STOP THE USE OF WORD "GALLA" IN KENYA SCHOOLS...ITS RACIST AND DISRESPECT TO THE OROMO NATION

There is a Swahili Proverb  that goes “ Mgalla Mui Lakini Haki Mpe” which translated into English means The Galla (may be) a killer but  he  deserves to enjoy his rights. Now that is a saying that goes hundreds of years  back perhaps in the 14^th or 15^th century

From that we get to know that these so called Galla people had contact with the Swahili people of the Kenya coast as early as the 14^th or 15^th century. They were a Cushitic race who made conquest after conquest from Ethiopia to the Kenya coast …thousands of Kilometers away. Historians say their presence at the Coast led to the fall of several Swahili city states

So who are the Galla the feared conquering Cushitic  race from Ethiopia ?

The Oromo  do not call themselves  Galla . The word was used by its neighbours the Amharas, the Somalis in which the word  Galla-da meant non muslims, then it was later adopted by  the Arabs and Swahilis in Kenya and later by the Europeans  to refer to them. But at no time in history have the Oromo people call themselves Galla.

The word Galla according to some historians  mean savage, primitive, uncivilized . And this is exactly what it means when our history books in the Kenya education system keep  referring  the Oromo as Galla  a word that we have been taught since primary school and has stuck in our minds

But the word is racist and a disrespect  to the  second largest race in Africa ; The Oromo of Ethiopia and Kenya

The use of the Word Galla was banned in 1974 in Ethiopia after the revolution. In Kenya due to the colonial hangover the word is still been used without a care.  With the help of Oromo refugee teachers  I was able to confirm that  the word Galla  is still been taught to our kids at school …and we are in the year 2014! This is being racist !

This is some of the examples

The Evolution World, a History and Government course Form 1, by Oxford new edition 2010, under the

the  Cushites group comprised of……….Galla(Oromo)……...

page 78 and under the topic  Borana…………..

the Boran are branch the Oromo or Galla people……….they speak Cushitic language called Galligna……

on page 81 and also in other course book-Milestone in History and Government Form 1 by Longhorn publishers…..reprinted in 2010 under the topic Eastern Cushitic

Eastern Cushitic comprise of the Elmolo, Gabra, Oromo(Galla)….on page 40.

 “Such wrong terminology usage for Oromo identity  is illegal and it allows subjugation and victimization of Oromo children and people at large, infact it is clear violation of basic human Right Declaration of children’s basic right to good education and right to identify of Oromo nation.And this should not be allowed to continue by free and Democratic nation of Kenya and Africa” an Oromo teacher based in Kenya told me

             “This is to deny the Oromo people an identity”  he added  

Freedom fighters in Kenya shed their  blood to end the colonial racist British…and Kenya has since independence been a beacon of equal rights and justice. I don’t blame teachers   for the continued use of the word Galla but it seems someone at the Ministry of Education  is not aware that the use of the word puts the whole nation at an awkward situation. Someone at that Ministry needs to act….and act NOW.

Give the Oromo their right just as that  Swahili proverb (despite using the word Galla) said centuries ago


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