A half-day national review workshop on the draft proposal to establish Institute of Gadaa Studies was held on February 24, 2018.

Dean of College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Adinew Tadesse, has made an opening  speech to welcome guests and participants of the workshop. In his opening speech, he said that  the main objective of the half-day workshop is to critically review and refine the draft proposal  with the participation of stakeholders and scholars from wide varieties of disciplines.

Dr. Adinew said, “Our College is proposing to establish Institute of Gadaa Studies to contribute  to the effort of the university to study, preserve and promote the indigenous heritages and  practices of the Oromo and other nations and nationalities.”

In his speech, Dr. Adinew thanked the initiators and designers of the proposal for their  professional contribution and commitment.

President of Haramaya University, Prof. Chemeda Fininsa, said in his speech Gadaa system  symbolizes the Oromo political, social, cultural, religious and economic system. He has asserted  that Gadaa system has significantly helped the Oromo to preserve their culture, unity, maintain  Oromuma and understand nature and universe.

Prof. Chemeda said, “The Gadaa system deserves special research attention by the academia.  The system needs to be preserved, analyzed, documented, practiced, learned and taught in  schools and universities.”

He has also stated that establishing such institute is among the very important for triple mandates  of teaching, conducting research and community engagements. Prof. Chemeda emphasized that partnership should be a strategic priority issue of the institute to
achieve its objectives and excel long-term.

In his last speech, Professor thanked the College of Social Sciences and Humanities for supporting the initiation.

Prof. Tessema Ta’a and Dr. Tadesse Beriso of Addis Ababa University have presented their  critical reviews on the draft proposal. Two officials from Oromo Cultural Center and Oromia  Culture and Tourism Bureau have also made comprehensive reviews on the draft proposal. In
addition, questions were raised and discussed by the workshop participants.

Eventually, Dr. Mengistu Urge, Director for Post Graduate Programs, has made a closing speech  by reminding the importance of the workshop on establishing Institute of Gadaa Studies at  Haramaya University.