Abstract:
This thesis was geared to conduct a study on Wancii District so as to present historical
facts about social, economic, political and cultural aspects of the people of the District
and change and continuity happened on the aforementioned issues of the people of the
study area.Moreover, the thesis researched the detail of the district’s socio-cultiral and
economic changes through time and endeavored to identify the major threats of life, the
major features of relation beatween Wanchi District and neighbouring districts, how did
the changes bring impacts on the culture of the district’s and changes, and continuities in
the District in areas of social services and facilities during the period under study.The
thesis employed diferent methods of gathering data such as primary and secondry
sources.The first category of sources included both archival documents and oral
traditions, collected from the deliberately selected people, who have a good memory on
the past events in the study area.The secondry category of sources utilized to the
maximum were both published and unpublished documents, which were available in
Wancii Warada, South West Shawa Zone, Addis Ababa University, Institute of Ethiopian
Studies and Welde Meskel Tariku’s Archival Center.The thesis was presented using
qualitative-narrative method.
The study also covered from the period of Italian occupation of 1936-1941 and its
impacts on national level as well as on the study area. Moreover, the thesis investigated
the formation of Waincii District and administrative reforms, the imperial taxation system
applied on the District and the reform that opened the door for corruption of government
officials and local bäläbat, who exploited the resources of peasants, the form of land
ownership and its burden on the life of tenants in the District.
The study included the down fall of Emperor Haile Selassie’s government and the new
military regime’s first radical measurement of the February 1975 land reform which
abolished tenancy and land lordism.These reforms like other parts of the country eagerly
awaited and warmly accepted by local people of the District. Some of the reforms of the
military regime were like the establishment of PAs so as to strengthen its power and local
people by using different institutions to control the rural society. However, the Darg
reforms were not accepted all in all by the District’s people as the government plan,
especially, among its reforms, the villagazation program was opposed by the people for
its policy exploited the peasants more
