Leadership; “The crises”
By Khairiwer, August 11, 2004

Leadership; The vanished word since the last Amir departed without crowning a successor; even a traditional one like Daminas for Oromos and Ugazes for Somalis. It is remarkable to see Ashantis, a tribe in Ghana, crowning a king among ordinary Ghanians abroad who symbolizes their traditional leadership culture.

So who were our traditional leaders? Back in good old days people had well defined criteria to elect their leaders; the tallest or the strongest, the richest or the oldest among them. I can think of many in our Harari society today, without a doubt, who would qualify for leadership if we all agree on the criteria I mentioned above, but again, our intellectual level doesn't allow us to follow that path. However, I would argue that we have acknowledged for years Baad Ragach (Elders) as our powerful and influential figures in our society.

Baad Ragach (Elders); who were these fellows? How did they earn their status in the society to be accepted and respected? How much power, control or grip did they have on the society and who granted them that power? Are there people among us today who enjoy this status? We at Khairiwer would like to entertain your thoughts on the issue. Please send your opinion/comment to Khairi wer