User:Tolasaa Garramaa Ejjetaa

Gadaa (older spelling: Gada; literally: era) 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 Gada system has been inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2016. It is the brainchild of Oromo from the Madda Walabu district of Oromia. Oromo people regarded the system as their common heritage and as a major part of their cultural identity. 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 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 Oromo absorbs of the Christian and Islam religions. 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 a master's degree program in Gadaa studies.

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