Ras Gobena Dache (Amharic: ራስ ጎበና, Oromo: Goobanaa Daaccee; c. 1821 – July 1889) was an Ethiopian military commander under Menelik II and during his reign. An ethnic Oromo, he is known for campaigning against Oromo territory to incorporate more lands into the Ethiopian Empire in the late 19th century.^[1]

Gobena's son Wedajo was married to Menelik's daughter Shoarega who bore him, a grandson, Wasan Seged Wedajo, whom Menelik saw as his successor, and had him raised at the court as if heir to the throne. Wedajo opposed the court education of his son and this dispute over child custody led to the divorce of his wife. This grandson of Menelik II was eliminated from the succession due to dwarfism.^[2]

The sentiment of most Ethiopians toward Ras Gobana often correlates to 21st century Ethiopian politics. Ras Gobana is a controversial figure for some Oromo nationalists who think he was a traitor for allying with the Northern Ethiopians to conquer some southern regions. Mohammed Hassan translates the following song as an example of Oromo expression that Gobana betrayed his own people:

It is strange, it is strange, it is strange,

women do not raid houses;
she who gives birth to a dog is strange.
Relatives do not hurt each other,
the haft of an axe is strange
people of one stock do not sell each other

that of the son of Dacche is strange^[8]

Though many Oromo communities battled and conquered each other for centuries, some contemporary Oromo politicians who favor ethno-political mobilization toward Oromo unity often associate Oromo opposition to them as a betrayal act similar to that of the 19th century Ras Gobana and other Oromo leaders who allied with the Amhara and Tigray. And those Oromos who associated with Ethiopian governments of the past, including Derg and the Selassie Monarch are sometimes labeled "neo-Goobanaas." In contrast, other Ethiopians who advocate Ethiopian unity and who oppose ethnocentric political movements often glorify Ras Gobana as an Ethiopian hero and as a unifying figure.^[9]