Gada is a traditional system of governance used by the Oromo people in Ethiopia developed from knowledge acquired by community members over generations of experience.
This system regulates the political, economic, social and religious activities of the community, which covers issues such as conflict resolution, reparations, and protecting the rights of women.
Encouraging a sense of community culture, reinforces moral behavior, builds social cohesion, and expresses a sense of cultural identity in a way that is both safe and conducive to self-respect. An elected assembly rules Gada and comprises five classes, one of which functions as the ruling class and has a king, officials, and a chairperson.
The class has to pass through a series of grades before it can act in the role of authority, with changes of leadership occurring on a rotational basis every eight years. As far as membership is concerned, men who have their own fathers as members can join the class, and women are included in the decision-making process on protecting women's rights.
There was a time when the Oromo governed themselves according to the Gada system long before there were major three-party wars between them and the Christian kingdom to their north, as well as the Islamic sultanates to their east and south. Therefore, what happened was that the Oromo religion absorbed both Christian and Islam religions.
A group of Borana and Guji people who live near the Ethiopia-Kenya border has been able to practice Gadaa without interruption. Throughout the state of Oromia under the Federal system of Ethiopia, the Gadaa system started a renaissance that spread into all parts. After nearly two centuries of interruption, the Gadaa Center at Odaa Hullee was reinstalled in 2018, following the opening of the Gadaa Center at Odaa Bultum.
Class topics include history, laws, rituals, time reckoning, cosmology, myths, rules of conduct, and the Gada system. The Gada generally hold meetings and ceremonies under sycamore trees (a symbol of the Gada) and major clans have established Gada centers and ceremonial spaces according to their territory. The Gada system is taught to children in the home and in the school where they are raised.