Karrayyu Gadaa Council Prepares Historic “Buttaa Qaluun” Rite for Leadership Transition

TARREE KEEDII, OROMIA — In accordance with the sacred eight-year cycles of the Oromo Gadaa system, the Karrayyu community is undertaking profound preparations for the Buttaa Qaluu ceremony—a pivotal ritual that facilitates the peaceful and systematic transfer of power from one Gadaa grade to the next.

Central to this process is the revered Baallii Gadoomaa (the scepter of Gadaa). Per Oromo law, the scepter is transferred every eight years. For the Karrayyu, the incumbent Gadaa council, having held the scepter and led the people for its designated eight-year term, is now charged with preparing the successor grade to assume power.

“The current Gadaa grade, having taken the Baallii Gadoomaa and governed for eight years, must now create the space—the Goobaa or Irreessa—for the next Gadaa set to rise,” explained a senior cultural analyst familiar with the rites. “This act of ‘giving space’ is a core constitutional principle of Gadaa, ensuring balanced, rotational, and non-hereditary leadership.”

The elaborate Buttaa Qaluu ceremony, now being organized at the sacred site of Tarree Keedii, is the formal mechanism for this transition. The term Goobaa itself encompasses the acts of vacating, clearing the path, mentoring, and imparting wisdom to the incoming leaders.

“The Karrayyu use Gadaa’s peaceful and consensual transfer of power as a model for national governance,” the analyst added. “The Goobaa demonstrates how leadership can be relinquished gracefully to ensure continuity and stability.”

Current Council Prepares the Ground

All eyes are now on the Gadaa Michillee council, the current custodians of power. Their critical preparatory duty is to receive the final blessings (Eebbaa) from the Abbaa Bokkuu (the presiding father) at their designated ritual ground (Ardaa).

Following this, they will proceed to the assembly site at Tarree Leedii to take their positions and oversee the meticulous execution of the Goobaa rituals. Their role is to ensure every sacred protocol is followed to legitimize and empower the incoming grade.

This meticulous process underscores the Gadaa system’s enduring sophistication as a indigenous system of democracy, conflict resolution, and constitutional governance. The Buttaa Qaluun ceremony is not merely a cultural event but a living enactment of a social contract that has guided the Oromo people for centuries.

The upcoming rites are expected to draw elders, scholars, and community members from across the region to witness this foundational practice of Oromo democracy in action.

# # #

About the Gadaa System:
Gadaa is the traditional, holistic social system of the Oromo people that governs political, economic, social, and religious life. It is based on an eight-year cyclical timeline, with power rotating democratically among five generational grades. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed the Gadaa system on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.