UNESCO: Gada system, an indigenous democratic socio-political system of the Oromo

Subject: Regarding Sending to you a petition by the Oromo people for the inscription of the Gada System on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The people of Oromo have a n extensive and very rich culture and tradition wh ich have been accumulated for centuries and have been h anded down from generation to generation as a source of pride of the people. The culture of the people is deeply rooted in the Gada system which is a democratic political, economic and social system. The Gada system is a democratic system th at has been shaping and guiding the lives, mode of governance, socio-economic conditions, philosophical outlooks, etc., and which has enabled to ensure unity and solidarity of among the people as well as the practice of peaceful conflict resolution strategies.

The Gada system has been governing the direction and day-to-day lives of the people since the time when the people of Oromo were governing themselves independently. Presently too, the Gada system plays considerable role in guiding the political and socio-economic functions of the people. The system is structured in such a way that power is shared among different bodies to ensure check and balance. This confirms that the system is based upon the principles of equality among mankind (respecting the rights of women and children as well as outsiders. During the period when a party stays on power, it is bound by the principle of rule of law. Moreover, transfer of power is made smoothly and peacefully among parties.

The culture of the Oromo people with regard to equality and democracy remains an exemplary one to the remaining world. Thus, we hereby express that the signatures for the petition are attached here in and that Oromo people ardently upholds the inscription of the Gada system on the Representative List as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity which would demonstrate to the rest of the world that our country Ethiopia is not only the cradle of mankind but also the mother of an age-old democratic system.

With regards,
Signed and sealed
Geetuu Wayyeessaa Tolaa
Head of Oromiya Regional State Culture and Tourism Bureau

For detail proposal document download PDF

Related

Mr. Obama’s visit to Ethiopia sends the wrong message on democracy

National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) Chairman Prof. Merga Bekana announces preliminary results to the media in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Wednesday, May 27, 2015. (Mulugeta Ayene/AP)

By Editorial Board June 24 at 7:41 PM

“AFRICA DOESN’T need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” Those were President Obama’s words when he addressed Ghana’s parliament in July 2009, during his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president. The historic speech, watched around the globe, was an optimistic clarion call to the leaders on the continent from the son of a Kenyan. “First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments,” Mr. Obama said.

The president seems to have forgotten that speech. Last week, the White House announced that, while traveling to Kenya next month, Mr. Obama also will stop in Ethiopia, the first such visit by a sitting U.S. president to the country of 94 million. It’s almost unfathomable that he would make time for an entrenched human rights abuser such as Ethi­o­pia while cold-shouldering the nation that just witnessed a historic, peaceful, democratic change of power: Nigeria.

Administration officials justify the trip by citing the United States’ long-standing cooperation with Ethi­o­pia on issues of regional security and the country’s accelerating economic growth. Ethi­o­pia is a major recipient of U.S. development assistance, and the African Union has its headquarters there. But it also stands out in Africa for its increasingly harsh repression and its escalating chokehold on independent media and political dissent. Since June 2014, 34 journalists have been forced to flee the country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Ethi­o­pia is also one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists.

The administration already undermined Ethiopia’s struggling journalists and democracy advocates in April, when Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said Ethi­o­pia has “moved forward in strengthening its democracy. Every time there is an election, it gets better and better.” Shortly after her statement, the ruling party held an election in which it secured 100 percent of the parliamentary seats. That was indeed an improvement upon its 2010 performance, when it won 99.6 percent of seats. In the months ahead of the May 24 polls, opposition party members and leaders were harassed and arrested. The Ethiopian government refused to allow independent election observers, except from the African Union. Since the election, two opposition members and one candidate have been murdered. The government hasdenied any responsibility for the killings.

Meanwhile, Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation and the one with the largest economy, overcame risks of electoral violence and Boko Haram’s terrorism to manage a peaceful transfer of power for the first time since the country’s return to democracy in 1999. With numerous African countries facing elections in the next two years, a visit to Nigeria would have signaled U.S. commitment to partnering with governments that respect freedom, the rule of law and the will of their people. Snubbing Nigeria for a trip to Ethi­o­pia sends the opposite message, in essence validat ing Ethiopia’s sham elections and rewarding a regime that has shown no intent to reform. Six years after his idealistic speech in Ghana, Mr. Obama is sending a message to Africa that democracy isn’t all that important after all.

=>washingtonpost