The Gadaa System
The Gadaa System, a UNESCO inscribed heritage of humanity, is an indigenous and democratic socio-political system of the Oromo nation of East Africa.
An African scholar Professor Asmarom Legesse describes the Gadaa System "one of the most astonishing and instructive turns the evolution of human society has taken."
An American scholar Professor Donald Levin's comment on the Gadaa is that “it is one of the most complex systems of social organization ever devised by the human imagination."
Broadly speaking, the Gadaa System is the zenith of integrated social, political, cultural, and spiritual thoughts, and the epitome of popular democracy, pure republicanism, and minimalist government.
Gadaa laws protect the environment, women, children, elderlies, wild animals, pets, domestic animals, and naturalized aliens who choose to live among the Oromo.
Under this rich and complex system, the mechanism of checks and balances between the distinct government branches and secular and religious institutions were elaborately devised long before the rest of the world developed democratic institutions.
Figure 1: Five active and five passive grades in a cycle of forty years (Source: Asmarom, 1973) Published in 2013
History of Oromo Social Organization: Gadaa Grades Based Roles and Responsibilities