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. 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 passes to his wife and she keeps the bokkuu and proclaims the laws.
Gada System has been inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible World Heritage since 2016. It is the brainchild of Oromo from the Madda Walabu woreda of Oromia. Oromo people regarded the system as their common heritage and as one of their major identity makers. It is the system with which the Oromo People have been governing themselves in a democratic way for centuries.
The Oromo governed themselves in accordance with 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 Oromo absorbs of the Christian and Islam religions. In 19th century, the Gadaa Center at Odaa Hullee was replaced by monarchy and at the end of the 19th century, Gadaa together with Oromo language was banned. The Borana and Guji groups near the Ethiopian-Kenyan border able to practice Gadaa without interruption. With the creation of the regional state of Oromia under the new system of ethnic federalism in Ethiopia, the Gadaa System across Oromia started renaissance. 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. In 2019, Bule Hora University launched Master program in the Gadaa studies.

Characteristic

Luba

Luba is the Gadaa grade in which the society was structured into the peer group based on chronological age or genealogical generation. 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.
DaballeJunior GaammeeFoolleeKuusaaRaabaa DooriiGadaaYuuba IYuuba II & IIIGadaamoojjiiJaarsa
Age0-89-1617-2425-3233-4041-4849-5657-64 & 65-7273-80>80
CharactersNo responsibilityStudentMilitary traineeMilitaryWarriorLeaderAdvisorRepositories of lawConducts RitesNo responsibliity

The grade passes from one stage of development to the next every eight years.

Baallii

Baallii is a process of transferring power from one Gadaa party to the next.

Gadaa Party ()

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.
BooranaMaccaa-TuulamaArsiiGujiiItuu-Humbannaa
Meelba / HarmufaaBirmajiiBirmajiiHarmufaHorata
Muudana / RoobaleeMichilee / MuudanaRoobaleeRoobaleeDibbaaqa
Kiilolee / BirmajiiDuuloo / HalchiisaBaharaMuudanaDibbeessa
Biifolee / MuldhataMeelbaa / HambissaaHorataHalchiisaFadata
Michilee / DuulooRoobaleeDaraara

Research

A number of scholars have studied Gadaa. Legesse 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 positioning Gadaa as an African democracy that could inform constitutional thinkers. The late Donald Levine has said 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".

Current status

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 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 analysed 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.
A political party known as GSAP bases its ideology on the principles of Gadaa. A futuristic, governance 2.0 project called BitGadaa draws inspiration from the principles and structure of Gadaa.

Criticisms

The sixteenth century expansion of the Oromo people has been known for capturing indigenous people and making them Oromo, also known as 'Ofitti makuu'. Part of the Gadaa system, Mogassa, has been criticized for erasing the culture and language of these indigenous people.
Gadaa has also been criticized for being patriarchal, as it excludes women from political affairs. This, according to Legesse, is the main shortcoming of Oromo Democracy. Other shortcomings include rigidity of rules, and the question of scaling Gadaa to millions of people.
Historically, Gadaa has been seen as a better method of governing than other forms in the region. In regions where the Oromo invaded and conquered, including around the Sidama and Somali, the Gadaa system was oppressive in practice, though proclaimed as democratic and just in Oromo oral tradition. According to ethnohistorian Ulrich Braukämper, minorities and those who assimilated, like the Hadiyya, were "considered to be of a lower social status than the 'pure' Oromo and did not possess equal rights in the Gadaa system."