East African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

Some Notes on the Past of Oromo Society: The Story about Akkoo Manooyyee in Focus

Gutema Imana — 2023-06-13

This article aims to shed light on the past of Oromo society through the assessment and analysis of some oral traditions, particularly the story about Akkoo Manooyyee. The research that resulted in this article was a mix of historical, anthropological, and sociological research that was undertaken in the last five years. Descriptive and narrative research designs and a qualitative research approach were employed in the study. Data were collected from well-informed and knowledgeable informants from different parts of Oromia. In addition to oral data, relevant written sources were also consulted and used to augment the oral data. The findings of the research indicate that Oromo society had possibly been a matriarchal society for a considerable period in ancient or prehistoric times before the gradual evolution of the patriarchal system. During this matriarchal period, women seem to have been dominant socially, economically, and politically in society. It seems that Oromo society was ruled initially by women and later on by men before the gradual evolution of the Oromo Gadaa system some 5000 or more years ago.

Understanding Quality: Examining Addis Ababa University Students’ Conceptualizations through the Harvey and Green (1993) Quality Framework

Enguday Ademe — 2023-06-13

As elusive and contentious as the term quality is, according to Harvey and Green (1993), there are five ways of thinking about quality in higher education that are framed as exception, as perfection, as fitness for purpose, as value for money, and as transformation. Interpretations of quality in higher education vary depending on stakeholders’ views. Among the different stakeholders, the purpose of this study was to examine students’ conceptualizations of quality interpreted through the Harvey and Green (1993) quality framework. The study was qualitative thematic in its approach, and data were collected using feedback surveys. All the one hundred and eighty five first year graduate students, who were attending their coursework in 13 different fields located in eight of the 10 colleges in Addis Ababa University (AAU), filled the survey. From these respondents, a total of 283 replies were collected. Data were then thematically analyzed using percentages. The findings revealed that students define quality differently, and the term means different things even for the same student. However, their conceptualizations converge mostly around the quality as fitness for purpose category (especially as customer-determined fitness), followed by quality as exceptional (especially as excellence) and quality as transformative categories. It is recommended that AAU’s quality-related effort, quality as understood by students, needs to primarily deal with refining its services and enhancing graduate employability. This has to be followed by taking care of student admission, teacher recruitment criteria, and bringing long-lasting qualitative changes on the part of students for life beyond the university.

The Institutionalization of Child-Friendly Bench in a Child Protection System: Practices, Perspectives and Barriers in Gimbi Town, Oromia, Ethiopia

Nimonam Daraje — 2023-06-13

The main objective of the study was to examine the practices, and perspectives of the child friendly bench workers and barriers of child friendly bench at Western Wallaga, Gimbi town. The study employed qualitative research with case study methods as it helped get a holistic and in-depth understanding of views of the study participants. Relevant study participants were purposively selected, and thus, relevant data were gathered through in-depth interview and observation. Out of the raw data, patterns, categories or themes were built, interpreted, triangulated and thematically analyzed. It was revealed that the advent of child friendly bench was appreciated and welcomed as a result of which different child protection cases were attempted to be entertained although the implementation status was not as such satisfactory vis-à-vis the prevalence and persistence of cases. Obstructing factors, including shortage of budget, absence of capacity building trainings, limitation of commitment, lack of collaboration, shortage of facilities, and not yet treatment of cases at separate room were among the barriers of child friendly bench. Overall, child friendly bench failed to have the attributes to qualify for the task it was designed to execute although the existences of some attempts were undeniable. Hence, empathetic and concerted efforts were implied to meet the very objective of child friendly bench, which is child protection.

Lexical Enrichment in Hadiyyisa

Samuel Handamo — 2023-06-13

The present study attempted to describe lexical enrichment in one of the Highland East Cushitic languages, Hadiyyisa. Instructors from Wachemo University and Hossana College of Teachers Education took part in this study. The data was collected and analyzed using a qualitative methodology. The main tool for data gathering was document analysis, though key informant interviews and questionnaires were used in complementing the former. The findings showed that language-internal and external resources were extensively employed as strategies of lexical enrichment in Hadiyyisa. For lexical enrichment in the language, semantic transfer and compounding were the most common methods, whereas abbreviation and blending were less common. When it comes to language-external means, borrowing and loan translation were the most productive ways of enrichment in Hadiyyisa. Hadiyyisa did not have unmodified borrowing since the language borrowed terms with adaptations. Hadiyyisa relied on foreign languages such as English, Arabic, French, and Italian for source languages rather than Ethiopian languages, including related Cushitic languages. The majority of the European loanwords entered Hadiyyisa via Amharic, and the loan translations in Hadiyyisa came from English and Amharic as source languages. It is imperative that unnecessary borrowings should be avoided and native Hadiyya words should be substituted in relation to lexical expansion. Furthermore, standardization is in order for the observed concurrent use of loanwords and their native counterparts in Hadiyyisa.

Refugee-Host Relationship in Ethiopia: A Case of Eritrean Refugees in Tigray Region

Alemu Asfaw — 2023-06-13

This study explores the nature of refugee-host relations in Ethiopia with particular reference to the Eritrean refugees and the hosts that are found in the Tigray regional state. To this effect, primary data were collected through interview, focus group discussion (FGD), document review, and observation; participants for the study were selected through purposive sampling technique, and the study employed a basic qualitative data analysis method. It was found out that the interaction between the two groups has been dynamic, changing from almost "closed’ and ‘antagonistic’ to ‘cordial’ type of relationship in the process, and now, this smooth relationship has been negatively impacted by and faced obstacles due to the on-going war between the Tigray regional state and the federal government. The key factors that are involved in the transformation of their relationship and the status of the refugees in the eyes of the local hosts emerge both internally from the refugees and the hosts themselves (refugees’ aspiration, cultural similarity, economic benefits of refugees, familiarity and socialization between refugees and hosts), and externally from the work of the government. The paper concludes that inter-group relationships change across time, and these changes are far from absolute as they are accompanied by continuities of some elements of past relationships.