Kertita is the eponymous founding ancestor of one of the nine exogamous patriclans (kanta) of the Konso, remembered like the Pasanta as one of the lineages that gathered on the Konso highland from the surrounding lowland and highland country. The clan is headed by a poqalla, a hereditary priest-chief descended from the founder, whose blessing sustains its members; the presence of such incomer clans alongside older lineages is central to the Konso account of themselves as a people made from many roots. The clan name is recorded with orthographic variation in the literature.