Discoursing Namummaa: Indigenous Philosophy of Inter-Human Relations and Peacebuilding from the Oromo People of Ethiopia

Abstract

The main thrust of this study was to discourse the Oromo indigenous philosophy of human relations, Namummaa, using the Oromo people’s conception of morality as a point of reference. Namummaa, is the Oromo philosophy of humanness that claims what makes a human being a person, not just human being, is his or her potential to grow into good and mature vertical and horizontal relationships: relationship with community in which a person lives and with other human community as the whole, and relationship with the creator and with all that is created. The study was primarily a synthesis of systematic readings of available written and oral sources from primary and secondary data. The main thesis this study has advanced is that Namummaa, according to the Oromo perspective, is complex, connected to the strong quality of human beings, meaningful in terms of building intercultural dialogue for peace building in Ethiopia and is loaded with cultural values that govern the people’s way of life. Besides, Namummaa, as the Oromo moral value, has immense functional values. This means that the administrative, justice system and economic wellbeing are developed through emboldening the moral capacity of the individuals. A morally developed person in turn stands for the collective spirit of all. This is all in one and one in all.