The practices and dynamics of Baalle, an indigenous governance system of Gedeo (Southwest Ethiopia)

Abstract

This article comprehensively examines the governance quest of the Gedeo people (a Cushitic-speaking people in southern Ethiopia) and their itineraries in building an egalitarian indigenous governance system locally called Baalle. The Baalle governance system is based on the distribution of political powers and social responsibilities across nine grades, each with a life span of eight years. Our analysis focuses on three aspects of the Balle system: essence, practices, and dynamics. We have analyzed the roles of the state in the dynamics of the Baalle system by considering the different historical phases of the Ethiopian state: the Imperial regime (1889-1974), the Derg regime (1974-1991), and the EPRDF regime (1991-2018). Data were collected through narrative interviews, observation, and focus group discussions from Baalle leaders and cultural consultants during several fieldworks carried out in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Based on our findings, we argue that Baalle is a complex indigenous governance system of Gedeo’s social structure that influenced their economic, social, political and spiritual life. Moreover, given the complexity of the Baalle system, the presence of governance institution (Songo) in all the three autonomous regional territories of the Gedeo, the practices of sustainable economy that combined forestry with agriculture, and the presence of dense population, we argue that the Gedeo qualify for being a state. Since the incorporation of the Gedeo into the Ethiopian state in the late 19th century, Baalle has been structurally subordinated to the central government, and its roles in the day-to-day life of the local community have significantly declined. Although the post-1991 political developments of the EPRDF made attempts to protect Baalle from extinction, its role is still reduced to playing only supplementary roles to state conflict resolution institutions and instruments.