Gadaa System Pdf

[Bartolome Beacham]

Gadaa[1] (Oromo: Gadaa; literally: era) is the indigenous democratic system of governance used by the Oromos in Ethiopia and northern Kenya.[1] 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.[1][2][3]

The Gada system has been inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2016.[10] It is the brainchild of Oromo from the Madda Walabu district of Oromia.[11][12] Oromo people regarded the system as their common heritage and as a major part of their cultural identity.[13] It is the system with which the Oromo people have been governing themselves in a democratic way for centuries.[14][15]

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 Ethiopian Empire to their north and Adal Sultanate to their east and south. The result was that Oromo absorbed of the Christian and Islam religions. The Borana and Guji groups near the Ethiopian-Kenyan border were able to practice Gadaa without interruption. In the state of Oromia under the Federal system of Ethiopia, the Gadaa system started a renaissance across Oromia. In 2015, the Gadaa Center at Odaa Bultum was inaugurated and in 2018, the Gadaa Center at Odaa Hullee reinstalled after two centuries of interruption.[16][17] In 2019, Bule Hora University launched a master's degree program in Gadaa studies.[18]

The Gadaa society was structured into peer groups based on chronological age or genealogical generation called Luba. Each luba consists of all of the sons in another particular class. The entire grade progresses through eleven different grades, each based on an eight-year cycle, and each with its own set of rights and responsibilities.[19]

There are five Gadaa parties known as shanan Gadaa Oromoo. These parties follow the five world views of the Oromo people. The five Gadaa parties orderly come to power. A party come to power once every forty years. Hence, there would not be direct competition among the five Gadaa parties, rather the competition would be among individuals within a party. The five Gadaa parties have different names among Boorana, Maccaa-Tuulama, Arsii, Gujii and Ituu-Humbannaa.[21][22]

A number of scholars have studied Gadaa. Legesse[23] has written that Gadaa is "one of the most astonishing and instructive turns the evolution of human society has taken". In addition to his Harvard PhD dissertation, Legesse has published a book[24] positioning Gadaa as an African democracy that could inform constitutional thinkers. The late Donald Levine has said[25] that Gadaa is "one of the most complex systems of social organization ever devised by the human imagination". For Jalata, Gadaa represents "the totality of Oromo civilization".

Primarily, Gadaa system is an ancient philosophy of socio-political system that responsible for regulating Political stability, Economic growth, social services, Cultural commitments, Ethical contract of the religious order of the Oromo society and practice Gadaa Democracy that require equal participation of both male and female. Still academically debatable as Oromo women have no influences throughout the age of Gadaa decree or clan leadership structure but the wife of designated Abbaa Gadaa is equitably treated like the Abbaa Gadaa himself.[26] Siinqee feminist represent women in the Gadaa system.[27]

Considering the symbolic significance of Gadaa for the Oromo, as well as its structural innovations, researchers in law, indigenous studies, and pan-Africanism are exploring how the system could be utilized in the 21st century. For example, a thesis by Z. Sirna[28] entitled "Ethiopia: When the Gadaa Democracy Rules in a Federal State" explores how the system could be integrated with the contemporary federal structure of Ethiopia, serving as a governance mechanism for the Oromia Regional National State. Sirna has analyzed the Gadaa system in relation to deliberative forms of political participation used in Western contexts. He concludes that the Gadaa systems' technique of 'consensus through dialogue' is unique but firmly rooted in Western democratic norms, and thus well suited to adoption within Ethiopia's federally structured democracy.[29]A political party known as GSAP (Gadaa System Advancement Party) bases its ideology on the principles of Gadaa. A futuristic, governance 2.0 project called BitGadaa[30] draws inspiration from the principles and structure of Gadaa.

In this world, where power relations are unjustly constructed and perpetuated through discursive mystification and epistemic violence, scholars must engage in demystification and counteractive epistemology. This essay provides a cursory glance into these questions: What is the Gadaa System? Why is it significant today? How does the institution promote accountability?

Historically, the Gadaa System was central to the political, social, cultural, and economic life of the Oromo people. After their incorporation into the current territory of Ethiopia in the late 19th century, all practices related to the Gadaa System were banned and were no longer permitted to openly govern the people. This, of course, led to the decline in practical significance of the institution. However, it has remained a core symbol of identity and collective memory among the people. Despite external pressures, the Oromo people have maintained the cultural viability of the Gadaa System in some parts of Oromia, most notably in southern Ethiopia. Even when and where it was not practiced, it served as a potent source of inspiration and mobilization in the over-half a century of struggle for restorative justice, self-rule, and democracy.

Despite external pressures, the Oromo people have maintained the cultural viability of the Gadaa System in some parts of Oromia, most notably in southern Ethiopia. Even when and where it was not practiced, it served as a potent source of inspiration and mobilization in the over-half a century of struggle for restorative justice, self-rule, and democracy.

Current developments have inspired rethinking and debate around the possibility and implications of wider application of the Gadaa principles to modern polity. These debates often evoke the values and principles of the Gadaa System, including egalitarian principles; broad-based participation and intergenerational equity; age-sets based, structured way of training and preparation for leadership roles in the society; and accountability structures and functions, which are promoted through the non-hierarchical organization of the society.

In an organizational chart, Legesse (2000, 108) places Gumii at the top of the structure, with ultimate decision-making power, and juxtaposes Gadaa and Qaalluu at the same level but with different duties and responsibilities. The Abbaa Gadaa (the Gadaa Leader) cannot stay in power for more than eight years, and political power is transferred democratically and peacefully, through elections. While the office of Gadaa is held through elections and has a fixed term limit of eight years, that of the Qaalluu is hereditary and has no term limit. The two institutions signify the separation of political and ritual domains. Qaalluus are involved in elections for political office, but they cannot hold such an office. While the Gadaa leaders are engaged in making decisions (mura), the ritual leaders are engaged in ritual practices, such as blessings (eebba).

This article challenges the widespread image and a generic representation of Africa as outlandish to democracy. It has critiqued the portrayal of the African people as living in a continent new to democracy and argued, using the Gadaa System of the Oromo people as an example, that there are possibly many societies that had lived in a land of democracy through their ancestors. In this context, it is important to understand ongoing struggle of the Oromo people and the resurgent Oromo nationalism (subboonummaa Oromoo) in Ethiopia as a way or reclaiming their own democratic institution of self-governance, not just as a longing for Western liberal democracy.

The historical and contemporary significance of the Gadaa System has been discussed as well. One of its many values is its accountability structure and function. The various components of the governing structure create checks and balances as in modern democracy. This serves the purpose of holding leaders accountable to public interest. A similarly remarkable accountability value of the institution is that it gives authority to the General Assembly to remove Gadaa leaders if found unfit for leadership.

[3] Asmarom Legesse is an Emeritus Professor of Harvard University. He was awarded honorary doctorate degree by Addis Ababa University in 2018 for his magnificent contribution to the study the Gadaa system. This news is available at: -confers-honorary-degree-up-on-professor-asmerom-legesse/

[5] I have rewritten the Oromo names for the classification according to the linguistic principle of Qubee Afaan Oromoo. I made the necessary corrections of spellings even when I use direct quotations.

Bulcha, M. (2016). Contours of the emergent & ancient Oromo nation: Dilemmas in the Ethiopian politics of state and nation-building. Mlardalen: Mlardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.

Gutu Olana Wayessa is a researcher in Global Development Studies, at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Previously, he served as a lecturer (2019-2020) and a postdoctoral researcher (2016-2019) at the University of Helsinki, as well as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg (2014-2016). In 2019, he was a visiting research scholar at the American University, Washington DC, USA. He received a PhD in Social Sciences (major in Development Studies) from the University of Helsinki.

The Gadaa system is an indigenous egalitarian democratic system that has been practiced among the Oromo nation of East Africa for the last five hundred years.[1] Among other structural elements of the Gadaa system is its legislative body commonly known as Gadaa General Assembly. Gadaa is a holistic system of governance encompassing the political, social, cultural, economic and religious affairs of the Oromo people in Ethiopia.[2] As a system of governance, the Gadaa operates in stages (often ten stages with eight years separation).[3]

c80f0f1006