The Territorial Based Administration

The territorial based administrative institution is all-inclusive structure of the Kambata or Hadiya
society under one rule. In this administrative structure, there was no exclusion of any social
group, in bloodline or clan bases as that of the kinship-based administration. In a way, this
institution comprises all territories and the social groups of the Kambata or Hadiya people. This
structure was organized under Kokata (Giira in Hadiya), Gocho and Heera from the higher to
lower level of structures. It was headed by woma (king), gochi-danna (leader of the Gocho), and
Muricho (leader of the Heera) respectively.

The Kokata (Giira) council was the general assembly of the whole Kambata and Hadiya in which
representatives of territorial units known as Gocho, Heera units known as Muricho and tribal
units called Illamo can attend. The woman (king) headed the council. It is a deliberative
assembly where seera (rules) were laid down and sanctions given through lallaba (oratory). A
series of orations on political, military, security and social affairs of the community were made
by representatives of territorial and tribal units.

Lallaba continues until the final decision by consensus. The decision of the Kokata is binding
and respected as the Kambata and Hadiya people believed that the eyes and the spirit of society
are behind it, as a hidden force. There is a general belief that the gadda (grace) and the ayaana
(blessing) of Kokata are in it. Disobedience or break of a Kokata decision believed to attract the
“black” eyes and unpronounced curse of the Kokata on those who go against it. Woma is a
territorial chief, a concept more or less denoting “king”. The institution of Woma was maintained
through hereditary succession, in the male line. Every time when the Woma died, Kokata sat in
council and selected successor from among the sons of the deceased Woma. Then, the Kokata
formally conferred the office on the new chief through special giffata (ceremonia chantingl
known as hebboyyata).

According to informants, local rulers in the kambata and Hadiya region used different
mechanisms to legitimize their rule and strengthen their power. Political marriage was widely
used among the locally notables as well as with the ruling families of the neighboring peoples.
They used these strategies to avoid conflicts with local power contenders and with the
neighboring peoples. They also used it to extend their political power by developing friendly
relations. They mention woma Dagoye who married five wives from the neighboring states noble
families as an example. These were from Badawacho Hadiya, Soro Hadiya, Ŝämbaro, Wolayta
and one from the known gulba clan in Kambata.

Such marriage ties among the different ethnic groups could be mentioned as the leading factors
that facilitated the ethnic interactions with these societies. Besides, the Kambata and Hadiya
people were closely interconnected in social, cultural, psychological, language, etc activities that
show the existences of high ethnic interaction among the society. Therefore, kambata people
mostly have established marriage relation with Hadiya people more than with other neighboring
peoples.

After the incorporation of the kambata and Hadiya to the Ethiopian empire in the late 19thc, the
imperial regime destroyed some of the traditional institutions. The Kokata assembly was one of
such traditions destroyed at the time. The Woma institution was modified to balabat. as tagesse
wrote in his research, his informants confirmed the replacement of the local administrative
structure by the Amhara following the incorporation of the region.

The 1974 revolution abolished the balabat and chikashoom institutions and replaced them by
peasant associations. After the overthrow of the Derg, the new EPRDF regime was not
immediately able to ensure the necessary level of peace and security at community level.This
circumstance contributed to the renewal of the Kambata and Hadiya Seera and the reemergence
of Kokata, handled by the elders representing each clans. However, the institution of the Woma
was not able to reemerge. Presently, not only the structure of Kokata continued throughout the
Kambata and Hadiya, but its function become increasingly binding, mainly for resolving serious
conflicts.

The Seera Institution of the Hadiya people

The Seera in the Hadiya society refers to the code of conduct; which is practiced and
internalized among them. Seera regulates relations between individuals, tribes and territorial
units. It is a broadly conceived normative realm within which individuals and groups expected to
behave. The territorial or tribal councilors function on according to their respective
Seera.According to informants, some of the issues regulated by the Seera include some activities
that bind all love affairs, marriage and family relations, peer group associations, work and
entertainment parties, games and sports, hunting bands, etc. Childcare, socialization of the
young, circumcision, initiation and rites of passage handled, as Seera requires. Seera prescribes
the way farmer relate to the environment, young to old, women to men.

Young person must give precedence to older ones as a sign of respect to older generation because
the older generation believed to poses experience, knowledge, wisdom, grace and power. In
addition, elderly persons believed to have the power to award or punish, to bless or curse the
younger ones, depending on what they deserve. Seera is not a codified body of rules but it is
several sets of norms. There are no particular experts specializing in Seera sanctions which are
not formalized, but influenced by circumstances as the elders sees fit. The entire exercise of the
implementation of the Seera is creative, consultative and compromise oriented.

Seera administration aims at pacification, correction and reintegration. The community elders are
in charge of Seera administration. Generally, elders are expected to have wisdom, patience and
broad views about justice and peace. They are preferred to restore and maintain balanced
relationship in the community. Although, it is widely believed that women‟s judgment is
important and clear-cut they are not favored for the formal handling of the Seera. Their
husbands, sons, relatives or neighbors, who are assigned for the administration of Seera, often
consult women in the house. During the deliberation, the elders may take a recess of a few days
or weeks. The time gap is often needed for consultation, additional fact-finding and opinion
gathering about the case at hand. Women‟s opinion is of special value during this time.

However, serious violations of the Seera will lead to sanctions, locally called Yaayya or Yaayyu.
Yaayyas under the Seera range from mild to punitive measures. Elements of precedence and
future implication influence any particular proceeding of the Seera. Mild sanctions take the form
of reparation to the aggrieved party. In addition, a material contribution is requisitioned for ritual
performance as a sign of the formal end of the conflict. More stringent Yaayyas imposed in the
form of ostracizing the offending party and excluding him and his family from the social,
economic and political life of the community. All members of the community join in effecting
the Yaayya after the final decision. In the case of a member of the community failing to comply
with applying this ultimate sanction, he/she will be liable to the same Yaayya.

Therefore, the Seera institution as the code of conduct binds the Kambata and Hadiya societies
together. The similarity in the practices and function of this institution between these societies
indicates the existences of high ethnic interaction. Its role in solving conflicts that arise among
the societies was and is significant. As mentioned above society‟s inter-ethnic interaction,
sharing similar socio-political activities, attending different political assemblies and the society‟s
inter-connection in different socio-economic and socio-cultural issues could be reasons for their
interactions. In a way, the Seera institution played its role for the two societies by facilitating
friendly relation and reducing the probabilities of conflicts.