Bule Hora Town

Bule Hora Town (formerly Hagere Mariam, older, alternative names were Alga, Kuku) is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located on the paved Addis Ababa-Moyale highway, in the West Guji Zone of the Oromia Region. It is the largest town in this zone mainly inhabited by the Guji Oromo. It has a latitude and longitude of 5°35′N 38°15′E / 5.583°N 38.250°E / 5.583; 38.250 and an altitude of 1716 meters above sea level.

History

An orthodox church dedicated to Mary (Mariam) was built in the early 1900. The name Hagere Mariam was introduced by the Amhara sometimes before 1934. In 1936 Kenyazmach Tekle Giyorgis, a nephew of Ras Desta Damtew, was the chief of the town. It was occupied by the Italians on 22 July 1936, who renamed it "Alghe". They rebuilt the village and constructed a fort nearby; the Italians also bestowed honors and powers to a local Guji chief.^[1]

In the following decades, Hagere Mariam became isolated: a group of Swedish missionaries traveling to the Burji in March 1950 brought the first motorized vehicles seen in the town since the Italian occupation. A Norwegian Evangelical Mission was established at Hagere Mariam on 15 August of the same year, with the goal of reaching the Guji. Its founding leader was Karl Bogetvedt who worked from a little rented house inside the town, with dwelling, school and clinic in the same building. The mission station in Hagere Mariam continued into the 1980s.^[1]

Demographics

Bule Hora is the largest town in Bule Hora woreda.

The 2007 national census reported a total population of 27,820 for Bule Hora Town, of whom 14,519 were men and 13,301 were women. 6,507 households and 6,246 housing units were counted. The town was divided into three urban kebele.^[2]

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Hagere Mariam had an estimated total population of 22,784 of whom 12,046 were men and 10,738 were women.^[3]

The 1994 national census reported this town had a total population of 12,718 of whom 6,533 were males and 6,185 were females. In 1984 there were 1984 7,300 inhabitants in the town, in 1967 3,707 inhabitants were counted.^[1]

Bule Hora University

The foundation stone of the Bule University (BHU) was laid on 28 November 2008. The university was officially established by proclamation No 213/2011 (213/2003 E.C) as one of the Ethiopian government higher education institutions (HEIs). Since the construction of the BHU delayed beyond expected completion time, the university started functioning in the campus of Bule Hora College of Teacher Education with a total of 250 regular degree students in 2011/12 academic year; intending to transfer to its own campus site soon. At the beginning of the history of the university, it comprises five faculties (faculty of Natural and Computational Sciences, faculty of Agriculture, faculty of Engineering and Technology, faculty of Social Science and Humanities and faculty of Business and Economics) with six departments, namely Chemistry, Biology, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geography and Environmental Studies, and Accounting and Finance.

Currently Bule Hora University has more than 29 departments with a minimum number of 8000 regular students. With the increase in the number of students and departments the number of faculties to be given for the community of the university is also increasing each year. Now (2027) Bule Hora University has 384 instructors and 1056 administration employs. Since 2014 Abdulkadir Hussien Gemeda is the President of Bule Hora University^[4].

Notes