is basically to

make deep impression of the open imagination of the crowd." Hence it creates the

sense of imagining people without law, order and closure of government where an

offender goes unpunished and all other laws will be null and void. Following the

dramatic expression, the assembly reclaims the law by shouting “the law! The law! We

want the law!" Eventually, the president climbs up on the rock again and responds to the

swelling assembly stating "serri ba'e" meaning the law is raised! Following this event all

participants burst into joy.

Procedures in General

Among the Guji-Oromo, the adoption of any laws by the Gadaa general assembly

follows a strict procedure starting with the speaker (ex- Abba Gadaa) opening the

agenda for deliberation by all. Then, discussion on the proposed agenda takes place in a

traditional and orderly manner which privileges those with seniority. Following this, the

speaker of recounts the proposed agenda and the main points of discussion. Finally,

upon completion of the series of deliberations he asks: “would there be anything but

peace if we said `these are our laws'?" and the assembly responds unanimously.

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The speaker requires every assemblyman to take part in the Gadaa general assembly

calmly and actively engage in the deliberation. In the middle of the deliberations, he

intervenes to make sure that a topic is meant to be in the meeting for discussion rather

than debate. Above all, he holds that the assembly is not the place of showing one’s

talent of speech or a place to judge a speaker's mind but it is the place for seeking

solutions to societal problems. Hence, he seeks to balance the individual freedom of

expression on the one hand, and the orderly environment of deliberation on the other.

Following this, the speaker opens the space for all participants, in particular for

the Gadaa councillors, to deliberate on agendas encompassing environmental, social,

political, and cultural matters. Then, the next speaker says kophise! (meaning, the

chance is mine!). The person who says “kophise!” ahead of others is accorded the first

chance to speak. Each speaker is required to repeat the fundamental moral values

before proceeding to the discussion before voicing their opinion on the issue. When

finished, the speaker says toggise! (meaning, I am done!) and the next person who

wants to deliberate says qophise! and continues to speak. Each speaker may support or

oppose the view of their predecessor and, in doing so, the views of the minority are

eventually swallowed by the majority consensually.

The essence and main characteristics of Gadaa

Gadaa has four interrelated meanings:

1) Gadaa - the grade during which an age- based group of people move into politico-

ritual leadership.

2) Gadaa - a period of eight years during which elected official take power from the

previous ones.

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3) Siqqee - the institution by which women, who left their own families and

communities to live with their husbands’ families and communities, protected

themselves and each other from abuse and allowed women to control essential

economic assets within the sphere of the household; and

4) Gadaa - the institution of Oromo democracy.

The Gadaa system has the principles of checks and balances (such as periodic transfer of

power every eight years and division of power among executive, legislative and judiciary

branches), balanced opposition (among five gadaa grades) and power shar ing

between higher and lower administrative organs to prevent power from falling into

the hands of despots. Other principles of the system have included balanced

representation of all clans, lineages, regions and confederacies, the protection of

women from abuse, the protection of women’s economic resources, accountability

of leaders, the settlement of disputes through reconciliation and the respect for basic

rights and liberties.

Grades of Gadaa

There are five gadaa grades; each has different names in different parts of Oromia as

the result of the population expansion of the Oromo and their establishment of

different autonomous administrative systems. For example, in central Oromia, these five

grades are called itimakko, daballee, foollee, dorooma/qoondala and

luba.

Oromo males are involuntarily recruited to both age- sets and generation- sets or

gadaa grades. Male children join age- sets as newly born infants. Males born in the

same eight- year period belong to an age- set, but they enter into the luba class 40

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years after their fathers, and since one grade is eight years, fathers and sons are five

grades apart. Male children also join generation sets at birth, joining men or old

men who are considered to be members of their genealogical generations. In these

cross- cutting generation- sets, older men mentor young males in teaching rules and

rituals, but the former treat the latter as equals since there is no status

difference between the two groups in a gadaa class (or grades).

Between the third and fourth gadaa grades, boys become adolescent and initiated into

taking serious social responsibilities. The ruling group has responsibility to assign

senior leaders and experts to instruct and council these young men in the

importance of leadership, organization and warfare. Young men are also trained to

become junior warriors by taking

part in war campaigns and hunting large animals; they learn the practical skills of

warfare, military organization and fighting so that they can engage in battle to defend

their country and economic resources.

The Oromo have used age- sets for war because generation- sets “cannot be an

efficient means to mobilize troops, and a quite distinct organization based on closeness

of age … exists for that purpose”

The rule of law is the key element of the Gadaa system; those leaders who violated

the law of the land or whose families could not maintain the required standard of

the system were recalled before the end of their tenure in the office. Leaders

selected under Gadaa implemented the laws that were made by male

representatives of the people (though women undoubtedly had informal/indirect

influence).

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Oromo democracy has allowed the Oromo people through their

representatives to formulate change or amend laws and rules every eight years. The

Siqqee/Gadaa system accepted the Oromo people as the ultimate source of

authority and believed nobody were above the rule of law. Gadaa officials were

elected by established criteria by the people from the gondola grade and

received rigorous training in Oromo democratic philosophy and governance for eight

years before they entered the Luba grade (administrative grade); the main criteria

for election or selection to office included bravery, knowledge, honesty, demonstrated

ability to govern.

Women and the Gadaa System

The role of women in the Gadaa political power has created controversies among

scholars. Some argue that women were completely excluded from the Gadaa

system while others strongly indicate that the women held a significant position

particularly by referring to their institutions of Ateetee and Siinqee also spelt as

Siqqee. For instance, Qabbanee Waqayyo indicated that the influence and positions

of women in a democracy is a matter of the structure of the society but not a matter

of physiology. Kuwee Kumsa on the other hand,

employed historical study approach, focused on the Siinqee institution among the

Oromo in general. Consequently, she did not deny the interlocking units between

woman and man who comprise the entire society that attempt to understand the

one without the other or female without male is incomplete and distorted.

One area of controversy was the omission of women from holding political

power being an abbaa bokkuu or Abbaa Gadaa. The other point of exclusion was

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from attaining all Gadaa grades and age sets like males. It is often said that women

do not participate in proclaiming Gadaa laws nor in deciding cases. They are also

not allowed to attend the Gumii (gadaa Assembly). But regardless of such claims,

some credible sources indicate that some women among the Booranaa had attained

some Gadaa generations and age sets. Moreover, women can discuss important

issues with their husbands and the husbands consult with their wives to contribute

their opinions. That way Booranaa women have indirect participation in decision

making. Although women were not encouraged to compete for political power

among the Booranaa, there were instances that women kept, the Bokkuu (scepter)

the symbol of power. This usually happened when the husband dies before

completing his term of office (Abbaa Gadaa) of an Oromo assembly dies while

exercising his functions, the bokkuu passes to his wife and she keeps the bokkuu and

proclaims the laws.

The chairman is inviolable in his person; so long as he is in office, national or family

vengeance cannot touch him. However, this does not

indicate women did participate for candidacy of Abba Bokkuu like men. But they

have a special role and respect in the Gadaa system which governed the entire

society that safeguarded the values cherished by men and women, though they

rarely participated in the decision-making process. It is, however, significant to

underscore that Oromo women are determined to defend and reinstate the values

represented in the Gadaa equally with men.

Regional and global challenges

For the most part, the Gadaa/Siqqee system was suppressed by the alliance of

Ethiopian colonialism and global imperialism. Western powers, predominantly Great

Britain and the United States, have given external legitimacy to the Ethiopian state,

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which continues to engage in colonialism, state terrorism and the cul tural

destruction of indigenous peoples. Successive Ethiopian regimes used Christianity to

link themselves to Europe and North America in order to consolidate them power against

the colonized population groups, including the Oromo. In addition, between

1974 and 1991, the Mengistu regime utilized a “socialist” discourse to ally itself with

the former Soviet Bloc and to consolidate its state power. Currently, the Tigrayan- led

Ethiopian government uses a “democratic” discourse to make its rule acceptable in

the world and to obtain financial and military assistance from the West, particularly

the United States, while engaging in state terrorism.

Unfortunately, China currently plays a similar role in this empire. Since 1992, this

government has focused on attacking the Oromo national movement led by the OLF

and transferring Oromia’s economic resources to Tigrayan elites and the Tigrayan

region. The regime started its criminal actions by denying political space to the Oromo

people when it “closed more than 200 OLF campaign offices and imprisoned and killed

hundreds of OLF cadres and supporters ahead of the elections scheduled to take place

on 21 June 1992”.

Furthermore, the regime focuses on developing Tigray and its human p o t e n t i a l

p r i m a r i l y a t t h e c o s t o f O r o m i a and its population. In 1992,

the Meles regime claimed it was imprisoning 22,000 OLF members, supporters

and sympathizers in concentration camps at Didheesa in Wallaga, Agarfa in Bale,

Blate in Sidamo, and Hurso in Hararge. Credible sources estimated that between 45,000
and 50,000 Oromos were imprisoned in these concentration camps from 1992 to 1994

and 3,000 of them died from torture, malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria and other

diseases.

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This regime has banned independent Oromo organizations, including the OLF, and

declared war on the Oromo people. It even outlawed Oromo journalists and other

writers and closed d o w n O r o m o n e w s p a p e r s .

The regime also banned Oromo musical groups and all professional associations. It

primarily uses its puppet organization known as the Oromo People’s Democratic

Organization (OPDO) to terrorize, suppress and exploit the Oromo people. While

terrorizing millions of Oromos, the regime has established a political marriage of

convenience with the governments of Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan and some Somali

warlords in order to deny support and sanctuary to Oromo refugees and the Oromo

national movement while extending its terrorist activities in the Horn of Africa. This

terrorist regime maintains political repression, tight control of foreign aid and

domestic financial resources, and direct ownership and control of all aspects of its

militarized colonial state, including security and military institutions, and judiciary and

other public bodies.

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Conclusion

The democratic credentials of the Booranaa traditional institutions can be checked at

several levels. First and foremost, they are products of the Booranaa society and rooted

in the Oromo society i.e., not imposed by any one from anywhere. To put it differently,

they are not alien to the Oromo society as they are not imposed by any outside force.

Secondly, they have contained and enriched by the time-tested wisdom of the Booranaa

society over the generations for centuries.

Thirdly, the relationship of the elders with the ordinary folks within the larger Booranaa

community are defined and negotiated by tradition and not imposed by any superior

authority, including the formal government institutions.

Fourthly, decision-makers with the traditional sanctions influence people not force

people, earn respect from the larger community, and not impose themselves by the use

of force like the modern institutions. In fact, in their modus-operandi, they are generally

invited to solve societal problems by the consent of the parties in conflict rather than

intruding themselves into the private affairs of citizens.

Fifthly, if elections are said to be the central attributes of democracy, the Booranaa

Oromo elders are not hereditary as they are elected according to the basic tenets of the

Gadaa system. Above all they have been seen as legitimate institutions in the eyes of the
community and as such preserved by the free will of the community for centuries.

Despite their obvious limitations in areas of gender relations, in the

Ethiopian context they can be judged as more legitimate and democratic institutions

compared to their modern counter-parts.

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More importantly, as can be judged by our preceding discussions the traditional

institutions are preferred by the community on the following grounds:

1. They are better rooted in the society and are closer to the hearts and

minds of the people.

2. They are nearer to the society and the ordinary citizens can get services

without much hurdles, which also saves time and money.

3. Their focus is reform and rehabilitation of the wrong doers than

punishment of them.

4. Their conflict resolution mechanisms are more durable and thus create

more harmony and tranquility in the society.

5. As the local people are involved in most of the deliberations by their

own free will, they are more participatory and effective

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References

 The Gadaa System and Some of Its Institutions [2016]

 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 The Gadaa system of Oromo People [Participedia]
 The Oromo Gadaa/Siqqee Democracy [Researchget]
 Image Credit Wikipedia & Google Images

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