The Oromo Studies Association 33rd Annual Conference Program

A New Frontier: Ushering in Lasting Change in Oromia, Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa

July 26-28, 2019

Rift Valley University – Conference Hall

Finfinnee/Addis Ababa

Day 1 - July 26, 2019

7:00am Registration 8:00am Ebbaa (Blessings) 8:20am Opening Remarks – Kulani Jalata, OSA President

Plenary 1: Reimagining the State

8:50-9:20am Guest Speaker Dr. John Markakis, University of Crete - Solving Ethiopia’s Governance Challenges

Introduction: Dr. Ismail Abdullahi 9:40-10:40am Panel I: Democratizing Ethiopia: Discourses on Multinational Federalism

§ Dr. Bekele Gutema, Addis Ababa University – Federalism and Identity § Dr. Ayenew Birhanu Worku, Kotebe Metropolitan University – Federalism and

the Role of Political Parties: A Reflection on the Ethiopian Empire § Dr. Ameyu Godesso, Jimma University – Continuity of Power and Economic

Centralization: The Post-1991 Conflict Situation in Ethiopia Moderator: Dr. Mekuria Bulcha, The Nordic Africa Institute

11:00-11:40am Keynote Speaker

Bonnie K. Holcomb, The George Washington University (ICPS) – Reimagining Power: The Challenge of Centering the Dominated Majority in Ethiopia Introduction: Dr. Daniel Ayana

11:50 - 12:50pm Lunch 1:00 – 2:00pm Panel II: Integrating Democratic Indigenous Institutions into Governance

§ Dr. Daniel Ayana, Youngstown State University – A Geo-Cultural Unit of Local Assemblies: Anchoring Democracy on Indigenous Cultural Institutions in Ethiopia

§ Dr. Tsegaye Tuke Kia, Hawassa University – Contemporary Local Governance and Indigenous Institutions: The Case of the Sidaama, Southern Ethiopia

§ Obbo Getachew Gudina Dinagde, Council of Constitutional Inquiry – An Indigenous Unwritten Constitution: Examining the Gadaa Governance System in Light of Modern Democratic Constitutional Principles

Moderator: Dr. Taddesse Berisso, Addis Ababa University

2:20 - 2:50pm Guest Speaker Mr. Kalundi Serumaga, The Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute - Let the Daylight Finally Come: Towards a Deeper Understanding of Africa's Native Struggles - Comparisons and Lessons. Introduction: Adde Ayantu Tibesso

3:00 – 4:00pm Roundtable: Democracy, Elections and Transition in Ethiopia § Dr. Beyene Petros, Addis Ababa University - Constitution and Democracy: The

Ethiopian Predicament § Dr. Kassahun Berhanu, Addis Ababa University – Prerequisites for Entrenching

Democracy in Ethiopia

§ Dr. Merera Gudina, Addis Ababa University - Group versus individual rights, striking a balance?

Moderator: Dr. Asfaw Beyene, San Diego State University

4:00-5:40pm Panel III: Urbanization and Identity in Finfinnee/Addis Ababa § Dr. Tekleab Shibru, Chicago State University – Monitoring the 32 year (1985-

2017) of Addis Ababa Urban Growth from Space § Dr. Getahun Benti, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale – Land, Politics and

the Targeting of Oromo Towns § Dr. Mekuria Bulcha, The Nordic Africa Institute – Discourses for and Against the

De-Oromization of Finfinnee § Dr. Zelelam Sirna, Salale University – A Concept Note on Addis Ababa/Finfinnee: Is

Twin-City Administration Possible? § Dr. Teshome Emana, Finfinnee University – ‘Land Never Lands Under Our Sky’:

Land Transaction and Actors Network in the Suburbs of Finfinnee City Moderator: Adde Jenet Adam

Day 2 - July 27, 2019

7:30am Opening Remarks 8:00-8:30am Guest Speaker

Dr. Sandra Shell, Rhodes University – Two Oromo Children of Hope: The Braided Biographies of Tolassa Wayessa and Bisho Jarsa Introduction: Bonnie K. Holcomb

8:30am-9:10am Keynote Speaker Dr. Mohammed Hassen, Georgia State University – The Road Traversed by the Oromo Studies Association Since 1986 Introduction: Dr. Guluma Gemeda

Plenary 2: Looking Back to Look Forward - Revitalizing Indigenous Institutions

9:10 – 9:50am Guest Speakers

Dr. Aneesa Kassam, University of Durham; Dr. Gemetchu Megerssa, Rift Valley University College– Oromo Cultural History: Some New Findings Introduction: Dr. Marco Bassi

10:10 -10:50am Panel I: Expanding Gumii Gayyoo on a National Level: The Case of Global

Gumii Oromia § Dr. Guluma Gemeda, University of Michigan-Flint - Oromo Cultural Institutions:

Suppression, Destruction and Resurgence § Dr. Asafa Jalata, University of Tennessee-Knoxville – The Necessity of Civic

Institutional Capacity-Building for Empowering Oppressed Peoples Moderator: Dr. Teferi Mergo, University of Waterloo

11:10-12:10pm Lunch 12:10-1:30pm Panel II: Seeking the Holding Glue: Reworking Siinqee/Siiqee Ways of

Knowing for the Empowerment of Women and Youth § Obbo Dereje Fufa Bidu, Jimma University (Co-author: Abebu Oljira Gemeda) –

Using Oromo Folk Institutions to Foster Empowerment and Solidarity § Adde Bilise Lome - Maree Methodology: Revaluing Oromo Women’s Indigenous Ways

of Knowledge Production § Adde Nardos Tassew – In the Safety of Maree: Grieving the Loss of Fayyaa-Nagaa,

Reclaiming a Healing Space § Adde Abiyot Eliyas Anbacha, Norwegian University of Life Sciences – Borana

Women’s Indigenous Social Network – Marro in Building Household Food Security § Adde Alima Jibril, Wallaga University (Co-author: Garama Yadata) –

Mammaaksa: Harmful Discursive Practices and the Transformation of Discourses for Broader Emancipatory Projects

Moderators: Adde Elella Daba, Adde Ayantu Tibesso Organized by Dr. Kuwee Kumsa

1:50 -2:30pm Guest Speaker

Dr. Asmarom Legesse – Gadaa and the Future of Oromo Democracy Introduction: Dr. Mohammed Hassen

2:50 – 4:30pm Panel III: Indigenous and Modern Approaches to Legal Reform, Conflict

Resolution and Reconciliation § Obbo Fisseha Tekle – Settling the Legacy of Violence: Institutional Challenges in

Ethiopia § Adde Juweria Ali, Westminster University – Ethiopia in Transition: A System’s

Thinking Approach to Transitional Justice in the Somali Region § Hon. Godana Doyo, Law Society of Kenya – Securing a Democratic State: A Case for

Legal and Institutional Reform in Ethiopia to Secure Good Governance § Dr. Alemu Disassa Mulleta, Adama Science and Technology University –

Persuasive Discourse Strategies in Jaarsumma and Indigenous Methods of Conflict Resolution among the Arsi Oromo

§ Obbo Geremew Nigatu Kassa – Gada System of Conflict Prevention and Resolution Moderator: Dr. Firehiwot Alito, Addis Ababa University

4:50-6:30pm Panel IV: Revitalizing Gadaa and Waqqeefanna

§ Obbo Lemessa Wakgari, Mettu University - Exploring Problems and Prospects in Revitalizing Gadaa: The Case of Odaa Doggii

§ Obbo Muluken Kassahun Amid, Mettu University School of Law – Incorporation of the Oromo’s Gadaa System into Ethiopia’s and the Oromia Regional State’s Constitutions

§ Rev. Dr. Benti Ujulu Tesso, Evangelical Church of Hannover and Friedrich Schiller University – The Role of Cushitic Indigenous Religion in Achieving a Lasting Political Change in Ethiopia in General and in Oromia in Particular

§ Obbo Asnake Erko, Global Council of Waqqeffanna – The Revitalization of Waqqeffanna and its Importance in Transforming the Value of Humanness and Peace

§ Obbo Taru Ungure Shumi, Waliif Education Share Company – Oromo Indigenous

Religion and the Need for Legal Protection in Ethiopia Moderator: Rev. Dr. Benti Ujulu Tesso

Day 3 - July 28, 2019

7:30am Opening Remarks

Plenary 3: New Approaches to Just and Sustainable Development

8:00 – 8:30am Guest Speaker Dr. Ayele Gelan, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research – Putting a Spotlight on Ethiopia's Economic Idiosyncrasies Introduction: Obbo Befekadu Moroda

8:50 -10:10am Panel I: Dilemmas of Economic Policy in Ethiopia

• Dr. Teferi Mergo, University of Waterloo - Ethnically Asymmetric Political Representation and the Provision of Public Goods

• Dr. Kebede Feda, The World Bank – Effects of the Recent Wave of Privatization Policy on Inclusive Growth in Ethiopia

• Dr. Asebe Regassa, Dilla University – The Political Economy of Gold Mining in Ethiopia: Exclusion, Discrimination and Local Resistance Against MIDROC Laga-Dambi Gold-Mine, Southern Ethiopia

• Obbo Omot Agwa – An Owner Without Property: The Case of Gambella Land Grab, Environmental Abuse and Conflict

Moderator: Dr. Beyene Tadesse, Loyya Consults

10:30-11:50am Panel II: Enhancing Local Participation in a Globalizing Environment and Economy § Dr. Marco Bassi, University of Palermo – The Potential of Multinational Federalism

for the Relativist Approach to Development § Obbo Galata Gamachu, Wollega University – Securitization of Social Interaction

and Internal Displacement in Western Ethiopia: The Case of Oromo and Neighboring Communities of Benishangul Gumuz National Regional State

§ Dr. Disasa Merga Lenisa, Jimma University – The Significance of Indigenous Knowledge and Institutions in Forest Management: A Case of Gera Forest, Southwestern Ethiopia

§ Dr. Moa Megersa, Jimma University – Indigenous water treatment knowledge by Konso communities

Moderator: Dr. Samuel Geleta, Salisbury University

12:20-1:20pm Lunch 1:30 -2:50pm Panel III: The Agro-Pastoral and Pastoral Frontiers: Adapting to Climate

Change and Capital Needs § Dr. Begna Dugassa - Climate Change and Public Health Problems in the Horn of

Africa: The Need for Sustainable Leadership and Institutions

§ Dr. Oli Bachie, University of California – Utilizing Local and Global Knowledge for Sustainable Agricultural Production: A Lesson from Oromia and the American Low Desert.

§ Dr. Sabine Tröeger, Universität Bonn & Obbo Soya Karup, Addis Ababa University – Pastoralist Societies in Lower Omo- Dynamics in Societal Transformation

§ Dr. Berhanu Adenew, United Arab Emirates University - The Imperative of Farm Capital Formation and Its Role in Agricultural Development for Oromia

Moderator: Dr. Begna Dugassa

3:20 – 4:40pm Panel IV: Looking Forward with the Youth: Creating a Youth Empowering Economy § Obbo Hirko Wakgari, Oromia State University - Youth Unemployment in Ethiopia:

Demographic and Policy Perspectives § Dr. Dereje Birbirso, Haramaya University - Qeerroo Movement, Gadaa Didactics and

Critical Pedagogy: Application and Implications for Collective Critical Action for Change § Dr. Mosisa Aga, Auburn University – An Overview of the Success, Challenges, and

Opportunities of the Struggle of Oromo Youth Led by Qeerroo Bilisummaa Moderator: Adde Amane Badhasso

5:00pm Closing Remarks – Dr. Begna Dugassa, OSA President-Elect

Keynote Speakers

Bonnie K. Holcomb Keynote Address on "Reimagining Power: The Challenge of Centering the Dominated Majority in Ethiopia" Bonnie K. Holcomb, an anthropologist of the Oromo and neighboring peoples in the Horn of Africa, is a pioneer of Oromo studies and a founder of OSA. She is also a committed life-long advocate of human rights and justice for the Oromo and other peoples, and is a founding member of the Oromo Advocacy Alliance. From over 40 years of working with Oromo and their neighbors, Bonnie

brings a perspective on Ethiopia not from the view point of the state, but from the grassroots. She argues that the greatest prospects for societal transformation and lasting change lie in accessing the long-hidden energies, cultural legacies, wealth and wisdom of the vast majority of the population, which were previously disregarded and disempowered in the course of state building and consolidation. Bonnie co-authored Politics and the Ethiopian Famine: 1984-1985 (1986) with Jason W. Clay and The Invention of Ethiopia: The Making of a Dependent Colonial State in Northeast Africa (1990) with Sisai Ibssa. Her most recent publication is titled The Matter of Land is a Matter of Life "Dubbiin lafaa, dubbii lafeeti”: Examining Cultural Messaging in an Oromo Protest Song, “Ka’i Qeerroo”, with Peri M. Klemm. She was educated at Bryn Mawr College and Boston University, USA.

Professor Mohammed Hassen Keynote Address on "The Road Traversed by the Oromo Studies Association Since 1986” Professor Mohammed Hassen is a founding member of OSA and is a renowned historian of Oromia and Ethiopia. As a pioneering scholar of Oromo historical studies, he expanded Oromo historical knowledge on regional and global levels. Professor Mohammed is the author of The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia, 1300-1700 (2015), The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History, 1570 to 1860 (1990), and the co-author of The Macha-Tulama Association, 1963-2014: Its Importance in Oromo History (2014). He has also published more than a hundred articles, book chapters and

encyclopedia entries in the field of Oromo studies and edited with his colleagues on several books, including co-editing Arrested Development in Ethiopia (2006) with Seyoum Hameso, Goota Oromiyaa (2008) with Daraaraa Maati, and Ali Birra: A Fifty-Year Journey for the Love of Music & His People (2013) with Lily Marcos. He received his Ph.D in African History from the University of London and was a member of the Union of Oromo Students in Europe (serving once as Secretary). He is currently a board member of OSA, and he has served as a board member of and is the current president of the Macha Tulama Association-USA.