The Addis Ababa treaty invoked Somali tree tradition to sanctify its commitments.

Evidence

Grandiloquently, the treaty’s preamble sought to anchor its terms in a traditional idiom. ‘The serenity and shade of a tree, which according to our Somali tradition is a place of reverence and rapprochement, has been replaced by the conference hall. Yet the promises made here are no less sacred or binding.’ — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 632