Applying Orature to Embed the Gada Values into Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation: The Case of the Guji Oromo Gada System

Abstract

This paper analyses selected key Gada principles on peace and conflicts, then demonstrates how orature or oral literature: folksongs and proverbs are utilised to educate citizens about the vital importance of maintaining peace and resolving/transforming conflicts. This study adopted Danesh’s (2006) Integrative Theory of Peace (ITP) in designing and implementing the project. The theoretical orientation, ITP, is built on the notion that peace is a psychological, social, political, ethical and spiritual state with its expressions in intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, international, and global areas of human life (ibid: 1). The primary data for this study was amassed through qualitative one-to-one and focus group interviews with 28 elders (15 males, 13 females) who were chosen on the basis of purposeful sampling strategies in Guji and West Guji Zones in 2019. The data was analysed by employing the narrative method. The study results indicate that the Guji have a well-developed Indigenous Knowledge System on peacebuilding, conflicts transformation and administration of justice. This paper focuses on demonstrating how Gada principles are embedded in folksongs and proverbs to maintain peace and transform conflicts. Suggestions for researchers, policymakers, politicians, educators and religious leaders have been forwarded.   

Key words: peace, peacebuilding, justice, conflict, conflict resolution/transformation, proverbs, principles, folksongs