Oromo Federal Congress Honors Professor Asmarom Legesse: “The Star of Your Scholarship Will Not Fade”

(Finfinnee, Oromia – February 5, 2026). – The Oromo Federal Congress (OFC) has issued a powerful and culturally resonant statement mourning the passing of Professor Asmarom Legesse, hailing him not merely as a distinguished scholar but as a “hero of great intellect” whose life’s work was a “sacrificial investment” in Africa’s intellectual reawakening.

The statement, rich with tributes to his scholarly legacy, positions Professor Legesse’s work as a defiant act of intellectual reclamation. It asserts that at a time when African political systems were “dismissed as relics” by Western scholars, Professor Legesse “provided scientific evidence” to prove the Oromo people possessed a sophisticated system of “negotiation, equality, and democracy” long embedded in human history.

The OFC specifically highlighted the professor’s foundational texts, “Gadaa: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society” and “Oromo Democracy,” praising them for doing more than recording history. These works, the statement says, “restored the dignity” of the Oromo people and irrefutably proved that democracy was not a “foreign concept imported to African countries” but a lived reality for the Oromo for centuries.

The Congress emphasized the practical impact of his research, crediting it with playing a “leading role” in the successful inscription of the Gadaa System as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage. Furthermore, his work ensured the Gadaa system was recognized globally as a “source of world democracy.” For the KFO and the Oromo people, the statement notes, his research formed a “great foundation for the development of our culture and unity.”

Looking toward the future, the OFC underscored the enduring relevance of his scholarship. By studying the checks and balances and peaceful transfer of power within Gadaa, Professor Legesse provided the current generation with “a great tool of knowledge” to build their identity and governance upon. His work, the statement declared, has provided “indisputable evidence” for the Oromo struggle for self-determination and democratic rights.

The tribute concluded with a poetic and culturally profound farewell, stating: “Although his body has departed from us, his soul will not die; his light will remain in the orbit of the Gadaa star forever. Professor Asmarom Legesse, may the earth rest lightly upon you.”

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About the Oromo Federal Congress (OFC):
The Oromo Federal Congress is a political organization advocating for the rights and self-determination of the Oromo people within a federal Ethiopian framework. Its statement reflects the deep intersection of academic scholarship, cultural identity, and political aspiration in the Oromo national movement.