Waliso is derived from the name of an
Oromo clan. Legend has it that Waliso is the son of Liban (Liiban in
Afaan Oromoo), who had three children: Ammaya (Ammayya in Afaan Oromoo), the oldest, Waliso (the middle) and Kutaye (the youngest). Liban belongs to Metcha, a bigger Oromo clan. The road that ran from
Addis Ababa to Waliso was one of the few roads built by the
Ethiopian Empire before the
Italian-Abyssinian War; by 1938, the 110 kilometers from Addis Ababa to Waliso had been asphalted, and the 90 kilometers beyond to
Abelti gravelled. After the
Italian occupation of much of Ethiopia, two rival Ethiopian resistance fighters, the
Arbegnoch, operated around Waliso:
Geresu Duki; (Afaan Oromoo:
Garasuu Dhukii) and
Olika Dingel. Geresu Duki (a former member of the Ethiopian Crown Prince's personal guard) was in the end the better-known – and the longer-lived of both – but Olika Dingel, a
Welega Oromo, was as legendary. Geresu Dhuki was the offspring of a local Oromo Prince, Akkawaaq Darra Gada. In 1955 a 40 kW hydro-electric power station was built; by 1965 the installed electrical capacity was 32 kVA and the annual production 64,500 kWh. In 1958, Waliso was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. The Multipurpose Community Telecentre was opened in February 2000, with assistance from the
British Council. It was the first of its kind in Ethiopia, and the next one was opened in
Debre Berhan almost two years later. That same year, construction of a 200-bed hospital was completed, the
Wolisso Hospital (officially the St. Luke Catholic Hospital), which was then opened on 27 April 2001. Construction was launched in 1997 by an Italian organization (CUAMM Doctors with Africa), equipment included surgical, X-ray and laboratory equipment, at a cost of 72 million
Birr. == Demographics ==