A high-level delegation from the highest traditional Gadaa leadership caucus of the Oromo concluded visit they stayed in the Republic of Somaliland.
The delegation capped theirย five-day stay in Somaliland with a banquet Dahabshiil Founder, Mohamed Said Duale, threw in their honour.
The delegation did not include political figures but it, nonetheless, stated it was prepared to meet any contingency, discuss all issues of short-or long-term value to the objective at hand โ fostering relations in accordance with the system the Gadaa was built on which accorded them such a space for all-inclusive negotiations.
According to UNESCOโsย Intangible Cultural Heritageย page, the Gadaa is โa traditional system of governance used by the Oromo people in Ethiopia developed from knowledge gained by community experience over generations. The system regulatesย political, economic, social and religious activities of the community dealing with issues such as conflict resolution, reparation and protecting womenโs rights. It serves as a mechanism for enforcing moral conduct, building social cohesion, and expressing forms of community culture. Gada is organized into five classes with one ofย these functioningย as the ruling class consisting of a chairperson, officials and an assembly. Each class progresses through a series of grades before it can function in authority with theย leadershipย changing on a rotational basis every eight years. Class membership is open to men, whose fathers are already members, while women are consulted for decision-making on protecting womenโs rights. The classes are taught by oral historians covering history, laws, rituals, time reckoning, cosmology, myths, rules of conduct, and the function of the Gada system. Meetings and ceremonies take place under a sycamore tree (considered the Gada symbol) while major clans have established Gada centres and ceremonial spaces according toย territory. Knowledge about the Gada system is transmitted to children in the home and at school.โ
Since the eight-member Oromo delegation arrived on Saturday, they worked their way through a charged schedule of meetings with government Ministers,ย the businessย community, traditional leaders, and the separate visits to the bicameral parliament.
The main thrust of the delegationโs visit rested on securing a reassurance of continued business transactions between the 28-year-old unrecognized republic and the Oromo regional state of Ethiopia.
Somaliland imports the mild, narcoticย Khatย (Qat) from the region. Conservative estimates put the amount Somalilanders pay to Oromo farmers at US Dollars 680 a year.
The delegation, led by the Abbaa Gadaa, was warmly received at every turn. But, on every occasion, the extent of damageย the new Ethiopian leader, himself of Oromo descent, PM Abiy Ahmed, surfaced in one form or the other.
Since Mr. Ahmed assumed power mid-year this year, he had embarked on a wooing spree with Somalia โ an obtuse, former partner in a 30-year union with Somaliland. Abiy, it appeared did not only read his history books wellย but to have adoptedย to turn his back on a traditional ally preceding administrations saw in Somaliland and nurtured.
Somaliland has, also, espied in Abiyโs actions a calculated put-down that no longer had a use for the many security and economic pacts the two sides shared since the early 90s.
MR Abiyโs attitude started a growing murmur among Somalilanders across the spectrum on why Somaliland should continue offering respect that was not reciprocated at all.
Kenya offered another option and moves to start and consolidate better relations with this East African nation began. the two sides revisited traditional, political and economic ties and a visible thaw started.
As was the case with Ethiopia, Kenya was interested in fosteringย qatย tarde with Somaliland.
The incumbentย Kenya minister for trade, Peter Munya, a former governor of Meru, played a major role in promoting trade relations between the two countries encouraging forums where the two sides could exchange and sell ideas to one another.
Ambassador Bashe Awil, a charismatic young, Somaliland diplomat, and, presently, the countryโs Chief envoy to Kenya, accelerated high-calibre connections between politicians on either side.
Somalia, which had successfully quashed similar initiatives in the past, seems to have been blank-walled this time around by a Kenya awakening to the geopolitical importance of Somaliland to the region.
The budding Kenya-Somaliland is a threat to none, according to Analysts. But that is not how Ethiopia and Somalia currently view it.
Source:ย somtribune News.