Part IV
By Odaa Hora
Where does Gada depart from Democracy?
In the preceding article the inclusiveness of the Gada System of the Oromo people its sterility from the coming of tyranny, dictatorships, power abusers, etc. in leadership position, in contrast to the amorphousness of the western democracy to hold power prelude to the tyranny, dictators, power abusers, e.t.c, leadership was thoroughly explored as in 1) Democracy is a System of Exclusion as Gada is the System of Inclusion and 2) Gada is sterile from tyranny as Democracy prelude to tranny and this part continues with:
3) The Law Stands Above All men (Seeri Nama Hundaa Oli)
In Oromo worldview, basically there are two types of laws, the laws of Mother Nature, and the laws made by man. Natural laws are laws that govern or regulate the universe, natural phenomena of the earth, the blue plant as it is often called. These are universal laws that living things must obey its rules and adjust themselves to it, to survive, to develop, to produce and to reproduce its species and live in harmony in the nexus of this inhabitable planet.
They are eternal laws and are immutable. Human as part of nature cannot alter, rework the laws of nature. A human cannot alter, for instance when the Sun must rises and sets, cannot change the axis of the rotation of the Planets, the movements of Stars and Moon, etc., Human must adjust to their rhythms as all livings do, such as to light and darkness, cold or warmness, high or low altitudes, etc.
It is also the law of nature, naturalism, the physical environment that profoundly shaped all living things, human thoughts, consciousness, influenced and inspired the development of man-made laws and regulations in human civilizations in all sphere of life to fit its nexus.
In the Gada system of the Oromo people, the cradle of biological as well as cultural civilizations of the human practices and teachings transferred from one to the next generations from time immemorial that man-made laws are treated as the product of human endeavor and deliberation invented by great law makers. Thus, the genius of Oromo’s, the master of law makers does not consider it as a gift of God or heroic ancestors or as supernatural thus incontestable.
Thus, in the Gada system, man-made laws are not static, rather they are dynamic, can be altered at any time as it is required, updated to fit and full fill the prerequisites of the people in time and place. In contrast, the Greco-Roman extension of the western democracy, in most cases are static, hardly alterable. I will briefly enlighten two states as an example, the USA and Germany, from Europe, who portrays themselves as “an apex of democracy and the rule law” to prove that the leaders have power above the man-made laws.
The USA law was constituted in 1787. The man-made law is preserved as a God given or supernatural gifts of their heroic ancestors thus therefore, immutable. In other words man-made laws were perceived as the law of nature more static, hardly alterable, and here lie the danger some of these laws written almost for one-and-half centuries old are out of date and are not compatible to the requests of the society of today.
The 1787 written law of the USA empowers the President to have the power to sign an executive order singularly, controls the intelligence information’s, sole control over the defense apparatus, and today in the modern era for instance in the USA, the nuclear weapon or other Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMDs) long range missiles and other military arsenals among many other like Biological Weapons (BWs). What meant to the vast majority of peace loving citizen of the world when one hears words like Fire and Fury from the USA president. In deed it was not a chess or a pin pong game that one can enjoy whatever the objective of the saying.
The 1787 law of the USA also explicitly assigned the president, the power to sign or veto legislation, mess-ups International laws, and affairs, to stifle bureaucracy and mount the bully pulpit that only the president singularly owes sufficient stature, etc. That proves that an entitled President is above the law, even worse above the international law.
In fact that is what we destined to witness such as the war waged by the USA, such as in Iraq, etc, by scapegoating the regime to control the resource as they call it Black gold, Oil. Since Donald Trump took the oath of office presidency in January 2017 just by muddling through the system called the America way of “democracy” and his main accomplishment within the USA was/is firing five of the top level of his administration and the resignations of other fifteen and did not know his own society, late alone the very complex world of today. Someone, who could not reiterate on Tuesday what he said on Monday. Someone, who comes out of the mind set of absolute denial of the facts at home or at the global arena and acts like Mafia style leadership as the insiders tell us, Remember, it is still called “the law of democracy” in the USA Style.
In post-Nazi Germany, the law empowers that the Chancellor proposes the candidates for ministerial office, i.e. the members of the Federal Cabinet, to the Federal President, the power to dismiss ministers, , singularly if he or she do not suit or show unquestionable loyalty, right to determine policy guidelines, etc.
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The written laws of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949, called Basic Laws “das Grundgesetz “ was adapted from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, and approved by The General Assembly of UN after unsettled disputes of World War I and aftermath of World War II that caused the death of over hundred thirty millions of humans all at one.
Germany as a major actor who waged both world wars, no matter what the causes might be who lost badly was occupied by the winners, and divided in to two semi-independent states, the west and the east. The western part ocupied the western allice was forced to replace the Nuremberg Race Law of 1935 and accept the demands of the UDHR of 1948 that Article 1, proclaims that human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority, and Article 3 which declares that “all persons shall be equal before the law” and that “no person shall be favored or disfavored because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith…”.among the others.
It worth to know that, although Germnay lost in a field of politic’s and military, but not the mind or menatliy. And three-fourth of all things of human activities, beheavior, etc, are mental, Thus, what governed the minds of the post nazi Germany indeed has been the Nuremberg Race Law of 1935 of Nazis.
As a result of the denazifcations fiasco, and the collective failure of the occupying forces of all the allies of the World war II it was left intact, hibernated in the mind, waiting from time to shoot up on the surface. The time has come. The Byerlin-wall was torn down in 1989 and occupying forces left back to their home that gave a favorable environmnet for the hibernated Nazis explosions under the mantra re-united Germany euphoria. They were /are called neo-Nazis, a misnomer by itself as if all old nazis are in the graveyard.
Since then they commited barabric acts of killing, by buring the house of tarteged groups of people of non-German background, refuge campes, targted serial killings, e. t.c., turned their daily accomplishmnets and the State blindfloded his eyes, deafed their ears, even cooprated with them in same cases. The half-hearted behavior of the state’s mangement of the Nazis preludes to become the third political party clad with the garb of AfD in the current ruling party constellation.
More disgarce is that the so called law and the state turned to treat them and fund them as a standard, and institutinalised laws under the mask of “democarcy” that brought the Nazi resudals whose definations of “Germaness i.e. German parents (jus sangunis) of Nuremberg Race Law anlog to the Jim Crows Law in the USA as the third ranking in the cabinet, but turned not only as normal activites, but even justified the way they treatment the others who colud not fit to them on daily bases.
The fact is a state remains a state in which foreigners arrived in Geramny independent of time and place remain foreigners in every walks of life. Fact is the Nuremberg Race Law only “white” people could be German in real life and treated as prime was replaced on paper but the deep-seated deep in an enclosed society that operates under the vestiges of an exploitative racial cast in the entire soictey and welcomed duties by the state. Profoundly, if one digs deep to the root, but not only looking over the surface from outside it is the unwritten laws that operate under enclosed doors. The terms of the political jargon often spoken like neutralisation, Intigrations, Langugae etc ” are all balderdash in one. Its object is just to be considered as “multicultural, civilized, modern, e.t.c. ” brushed the outer layer with the Gold just to enhance their Image of Germaness.
Thus in the so called western democray man mad laws are mostly static, out of date, power holders are above the law and can abuse, prelude tyranny, assigned the power to sign or veto legislation, most worse the mass of the citzen donot even know it and can not undersatnd indeed even though it waswrttien witzh thie rown language. Most of them are a paper tiger, that does not practice in the real life of the society.
In contrast, in the Gada system, the law stands above all men, and Gad is sterile from the tyranny, zero tolerance for all sorts of discrimination and power abuse. It is mutable, all oromos are familiar with it and live in it. And no one stands above the law. All are subject to it equally, independent of entitlements. The Aba Gada (The President, or the Chancellor as it is called in Germany speaking countries, etc.) himself; or Hadhaa Seqee (the First Lady) is subject to the same law and the same punishments as all its citizens in case they violated it.
4) The Principle of Accountability: the role of Confession and Penalty
Although the 20th century was considered as the century of genocide and the ethos of genocide never again was born, It is unfortunate that the world is destined to witness that genocides are going on right know in various regions of the world such us in Africa and Asia tyrannical regimes ruling with iron-fist sponsored by the resource-geared foreign states and international companies by direct or indirect intervention.
They both, sponsors of wars and commitment to genocide and the local tyrants who are responsible for the atrocities in particular region have rarely brought to justice, either to the local or International criminal courts. They local tyrants are protected by their sponsors, and the sponsors of wars, such as internationally operating companies, and states like USA, EU, Russia, etc, are above the International law and never seen in taking accountability for sponsoring and supporting tyrants beyond their boundaries.
They are all above the international laws and regulations and the system constitutionalized and legalized by self-empowering, dictatorship and power abuses that have been self-evident and called it vetoing. Take an example, the hidden genocides (the criminals are yet free, and the so called UN were and still are blind folded and dull-witted) in Darfur, DRC, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, etc., As W. Faulkner reminds us: The past is never dead. It’s not even past, and that is one of the most tragic comprehensive stupidity of the human species incapable to learn from past, and still commits homicide on its own fellow human being. And the paranoia and the fraud of what is called “globalization-muscular self-assertion beyond their boundaries.”
Thus, no wonder that the 21st centuries have followed the footsteps of the 20th century except the fabrications of terminologies such as “soft power, hard power, globalizations, etc.,) where all are balderdash in one for the vast majority of the global citizen suffering from it and paying with their life.
In Gada system what makes human a humane or a devil is in fact their deeds. In other terms, a person in the Gada system of the Oromo people is a person in the eyes and the ears of another person. Self’s profiling, magnification, heroism is a behaviors of tyrants departing point, and very dangerous to the wellbeing’s of the society that is the methods the evilest men in the world such as of A. Hitler, J. Stalin, Mengistu Haile Maryam, Meles Zenawi and a number of African tyrants used and come to hold power and committed the mega killings, and Gada is hyper-allergic to tyranny and sterile from it.
Where as in Gada Self’s profiling propaganda, bravery, etc the may work for entertainment in lyrics, folklores- sanitized story-telling’s s songs, dances, drama’s, comedy, etc, but not to take administrative post and responsibility of leadership. Thus, Oromos avoid such personality right from the begging to give reposiblity.
In gad one is accountability for what one said and for what one did. For instance to begin with Lie is curse or Haraam in Oromo Culture. One loses not only faith, trust but human values. One is accountable for what he or she said, pro or contra the society and awarded respect or punished accordingly.
odaahora @gmail.com
Kan Hanqate Waaqni Itti Ya Guutu!!!
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INJIFATNOON KAN UMMATA OROMOOTI!!!!!!
References
Asmarom Legesse Oromo Democracy an Indegionus African Political System. The red Sea Press, Asmara, 2000.
Asmarom Legesse Three approaches to the study of African society. The Free Press, New York,1973
Dirribii Demesse Ilaacha Oromoo. Finfinne, 2000
