presentation

1. Analysis of Philosophical Discourses
Towards Social and Political Values of
the Oromo Gadaa System.
By Jiregna Assefa
Under supervision of
Dr. Jatinder Kumar Sharma
Department of Philosophy
Punjabi University, Patiala
December, 2019

2.  Gadaa system is indigenous democratic governance
that encompasses all aspects of Oromo people.
 Gadaa is lived experiences and system of thought
 It governs, organizes and orders social, political,
economic, cultural, environmental and religious issues
of the Oromo
 gadaa system has three interrelated meanings;
 it is the grade during which a class of people assumes
politico-ritual leadership
 a period of eight years during which elected officials
takes power from the previous ones
and the institution of the Oromo society.

3. Features of the Oromo gadaa system:
Election is one feature of the Oromo gadaa system. It
is the only way through which the leaders hold the
office for eight year term and peacefully transfer it to
the next leader.
Election of political leadership, terms of eight years
in office, freedom of speech,
and the right to freely elect their political leaders
indicates the democratic nature of the Oromo gadaa
system.
 Gadaa as a system of thought and wisdom of black
civilization, worth critical examination and needs
close observation to philosophize;

4.  and need to be grounded in African social and political
philosophy.
 In its general literal sense philosophy is love of wisdom
or a pursuit of knowledge.
 In addition, it is a critical reflection on issues that are
important in human life.
 Philosophical inquiry also helps to understand oneself, and as
Kierkegaard defines philosophy is a ‘search for self-
understanding’.
 It is therefore, commendable to analyze and understand
philosophical discourses in moral, political and African
philosophy in relation to gadaa system of thought and
indigenous democratic political system.
 there is a great rift between modern political system and
indigenous social values

5.  Therefore, it is important to examine, retrieve and reflect
on our traditional social and political values in order to
preserve and use it to solve our social and political
problems by ourselves.
 Given the current social and political crisis, we have to
look back into the values in our culture, indigenous
governance system, and ways of life of our people and
draw lesson from the past to prepare for the future.
 Gadaa system is a humanistic institution and contains
elements of Oromo democracy, nagaa (peace), finna
(development) and peaceful and harmonious coexistence.

6. Therefore, to investigate, evaluate and systematize
the Oromo Gadaa system provide an alternative
approach to modern democracy and democratization
process in Ethiopia to solve challenges of social and
political problems of the society.
This study demonstrates social and political values of
the Oromo Gadaa system from two perspectives:
first, to investigate the role of the Oromo Gadaa as a
system of governance in enhancing social and
political activities of the Oromo nation in Ethiopia.

7. Second, the underlying social and political values that
the system contains like peace, democracy, moral
order, peaceful power transfer, limited time to hold
the power as a leader.
Therefore, social and political values that the system
contains help to promote development peace and
social justice in Ethiopia.
Philosophical problems and questions arise from life
situation of a society.
It is also inevitable that as Tsenay (2004) argues ‘each
situation, each struggle, calls for its own indigenous
self-understanding’.

8. Interpretation and re-interpretation of indigenous
social and political values in indigenous Oromo
institution and re-grounding of the Oromo political
philosophy in its indigenous root is essential.
Thus, ‘we must relate the past to the present and
demonstrate a historical’ justice prevailed and
injustice that the society experienced in the past.
To examine values in our traditions help to build the
future destiny of our society.
Jason Brennan indicates the concept of political
philosophy as:

9. the study of power of the institutional centers of
social power that shape and constrain the lives of
people living together.
Political philosophy in its abstract sense as the
normative analysis of social institutions.
 Institutions as Jason Brennan define are the rules of the
game in a society or more formally, are the humanly
devised constraints that shape human interaction.
 social and political philosophers theorize about the way
social and political institutions should be structured and
about the nature and grounds authority, justice and rights.
Philosophy is the search for self-understanding and
self-understanding is something that everyone would
desire.

10. Thus Coetzee & Roux also notes that self-knowledge
can never be complete without reference to one’s
roots, to the past which is one’s history.
In philosophy and other social sciences in Africa, the
focus is much on the search for indigenous forms of
thought, to be liberated from enforced colonial
episteme.
 It is reasonable to look into the past African
traditions and relate social values of the Oromo gadaa
system to African philosophy.

11. African humanism is also rooted in traditional values
of mutual respect for one’s fellow kinsman and a
sense of position and place in the larger order of
things: social, natural and cosmic order.
Customs and traditions of African people contain
important social and political values that govern
activities and lives of the people.
Nkrumah also maintains that our philosophy must
find its weapons in the environment and living
conditions of the African people.

12.  In Verharen’s conception of the Oromo tradition nagaa
(peace) is attained by following safuu or the moral code.
 The Oromo concept safuu covers wide range of areas
from creator, nature and human relations to environment
and harmonious co-existence.
 He states that the Oromo use of the concept of nagaa or
peace to test their adherence to safuu or the moral code
calls to mind the ancient Egyptian concept of Ma’at, the
peace, harmony, order, balance that must characterize our
responsibility to the continuance of life.
 The concept of Ubuntu also contains the idea of
interdependence and solidarity in which the life of one is
guarantee for the life of the other but not threat to each
other’s life.

13. Reconstruction of the past historical, social and
political values of the society, which once neglected
and ignored from the academic and modern polity is
important to construct future common good for the
African societies.
 The “remembered future” relate to the past in search for
alternative way out to better future in which social justice,
equality, freedom and human dignity prevail.
 The Oromo aphorism that goes “Kan darbe yaadatanii, isa
gara fuula duraa itti yaadu”, pave the way to think about the
past, understand the present and approach the future.
 Gadaa system contains future-oriented emancipatory
aspirations and encompasses Oromo social values.
 Gadaa system, as such contains social and political
values that can serve humanity.

14. Thus, it is universalizable and has potential to assist
humanity to flourish, peace and social justice to
prevail.
Thank You!!