For Immediate Release

September 2022

A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

A DECLARATION OF INTENT TO LAUNCH A MOVEMENT TO CELEBRATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE GADAA SYSTEM AT MADDA WALAABUU IN 1522

BY THE GADAA RENAISSANCE INTERNATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE (GRICC)

The year 2022 marks the 500th year of the reformation of the Gadaa System in 1522 at Madda Walaabu, Balee/Southeast Oromia. The Gadaa Renaissance Movement is formed to launch a series of programs and projects to commemorate the 500th anniversary of this historical event and showcase the role of Gadaa in the Oromo social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental, and political spheres as well as to explore its relevance in the 21st century.

OROMIA

Oromia is the largest State in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo nation. With a population estimated between 50 and 60 million, it is the largest national group in the community of the Cushitic peoples in East Africa. It also ranks the second largest indigenous national group in Africa, next to the Hausa people in Nigeria. A substantial number of Oromo nationals are incorporated into other States in Ethiopia, and large Oromo communities live in Kenya, Somalia, and the other East African States. Besides, about one million Oromo nationals are dispersed across the rest of the world as refugees and immigrants.

THE GADAA SYSTEM

The Oromo Gadaa System is an indigenous democratic socio-political order considered one of the highly sophisticated human inventions. It is also one of the pioneer democratic orders in history. As an American scholar, Professor Donald Levin comments, “it is one of the most complex systems of the social organization ever devised by the human imagination."

Under this ancient system, practiced for thousands of years, high-ranking officials have been democratically elected for eight years. The electorate has the right to recall any or all of the officials in the fourth year if he or they are deemed unfit for office. The Gadaa system has been a complete socio-political order under which the equilibrium in the relations among humans, human connections with Waaqa (the Creator), and their interactions with nature are kept in balance.

Gadaa laws protect the environment, women, children, elderlies, wild and domestic animals, and naturalized aliens who choose to live among the Oromos. Under this rich and complex system, the mechanism of checks and balances between the distinct government branches and secular and religious institutions was elaborately devised long before the rest of the world developed current democratic institutions.

SIIQQEE

The Gadaa system incorporates Siiqqee, a parallel Oromo women's rights organization. The Siiqqee is symbolized by a sacred stick made from a unique tree. It embodies the sanctity of the female equal rights enshrined in the values and ethos of Oromummaa (Oromoness). Women use the authority vested in Siiqqee to protect themselves from harm and to enforce peace in times of conflict. No one is allowed to harm a woman in general and a woman with Siiqqee in her hands. Women flag their Siiqqee between themselves and anyone they consider threatening their safety. They come in between warring groups with Siiqqee in their hands, and the warring groups are obliged to stop the conflict and submit to arbitration by elders. Disrespecting a Siiqqee is a serious crime with severe consequences under Gadaa laws.

Generally speaking, the Gadaa system has been the guiding principle of the social, political, and economic life of the Oromo nation for centuries. The successive leadership of Gadaa revised the system five times in four centuries and reformed it at Odaa Mormor before the 5th century A.D. in Northern Oromia, and then at Odaa Nabee in Central Oromia in the 8th century, Odaa Roobaa in the South in the 14th century, Odaa Bultum in the East, at Odaa Bisil in the West, and finally at Madda Walaabu in 1522 in Balee, South-eastern Oromia.

Unfortunately, it was interrupted by the late 19th and early 20th centuries in many regions of Oromia, although it is preserved and is still practiced in certain areas.

By the mid-19th century, European colonial powers were engaged in what history recorded as “The scramble for Africa” to partition the African continent as colonial territories. The Abyssinian neighbours in the North of what is today the Ethiopian Empire were also pursuing the agenda of building an empire at the expense of their neighbours in the South and South-West.

The Abyssinian King Menelik of the Shawa dynasty, who later became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1889, struck a deal with European colonial powers-notably Britain, France, and Italy- and obtained weapons and advisors to pursue his colonial scheme as a junior partner. He embarked on his colonial spree, and millions of Oromos were mascaraed, maimed, and displaced due to this Abyssinian invasion. The rest were enslaved, and the remaining were subjected to the Gabbar System (semi-slavery), a cruel version of serfdom introduced by the Abyssinian conquerors. Oromia remains one of a few vestiges of colonial history in Africa.

Emperor Menelik officially banned the Gadaa system in 1900 after the Oromo society's conquest, and successive regimes did everything they could to dismantle it. However, it has survived systemic and brutal assaults for over 140 years and is still practiced in some areas in Oromia. The Gadaa spirit and values are still alive in the minds and daily lives of the Oromo, even where the system is no longer being openly practiced.

Furthermore, it is recognized as an indigenous African democratic socio-political system and, as such, inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2016. Over the years, there has been hostility towards preserving Gadaa as a distinct Oromo heritage. As recently as 1 December 2021, 14 elected Gadaa leaders were surrounded and murdered while on a typical Gadaa assembly session in Karrayu District some 30 miles Southeast of Finfinnee/Addis Ababa.

As indicated above, 2022 marks the 500th anniversary of the Gadaa renewal. And the GRICC took it upon itself to facilitate the celebration of this historic event. It is incumbent upon every Oromo national anywhere around the globe to participate in the commemoration of this event in every way possible. The Committee also appeals to the concerned international organizations and the world community to take note of the severe challenges the Oromo is currently facing.

Prospects for an irreversible disaster are hovering over the horizon in Oromia. The nation is in the grips of severe famine due to a prolonged drought in many Oromia regions and a war raging in almost all corners of the State. Over 500 thousand heads of cattle are believed to have perished in the Borana Region alone in the last eight months due to drought, and thousands of people are dying of hunger. The human and material toll as the consequence of war ravaging Oromia is staggering, and yet, the world is ignoring the dire implications of situations in Oromia.

The fact that the Oromo language, spoken by the most significant single ethnonational group, is not recognized by the Federal Government in Ethiopia is enough proof of the political marginalization of the Oromo. The Oromo nation's attempt to wage a peaceful struggle to assert its rights has failed to materialize, and the nation has resorted to armed struggle for the last fifty years. Despite the costs, however, the just war is continuing because, as was declared by an underground pamphlet entitled THE OROMOS: VOICE AGAINST TYRANNY back in 1971, "THE OROMO HAS NO EMPIRE TO BUILD BUT A MISSION TO BREAK AN IMPERIAL YOKE. THAT MAKES ITS MISSION SO SACRED AND THE SACRIFICES NEVER TOO DEAR."

GADAA RENAISSANCE INTERNATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE (GRICC)

Washington DC, USA