Economic and development analysis: Perspectives on economics, society, development, freedom & social justice. Leading issues in Oromo, Oromia, Africa & world affairs. Oromo News. African News. world News. Views. Formerly Oromia Quarterly
Deeggarsa Qeerroo Idila Addunyaa (International Qeerroo Support Group) P. O. Box 55244 Washington, DC 20040 USA
Sadaasa 29, 2015
Akkuma beekamu dhaabbanni Deeggarsi Qeerroo Idila Addunyaa, dhabbaata bu’aaf hin hojjanne (nonprofit organization) yoo ta’u, erga hundaa’ee woggaa tokko ta’eera. Kaayyoon hundeeffama dhaaba kanas falmii qeerroo Oromoo mirga namummaa, dinagdee fi siyyaasa uummanni Oromoo jaarra tokkoo fi cinaa olif mulqamee miidhaa fi cunqursa alagaa hammaataa jalatti kufeef deeggarsa barbaachisaa gochuuf kan dhaabbaate dha. Koreen dhaaba kanaa wolgahii taasiseen haallan uummata Oromoo fi naannoo Oromiyaa keessa dhiittaan mirga namummaa ta’aa marii taasisuun ibsa ejjannoo armaan gadi kana baasuuf murteeseera.
Murtee Caffeen naannoo Oromiyaa waa’ee magaalota naannoo Finfinnee ilaalchisee murtee dabarse, haala aadaa fi dinagdee uummata Oromoo kan hin hubannee fi mirga uumata Oromoo kan cabsu ta’uu isaa fi akkasumas fedhii uummata Oromoo ala ta’uu isaa waan ta’ee murteen kun karaa kamiinuu hojiirra akka hin oolle in balaaleffanna .
The Afan Oromo Global Coordinating Committee (AGCC), the group that lobbied through a successful petition for the inclusion of Afan Oromo in BBC’s upcoming Horn of African service, has released a statement announcing that “the BBC Trust, the BBC Executive Board, and the Government of the United Kingdom have decided to start broadcasting to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in Afan Oromo, the single most widely spoken language in Ethiopia.” The AGCC petition garnered more than 30,000 signatures during the month-long campaign in September 2015.
The following is the full statement posted on the AGCC official Facebook page; in the statement, AGCC also calls upon speakers of Afan Oromo and supporters of linguistic equality to mobilize resources to make Afan Oromo one of the Federal Working/Official Languages in Ethiopia, where it’s spoken by more than 50% of the population; despite this figure, however, Afan Oromo has been deprived of an official status in Federal institutions in Ethiopia.
BBC decided to start broadcasting in Afaan Oromo *************************************************************** Congratulations! Pending formal announcement, our sources have confirmed that the BBC Trust, the BBC Executive Board, and the Government of the United Kingdom have decided to start Broadcasting to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in Afaan Oromo, the single most widely spoken language in Ethiopia.
Tigrigna and Amharic languages will also be part of the new proposed BBC medium and shortwave radio broadcast to Ethiopia and Eritrea. We thank the BBC Leadership and the Government of the United Kingdom for the decision and for heeding to the voice of tens of millions of our people.
The Afaan Oromo Global Coordinating Committee (AGCC) congratulates all Afaan Oromo speakers and supporters for the well-deserved success that mobilized our people and supporters from across the world in our petition drive to reach this goal.
Making Afaan Oromo the federal working language in Ethiopia on equal footing with Amharic will be the next major task in front of us.
The AGCC calls upon all Afaan Oromo speakers and supporters in Ethiopia and around the world to get mobilized in unison to create a more inclusive, federated and bilingual federal government institutions in Ethiopia, the municipalities of the charter cities of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.
Creating bilingual federal government structure by making Afaan Oromo an additional federal working language will allow Afaan Oromoo speakers to get unhindered access to all federal government employment, services, resources, information and opportunities by replacing the existing exclusionary and discriminatory monolingual language policy!!!
The Afaan Oromo Global Coordinating Committee (AGCC)
Aggregate demand is the total amount that consumers, businesses, government, and foreigners are willing to spend on all goods and services in the economy. Changes in aggregate demand occur when any or all of these groups expand or cut back their spending plans. These changes range from:
An increase in consumption that may be caused by
a rise in income levels,
a decrease in interest rates,
a house price inflation.
a rise in the level of government spending.
a balance of payments surplus.
What Happens If An Increase In Aggregate Demand Occurs?
Suppose that the economy is in “normal times,” neither in a recession nor in a boom, so that real GDP equals potential GDP. In theory, firms could respond to the greater demand for their goods either by expanding output or by raising prices. In practice, firms do not raise prices in the short run. Instead, they expand output, and the economy enters a boom.
But prices are not fixed forever. Over time, if demand stays high, firms raise their prices and the boom ends. If aggregate demand falls, the reverse occurs. In the short run, firms lower output instead of cutting prices, and the economy enters a recession. Over time, if demand stays low, prices fall and the economy recovers. Read more at:-
Saartuu, the daughter of the late Oromo artist Usmayyoo Muussaa in her debut music song ‘Abbaa koo’.
Selfless Oromo Artist Usmayyoo Muussaa was in jail for 8 years in a harsh Woyyaane prison. He sustained severe torture and contracted all deadly diseases in jail. He was released from prison only when the regime was sure that he won’t survive. Usmayyoo died on November 18, 2006 in Ciro town and his funeral took place on November 19, 2006 in Ciro with a large crowd with Oromo tradition.
Though an Oromo nationalist and artist Usmaayyoo Muusaa is rest in peace, his legacy is beyond his grave and he passed on the torch of freedom to be pursued by millions of Oromo, including his children.
Like Usmayo Oromo citizens have fallen as the result of victim of torture of TPLF; many are fallen silent in the hands of this murderer’s government agents.
Usmayo’s daughter, Artist Saartuu Usmayoo, has release the first song dedicated to her father, “Abaa Koo”.
Meles Zenawi is in #Landgrabs Even from Grave: TPLF Fascist Ethiopian Government Has Taken 1200 Hectares of Land from Sabbataa Oromo ( Indigenous) Farmers in Oromia in the Name of Meles Zenawi Who Died 20 August 2012 in Brussels, Belgium.
Want to double world food production? Return the land to small farmers!
GRAIN, Ecologist
22nd November 2014
All over the world, small farmers are being forced off their land to make way for corporate agriculture, writes GRAIN – and it’s justified by the need to ‘feed the world’. But it’s the small farmers that are the most productive, and the more their land is grabbed, the more global hunger increases. We must give them their land back!
The data show that the concentration of farmland in fewer and fewer hands is directly related to the increasing number of people going hungry every day.
Family farmers, FAO say, manage 70-80% of the world’s farmland and produce 80% of the world’s food.
But on the ground – whether in Kenya, Brazil, China or Spain – rural people are being marginalised and threatened, displaced, beaten and even killed by a variety of powerful actors who want their land.
A recent comprehensive survey by GRAIN, examining data from around the world, finds that while small farmers feed the world, they are doing so with just 24% of the world’s farmland – or 17% if you leave out China and India. GRAIN’s report also shows that this meagre share is shrinking fast.
How, then, can FAO claim that family farms occupy 70 to 80% of the world’s farmland? In the same report, FAO claims that only 1% of all farms in the world are larger than 50 hectares, and that these few farms control 65% of the world’s farmland, a figure much more in line with GRAIN’s findings.
Just what is a ‘family farm’
The confusion stems from the way FAO deal with the concept of family farming, which they roughly define as any farm managed by an individual or a household. (They admit there is no precise definition. Various countries, like Mali, have their own.)
Thus, a huge industrial soya bean farm in rural Argentina, whose family owners live in Buenos Aires, is included in FAO’s count of ‘family farms’.
What about sprawling Hacienda Luisita, owned by the powerful Cojuanco family in the Philippines and epicentre of the country’s battle for agrarian reform since decades. Is that a family farm?
Looking at ownership to determine what is and is not a family farm masks all the inequities, injustices and struggles that peasants and other small scale food producers across the world are mired in.
It allows FAO to paint a rosy picture and conveniently ignore perhaps the most crucial factor affecting the capacity of small farmers to produce food: lack of access to land. Instead, the FAO focuses its message on how family farmers should innovate and be more productive.
Small farmers are ever more squeezed in
Small food producers’ access to land is shrinking due a range of forces. One is that because of population pressure, farms are getting divided up amongst family members. Another is the vertiginous expansion of monoculture plantations.
In the last 50 years, a staggering 140 million hectares – the size of almost all the farmland in India – has been taken over by four industrial crops: soya bean, oil palm, rapeseed and sugar cane. And this trend is accelerating.
In the next few decades, experts predict that the global area planted to oil palm willdouble, while the soybean area will grow by a third. These crops don’t feed people. They are grown to feed the agro-industrial complex.
Other pressures pushing small food producers off their land include the runaway plague of large-scale land grabs by corporate interests. In the last few years alone, according to the World Bank, some 60 million hectares of fertile farmland have been leased, on a long-term basis, to foreign investors and local elites, mostly in the global South.
While some of this is for energy production, a big part of it is to produce food commodities for the global market, instead of family farming.
Small is beautiful – and productive
The paradox, however, and one of the reasons why despite having so little land, small producers are feeding the planet, is that small farms are often more productive than large ones.
If the yields achieved by Kenya’s small farmers were matched by the country’s large-scale operations, the country’s agricultural output would double. In Central America, the region’s food production would triple. If Russia’s big farms were as productive as its small ones, output would increase by a factor of six.
Another reason why small farms are the feeding the planet is because they prioritise food production. They tend to focus on local and national markets and their own families. In fact, much of what they produce doesn’t enter into trade statistics – but it does reach those who need it most: the rural and urban poor.
If the current processes of land concentration continue, then no matter how hard-working, efficient and productive they are, small farmers will simply not be able to carry on.
The data show that the concentration of farmland in fewer and fewer hands is directly related to the increasing number of people going hungry every day.
According to one UN study, active policies supporting small producers and agro-ecological farming methods could double global food production in a decade and enable small farmers to continue to produce and utilise biodiversity, maintain ecosystems and local economies, while multiplying and strengthening meaningful work opportunities and social cohesion in rural areas.
Agrarian reforms can and should be the springboard to moving in this direction.
To double global food production, we must support the small farmers
Experts and development agencies are constantly saying that we need to double food production in the coming decades. To achieve that, they usually recommend a combination of trade and investment liberalisation plus new technologies.
But this will only empower corporate interests and create more inequality. The real solution is to turn control and resources over to small producers themselves and enact agricultural policies to support them.
The message is clear. We need to urgently put land back in the hands of small farmers and make the struggle for genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform central to the fight for better food systems worldwide.
FAO’s lip service to family farming just confuses the matter and avoids putting the real issues on the table.
* Barattooni magaala ginci namooni 80 ol yakka tokko male oromoo ta’u isaanif qofa hidhaman atattaman akka gadi nuf lakkifaman.
Dhaadannoo kan armaa olii fi kan kana fakkatan dhageessisaan. sirboota qabsoo Oromoo jajjabeesus wallisuun. karaa konkolaata baha gara dhiha Asoosatti darbu cufanii gooma konkolaata karaa irratti gubanii hojii boonsa hojjachaa oolani.
Torbaan darbe kana keessa mormii godina Shawaa lixaa aanaa Daandii magaalaa Gincitti jalqabamee tureen, namoonni 80 ol hidhamuu isaanii kan jiraattonni nutti himan gabasuun keenya ni yaadatama.
Oromia (Finfinnee): KFO fi Fincila Diddaa Saamicha Lafaa (FDSL). The public meeting convened by Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) in Finfinne on Sunday, October 18, discussed the so called the ‘Master Plan’ and conclude that it is a land grab policy disguised as a development plan and called on Ethiopian authorities to halt it, and on the public to continue rejecting it.
On 30 May 2015 residents in Buraayyuu (Central Oromia) protesting the demolishing of their residential houses by TPLF/ Agazi for being the supporters and voting for the popular opposition OFC/Medrek) in the 24 May 2015 General Elections.
Gaafiin mooraa Yuuniversitii kanatti ka’ee jiru dhimma amantaan kan wal qabate tahullee barattootni Oromoo heddumminaan keessatti gaaffii miidhaan saba Oromoo kaasuun, gubachuu bosonaa fi warshaalee Oromoo keessa jiranis kaasuudhaan gaaffii barattootaa gara gaaffii mirgaatti naannessanii guyyoota lamaan kana jechuun Bitootessa 17 fi 18 barumsi dhaabbatee akka jiru odeessaan Qeerroo gamasii addeessaa jira. Barumsas akka hin baranne Oromiyaan boca uumamashee mootummaa Wayyaanen utuu gadhisaa jirtuu, ilmaan Oromoo mana hidhaatti osoo gidirfamuu jireenya dhuunfaa keenyaaf barumsa kennee lafa dhiituun haa dhaabbatu jechuun diddaan mooraa kanattis qabatee akka jiru odeessi nugahee jira.
Naannoo Wallootti:-
Aanaa Gudayaa ganda Konkaa Ijaa jedhamau Bitootessa gaafa 15 fi 19 /2015 mootummaa irraa ergamee hojii basaastummaa aanaa kana keessatti kan hojjetu dhalootaan Amaara kan tahe tokko nama dhalootaan oromoo tokko sabboonummaa qabu harka mootummaatti dabarseekennuu irraan tarkaanfiin ajjechaa basaasaa mootummaa wayyaanee kana irratti raawwatamee jira. sababa kanaan manneen jireenyaa saba amaaraa 4 ol tahus ibiddaan gubateera,diina mootummaan ergamee uummata hammeenyaaf kennaa jiru kana irratti boombiinis darbatamee namoonni hedduun mada’anii jiru, odeessa Qeerroo hubatamu irraa uummanni tarkaanfii mootummaa wayyaanee irratti fudhachuu eegalee jira,deggertootni mootummaas sodaa kana keessa seenuudhaan hojii isaanii irraa akka deebi’aa jiran dhalootaan saba biraa kan tahan, ilmaan habashaa hojii diinummaa irratti bobbahanii jiranis naannoo sana irraa uummataan ariyamaa akka jiran odeessi Qeerroo addeessa. http://qeerroo.org/2015/03/19/diddaan-sirna-wayyaanee-fi-gaaffiin-mirga-abbaa-biyyummaa-guyyaa-haraa-yuuniversitii-afur4-keessatti-jabaatee-itti-fufe/
Qeerroo’s Status Updates: Feb. 22, 2015 – March 13, 2015
Oromo students protests continue to erupt in several towns in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia – taking various forms in recent weeks. The new round of protests began on February 22, 2015, when Oromo students and youth of Jimma town turned an Oromian Sports Championship event, which had been taking place in the city, into a protest against the so-called “Addis Ababa Master Plan” and against the recent inflammatory speech of Abay Tsehaye, one of the TPLF strongmen. The students chanted slogans, such as “Finfinne is ours! Adama is ours! Jimma is ours!” and more, a reminiscent of the bloody April/May 2014 widespread protests, in which more or less the same slogans had been chanted throughout Oromia. The Oromo youth were also singing revolutionary songs in the whole stadium. The protests continued beyond control in Jimma Stadium and on the streets of the city on a daily basis until the Sports Championship was to come to a close on Sunday, March 1, 2015.
Speech of Oromian “President” Muktar Kedir Interrupted
On March 1, 2015, the Oromo students protest escalated to a higher level when two high-level delegates of the Ethiopian government, the so-called President of Oromia – Muktar Kedir and President of Amhara Region Demeke Mekonnen appeared in the stadium for the closing ceremony, and also in an attempt to address and pacify the protesting youth. As the whole stadium erupted with shouting voices, slogans and revolutionary songs of the students, Muktar Kedir was unable speak at all, and he and all the “guests,” including the Honorable GuestDemeke Mekonnen, were forced to leave the stadium in humiliation and eventually reported to have left the city the same day.
Audio: March 1, 2015 – Jimma, Oromia
Govt Messenger’s Indoctrination Meeting Foiled in Nekemte
On the evening of March 1, 2015, the same day students of Jimma university protested, a meeting organized in Wollega University by the government delegate and messenger Dr. Getachew Begashaw through the university administration intended to inculcate the students with the evil policies of the government and to pacify the Oromo students from protesting was foiled by the Oromo students, and the meeting was dismissed. It was as soon as the meeting began that Oromo students started shouting, singing revolutionary songs and chanting slogans, such as “the [Addis Ababa] Master Plan will never be realized! OLF is the hope of Oromo people! International community should be made aware of the genocide committed against us!” and more. Dr. Begashaw and other “guests” were forced to stop their lecture, and leave the university while the students continued chanting slogans and singing in the whole university campus throughout that night. Although the students were protesting peacefully, hours later, a large number of police force entered the university campus and started beating the students and arrested many of them, including a 3rd-year electrical engineering student Kuma Gammachu. The whereabouts of the arrested students is still unknown.
At least 10 Oromo Students Abducted in Jimma
On March 2, 2015, the Ethiopian government unleashed its police force in Jimma University, and abducted at least 10 students for no crime other than exercising their rights by peacefully protesting, together with thousands of other Oromo students. Among the abducted Oromo students of Jimma University are:
These and other abducted Oromo students are said to be held in a prison in Jimma city in an area known as Alazar.
Looting of Oromian Top Soil Thwarted in Sibu Sire
On March 7, 2015, Oromo farmers – who were evicted from their land and from whom their farm land was given to investors in East Wollega zone, Sibu Sire district, in a village called Tuqa Wayyu – organized the youth and the local Oromo population, and stopped lorries which were looting top soil (fertile soil) of their land and taking to an unknown place.
Three OPDO Officials Fired
On March 10, 2015, the government fired three OPDO officials in Western Shaggar (Shoa) zone, Abuna district, accusing them of siding with the protesting Oromo people for their right and being sympathetic to Oromo students. These are:
1. Shiferaw Mekonnen, Head of Finance of the district
2. Bacha Lamessa, Head of Human Resource
3. Girma Bacha, Jobs Coordinator
Protest in Wama Hagalo: An Oromo Pastor Arrested
On March 10, 2015, protest of the Oromo population for their right and against the policies of the EPRDF government was flared up in Eastern Wollega zone, Wama Hagalo district, Qasso town. A fierce clash has occurred between the Oromo population – who were protesting, and government police forces during which the police arrested several people, among whom are:
1. Qajeelaa Raggaasaa
2. Boodanaa Baqqalaa
3. Misgaanuu Raggaasaa
4. Danjaa Dhangi’aa
5. Dhugaasaa Abdiisaa
6. Booboo Addunyaa
7. Misgaanuu Addunyaa and many more.
Moreover, an Oromo pastor of the Evangelical Church of the district, Waqgari Ayana, was abducted and disappeared, accused of praying to God for the downfall of the current government. The whereabouts of this pastor is still unknown. It is to be recalled that a respected Oromo pastor Gudina Tumsa was abducted and killed by the Derg regime in 1970’s.
2nd Round of Protest in Wollega University
Oromo students of Wollega University, Nekemte town, protested for the second time on March 11, 2015 in their university campus. It was right after their breakfast that the students gathered in front of the cafeteria and started chanting the slogans which they had prepared. One of the students who was interviewed by Simbirtu Radio and another student interviewed by OVL/SBO (Oromo Voice of Liberation) – both explained the details of the protest. It was before the protest expanded to the entire campus that a large number of police force came and dispersed the students. It is reported that still a tense situation exists in the university campus, and no two students are allowed to stand together.
Audio: March 11, 2015 – Wollega, Oromia
Protest in Busa: Young Oromo Severely Beaten & Abducted
On March 11, 2015, protest of Oromo population erupted in South West zone of Oromia, Dawo district, Busa town, during which the people chanted slogans, such as “Oromia belongs to the Oromo! We will not give Finfinne (Addis Ababa)! We need peace! We are fed-up of Woyane’s lies!” and more. During this time the government dispatched a large number of police force which were seen beating the protesters. Especially the police has severely beaten an Oromo youth Geleta Waqo – dragged him on the floor and have taken to an unknown location.
Kana malee Anaa Deedoo irraa ilmaan Oromoo torba kanneen ammaf maqaan isiinii nu hin qaqqabiin humna poolisii federaalaan qabamanii mana hidhatti darbamuu maddeen keenya gaabasan.
Haaluma kanaan Yeroo amma kana Mootummaan Wayyaaneen humni Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo ABO’n Godina Jimmaa keessa buufate jira maqaa jedhuu fi maqaa sakkatta’aa dhabamsiisuu jedhuun humna poolisii naannoo Oromiyaa irraa shakkii guddaa qabatuun ajaja mootummaa federaalaatiin poolisoota Federaalaa fi waraanaa aanota Godinichaa keessa bobbaasuun ilmaan Oromoo maqaa qorannoo fi sakkatta’insaan dararuu fi ukkamsuun hidhatti darbaa jiraachuun saaxilamera. Adeemsi gochaa diinummaa mootummaan Wayyaanee fudhachaa jiru kun uummata bakka jiruu dammaqsuun akka uummatni fincilee sochii FDGtti makamuun mirga isaa kabachiifatuuf dirqamsiisa jiraachuu irraa uummatni utuu hidhatti hin ukkanfamiin harka walqabatnee mootummaa abba irree irratti finciluun yeroon gamtaan kaanee falmannuu amma jechuun dhaamsa waliif dabarsaa jiraachuun ibsame jira.
Ethiopia Official Threatens to Continue Mass Murder in Oromia to Grab Land; Use the Hashtag “#StopAbayTsehaye” to Protest Abay Tsehaye and the Addis Ababa Master Plan
February 21, 2015 · Finfinne Tribune & Gadaa.com
(OromoPress) – Abay Teshaye, a member of the Executive Committee of Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and adviser to the current nominal Prime Minster of Ethiopia, made a genocide threat against the Oromo people who oppose the implementation of a land grabbing policy. Abay Tsehaye made the threat with a vitriolic tone of hatred and arrogance toward the Oromo:
“The master plan will be implemented now. If anyone from the Oromia regional administration or anti-peace forces oppose this, we’ll cut them to size,” OMN reported citing a leaked Amharic audio of Abay Tsehaye from a meeting that took place in Hawasa town in the south. Made against the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the wider Oromo people; the threat comes on a the heels of massacre across Oromia region from May to July 2014. Oromo media have repeatedly reported that Abay Tsehaye was one of TPLF/EPRDF masterminds of the episode of genocide that claimed the lives of over 200 Oromo students and led to the incarceration of 3,765 students and farmers across Oromia in mid-2014. The students were protesting the implementation of a land grab policy in Oromia towns and rural districts in and around Fifninnee/Addis Ababa, which led to an unexplained disappearance of over 200,000 Oromo farmers.
Abay Tsehaye made the statement at an official meeting on behalf of his party and the Tigrean-led Ethiopian government. His speech was not an empty threat since he and other TPLF officials have followed through with threats and engaged in acts of genocide in Oromia State against innocent civilians, especially the Oromo youth, over the last 24 years (since Tigreans grabbed state power). Oromo activists created a Twitter hashtag #StopAbayTsehaye to protest the angry and arrogant genocide threat by Abay Tsehaye and to spread awareness about the issue to the global audience.
We Are Ready to Pay Any Sacrifice to Stop Abay Tsehaye and His Cohorts
Qeerroo Bilisummaa Calls for Revolt In Response to Abay Tsehaye’s Insult of the Oromo People
One of the leaders of the TPLF/EPRDF regime and an architect of the so called “Addis Ababa Master Plan”, Abay Tsehaye, has openly insulted the Oromo people and particularly the OPDO by saying that the “Master Plan” will be put into practice by all means. Filled with contempt and arrogance, Abay Tsehaye said those who oppose the Master Plan “will be put down” or “face the consequences”. He proved the long time belief that the so called OPDO is nothing but a puppet of the TPLF which can be intimidated by a single TPLF individual. The dictatorial Woyane Ethiopian regime’s leader Abay Tsehaye, who is working as an “advisor” of the Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, is one of the TPLF heavy-handed personnel who interfere in all internal affairs of the nominal so called “Oromia regional government”. He is said to be constantly harassing and intimidating high ranking OPDO officials and the leaders of the so called Oromia Regional Administration by calling them into his office. It should be clear that his current insult of Oromo nationalists and members of the Oromia regional administration is an insult to the entire Oromo nation. The so called “Master Plan”, which Abay Tsehay and his TPLF hooligans are trying to shove down into the Oromo people’s throat, is a plan intended to evict Oromo farmers from their ancestral land and destroy the Oromo identity. It intended to take away Oromo land without the will of the owners of the land and destroy Oromo language by incorporating Oromian towns and villages into one big Addis Ababa, the capital city which should belong to Oromo in the first place. In doing so, Abay Tsehaye and the Tigrayan elites have a plan to divide Oromia into two: East and West.
In April and May, 2014, Qeerroo Bilisummaa has organized Oromian youth for nationwide protest against this so called “Master Plan”, in which the regime brutally killed hundreds of school children and arrested and ruthlessly tortured tens of thousands others. Our people have already paid the ultimate sacrifice with their blood and the lives of their children. The current chauvinistic outburst of Abay Tsehaye only reaffirms to us that our struggle should continue and that we should pay all necessary sacrifice. We will NEVER let this minority regime dictate its will upon us. We shall ignite the torch of Revolt Against Subjugation (Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa) again and defend our father’s land and dignity. A minority regime will not “put us down”. More:- Stop Abay Tsehaye and His Cohorts
Addis Ababa has expanded rapidly over the last 20 years by swallowing villages and farming communities, all of whom are Oromos, along its path. This has resulted in the eviction of at least an estimated 100,000 Oromo farmers to make way for “industry” and other high priority “development” endeavours, and for the construction of luxury apartments and mansions for TPLF officials and their accomplices. These farmers, because they have never had any experience with urban ways of life and doing business, soon become homeless, jobless begging on the street when they run out of the unfair compensations they were given by the government. This is very sad, and a crime of genocidal proportion.
Many OPDO officials, contrary to their TPLF masters, know these horrifying stories of farmers left on the street of Addis begging, and others working as daily labourers. And it seems they have said enough when they resisted the top-down approach of imposing the so-called Addis Ababa surrounding Oromia integrated Master Plan, which is kind of a way to legitimize the annexation of towns around the city. Many were killed when they peacefully took to the streets to protest the Master Plan in April/May 2014. No enquiry has ever been conducted regarding the massacres in Ambo and other locations.
And TPLF continues to bully OPDO officials to submit themselves in continuing to committing genocide on the Oromo farmers. Some bow for their masters. Others not so much.
Many believe the Master Plan is not according to the interest of the Oromo people, and it has to be prepared by the Oromia regional state after Addis Ababa is handed over to the Oromia regional state as a special administration territory, also stipulated in article 49(5). Well, TPLF is not even willing to amend the plan, let alone giving the city to Oromia regional state. This is shown in the ignorance of officials, such as Abay Tsehaye, who declares war on people as unison on public meeting. Abay Tsehaye, probably the second in command of TPLF, has vowed to crush any resistance to the Master Plan. But the Oromo youth or Qeerroo and other political parties, both peaceful and through armed movement, have echoed their concern and promised to address the issue seriously.
The following video is a compiled satellite night time images making time lapse of Addis Ababa since 1992. It clearly shows the city has rapidly grown particularly huge jump between 2003 and 2006.
Ask yourself, is this growth or genocide? What is the meaning of development if it just displaces resources, makes one rich for every 1000 poor? Ask yourself, why farmers who have always lived with their land in pride, sustain themselves for generation, are removed from their livelihoods into new ways of life that are quite radical and hard to comprehend? http://finfinnetribune.com/Gadaa/2015/02/reinvent-ethiopia-areal-satellite-images-of-the-addis-ababa-expansion-1992-2013-at-the-expense-of-oromo-farmers/
Few months ago, in an interview with journalist Befekadu Moroda of Oromia Media Network (OMN), I asserted that TPLF and the Tigrean ruling class have transformed into Neftegna. Abay Tsehaye’s recent words and behavior testament to that. Remember the Neftegna system that gave monopoly over the means of violence and the sources of wealth produced chauvinistic agents who exploited and disrespected oppressed groups in Ethiopia. The system also engineered social behaviors that justified the actions of those agents and popularized myths of the dominant groups socio-cultural superiority. Overtime, the ruling class and its base began rationalizing and institutionalizing prejudice and extreme form of violent responses towards those who dissented.
During the early years of their rule, as violent and oppressive they were, TPLF differentiated themselves from their predecessors by being sensitive and showing reasonable respect for groups they subjected. However, they began abandoning such sensitivity as they consolidated power and began amassing wealth, and they have started adopting the ugly behaviors of their predecessors. Nowadays, emboldened by the absolute monopoly of the means of violence, intoxicated with abundance of wealth at their disposal and facing no so significant threat to their rule, the TPLF Tigrean rulers’ rudeness, arrogance and disrespect for other cultures have become their norm. Just like their predecessors, they have the false sense of inherent superiority which had made them feel invincible. This behavior is even worse among their rising generation – which was born into wealth and power and grew up being drugged with post-victory (post-1991) bravado of TPLF.
This is good and bad news. It’s ‘bad’ because such collective behaviors increase and justify violence and repression against the subjected populations. However, on the ‘good’ side, it makes the system intolerable – expanding the base of resistance, and, consequently, speeding up the downfall of the system.
Abay Tsehaye’s threat, its tone and spirit, is very revealing of TPLF’s contempt and disrespect for Oromos, even those who are serving them as puppets. What is the story behind such outburst? After completion of the the Master Plan without any involvement from the Oromia side, Abay Tsehaye gathered senior OPDO leaders and ordered them to implement the plan. They expressed concern that they were not involved in the process of drafting the plan and that it will be hard to convince the rank and file. They were told they will not take NO for answer. The OPDO leaders could not even agree on the matter and when they took the issue to the mid-level leadership, they were met with fierce resistance and hostility. While the Oromia state leaders were planning to bring the issue to the Caffee ( parliament) for deliberation, Abay/TPLF could not wait so they bypassed them, gathered administrators of cities surrounding Finfinne and told them to begin implementation. At this meeting, the city administrators raised several procedural and policy objections and said they cannot take this plan without further study and deliberation at Caffee ( Oromia parliament level.) The administrators said they cannot convince the public about a plan even they themselves neither understand nor accept. In their typical manner Abay Tsehaye and TPLF leaders rejected the request for further discussion at the leadership level and gave them strict orders to begin the implementation phase. This conflict reached the public leading to the mass protest and massacre of April/May 2014.
During and in the aftermath of the protest, OPDO leaders agreed on the need to postpone the Master Plan as a way of containing the situation. This idea was initially accepted by the official EPRDF including the Prime Minister. However, Abay Tsehaye summoned the OPDO leaders and accused them of sabotage and threatened to eliminate them from the top down, and anyone who stands in the way of the Master Plan. Terrified, the puppet leaders went home and began hibernating avoiding the subject altogether.
Therefore, what is heard in this leaked audio of Abay Tsehaye threatening over a thousand urban planners and administrators is nothing new. His contempt towards Oromo and insidious plan to rob them of their land must be confronted. They have already began implementing the Master Plan and Abay Tsehaye had made it abundantly clear that they will go ahead by any means necessary. Well this needs to be met with the same spirit–the plan must be stopped by any means necessary.
Lets remember that the Finfinne issue is not isolated. TPLF’s real master Plan is to establish Tigrean economic monopoly by depriving Oromos of any real source of economy across the country including fertile land, mineral sites, manufacturing and trade. Therefore the target of Oromo resistance needs to focus on fighting back against this real Master Plan. The resistance needs to identify businesses of TPLF and its affiliates across Oromia and take them on to ensure they don’t succeed.
Arrogant TPLF leaders should realize that their power is more vulnerable than their fortified headquarters lead them to believe. The roots and branches of their domination extends deep into the remotest part of our homeland.
Biyya tuffatan harreen garmaaman ========================
The Gulele Post • February 15, 2015
“Waan feetaanis fiddan Masteer Pilaanin Finfinnee hojirra ni oola. Warra nu dura dhaabbate abbaa feetes taatu ‘likkii’ galchina. Qondaalonni Oromoo godiina naannawa Finfinnee yakkamtoota. Qonddaalonni Oromiyaa laamshoodha.” Kun hundi arrabsoofi dhaadannoo qondaaltichi Wayyanee guddichi Abbaay Tsahaayyee Oromoota walitti qabee itti huruurse kaassaayi. Sagalee gabaabduu waraabamtee OMN geette irraa jechoota fokkisaa akkasii yoo dhageenyu kan nuti hin dhagayin hafan maal faa akka ta’e yaadun nam hin dhibu. Akkan dhagayetti, tibba mormiin godhamaa ture san qondaaltoota OPDO gurguddoo walitti qabuun arrabsoo dhuunfaa bira dharbee hamma doorsisuufi harkaan itti aggaamutti gahame ture.
Tuffiifi jibba Abbaay Tsahaayyeefi waahillan isaa Oromoof qaban afaan ajaayan as bahe kun dhimma nam- tokkee akka hin taane namuu hubachuu qaba. Ejjennoo jaarmayni Wayyaanneen qabattee deemtuun, kan qabeenya Oromoo saamuun sirna cunqursaa isaanii tursiisuuf hammeenya hammamii raaw’achuuf akka muratan ragaadha. Karoorri maqaa Master Pilaaniitin Finfinnee bal’isanii, Oromiyaarraa muranii fudhachuu kunis kophatti laalamuu hin qabu. Master Pilaaniin kun karoora guddicha fi isa ol aanaa Tigroonni ol’aantummaa dinagdee yoomifu turu ijaaruuf qaban irraa kan maddeedha. Akkuma namuu argu yeroo amma kanatti lafti gabbataan jaraaf hirmaa jira. Iddoon albuudaa, warshaalee gurguddaani fi magaalaan sochii dinagdee qabdu too’annaa jaraa jala galfamaa jira. Daldaltoonni Tigraay hamma baadiyyaa Oromiyaatti caasaa diriirfachuun daldaltoota Oromoo taphaan ala godhanii jiran. Qonnaan bulaa Oromoo kaan lafa irraa fudhatanii warshaafi mana jireenya waardiyyaa isaani godhatan. Warra hafe ammoo xaa’oo gatiin samii tuqee itti fe’anii kasaarsanii hiyyoomsan.
Sochii Warraaqsa Bilisummaa ta’aa jiru daran jabeessuun dhadannoolee uumata onnachiisanii fi waamicha diddaa sirna Wayyaanee kan qabu barruuleen kun bakkoota mootummaan Wayyaanee beeksisa maxxanfatu irrattii fi lafa magaalota bakka bebbeekamoo irratti maxxanfamuu fi uumataafis raabsamuu gabaasi Qeerroo naannicha irraa nu gahe addeessa.
Keessattuu Qeerroon aanaa Daawoo magaala Buusaa mana murtii fuula duraa fi secondary fuuldura ti waraqaa waamichaa dhoobuu fi magaala iddoo hedduu ti faca’uurraan kan ka’ee uummanni gammachuu guddaan kan itti dhagaheef qeerroon daraan kan onnatan ta’uu odeessi gama sana irraa nu dhaqabeera.
Gabaasa guutuu dhimma kana agama fuula duraa dhiheesina.
Erga guyyaatti 3 ol nyaanna jedhamee Wayyaaneedhaan hololamu eegalee waggoottan 24 darbaniiru. Muummicha ministeeraa wayyaanee kan ture Mallas Zeenaawiirraa eegalee hanga ergamticha har’aa H/Maariyaam Dassaalanyitti guddinarratti guddinni ida’amee, parsantii 11 oliin gudataa jirra jedhamee afarfamaa tureera. Guddinnii fi dhaadannoon waggoottan 24 darbaniif hololamaa ture garuu kunoo dhadhaa abidda bu’e ta’ee hafe. Guddinni gaafa afaan qawweetiin haangottii dhufan irraa eegalanii hololaa turan as buuteen isaa dhabamee ummattoonni biyyattii beelaan mankaraaraa jiru. Impaayeera Itiyoophiyaa keessatti beellii fi gadadaoon babalatee namni miliyoona .15 ol ta’u kan afaaniin qabatee bulu hin qabu. Inni guyyaatti 3 fi sanaa ol nyaata jedhame takkaa dhabee beelaa fi dheebuun harcahaa jira.
Dhugaadha miseensoonni Wayyaanee fi lukkeeleen sirnichaa saamicha fi malaanmaltummaa afaan qawweetiin gaggeessaniin quufanii bulaa jiru.
Ethiopia ‘using aid as a political tool’.
BBC report alleges the government is withholding aidfrom opposition supporters and committing human right abuses
Duroomanii midhaan filatanii nyaatu, wuskii bakka dhaqanitti dhangalaasu,ciree Finfinneetti yoo nyaatan dhayanni isaanii Awuroopaa ta’uu danda’a. Abbaa fooqii hedduutii, makiinaa akka kaalsii miilaatti guyyaa guyyaan jijjiirratu. Warshaaleen biyyattii keessa jiran kan isaaniti. Ummattoonni cunqursaa fi saamicha sirnichaa jala jiran miliyoona 15ni olitti tilmaaman garuu beelaan harcahaa jiru. Qayee fi qabeenyarraa buqqawaa jiru. Biyyaa baqatanii gammoojjii biyya ormaa fi galaanatti dhumaa jiru.Mootummaan Wayyaanee mootummaa gama hedduun ummattoota Impaayeera Itiyoophiyaa keessa jiran, keessumaawuu ummata Oromoo addatti irratti xiyyeeffatee fixaa jiruu dha. Murni saamichaaf umame kun gama tokkoon nama mirga isaa fi lammii isaatiif falme; barattoota qalama malee harkaa hin qabnee dabalatee, sabboontoota rasaasaan karaarratti fixaa jira. Kaan mana hidhaatti guuree, kaan ammoo qayee fi qabeenyarraa buqqisee, carraa hojii fi barnootaa dhorkatee mankaraarsaa jira, biyya dhablee taasisuun kan biyyaa baqachiisee gammoojjii, galaanaa fi kaampii baqattaatti fixes manni haa lakkaawu. Haacaaluu ammoo kunoo amma nama miliyoona 15 ol beeleessee kadhaa fi du’aaf saaxilee jira.
walumaa galattii ummattoonni biyyattii keessumaa Oromoon beelaan, baqaan, rasaasaan , hidhaan goolamaa fi dhumaa jira jechuutu hundarra salphata.
Murni Wayyaanee karaa adda addaan beela nama mil 15 ol miidhaa jiru kana dhoksuuf yaaluus, yeroo kaan ammoo lakkoofsa isaa gadi buusee himuuf carraaqus namni dhumaa, abdiin qotee bulaa fi horsiisee bulaa beeladoonni karraan harcahaa jiru. Akka BBC fi AL-JAZIRA dabalatee miidiyaaleen idil addunyaa hedduu fi dhaabooleen gargaarsaa adda addaa yeroo ammaa kana ifa taasisaa jiranitti impaayeera Itiyoophiyaa Wayyaaneedhaan bulaa jirtu keessatti beelli namoota mili. 15 ol , kan irra jiraan isaa saba Oromoo ta’e akka malee hubaa, lubbuu baasaa jira.
When it comes to eliminating poverty, the degree to which the benefits of growth are shared can have a significant impact on outcomes. According to Martin Ravallion, the former head of research at the World Bank, as cited in The Economist, a 1% increase in incomes in the most unequal countries produces a mere 0.6% reduction in poverty; however in the most equal countries, it yields a 4.3% cut. In other words, societies can get much more ‘bang from a boom’ if they ensure benefits are more widely shared.This brings us to the point at which trickle-down theory ends and inclusive growth begins. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), inclusive growth is “a new approach to economic growth that aims to improve living standards and share the benefits of increased prosperity more evenly across social groups”.Inclusive growth refers to both the pace and pattern of growth, which are considered interlinked and therefore need to be addressed together. Inclusiveness represents equality of opportunity in terms of access to markets, resources and an unbiased regulatory environment for businesses and individuals. In a nutshell, it is not just about the quantity of growth within our economies and societies, but also about its quality.
Despite its higher severity in terms of intensity and magnitude as compared to similar humanitarian crises in recent time, the current hunger in Ethiopia doesn’t receive adequate response yet from national and international aid organizations. Though good news are coming about bilateral aid support from U.S and certain EU members, the INGOs which have got ample experience in the area of humanitarian responses in the country are either still on the stage of preparation or did not yet plan to respond. The irresponsible position of the ruling party-EPRDF – that claimed the drought would not be beyond government capacity- might have contributed for the late and/ or no response acts of the aid organizations.
Moreover, Aid organizations become more curious about their mandate/roles and forced to operate under strict precaution (even in the case of emergency interventions) since the new civil society law enacted in the year 2009- that explicitly prohibited them to undertake any right based projects. The critical question usually asked by the practitioners goes, “is there any thing as such which can not be a right in the development endeavor? be it education, livelihood, economic empowerment or emergency food support?”. The ruling elites have never wanted to properly address such confusions emanated from their notorious enactment, as their main intention is to narrow dawn the space of civil society in Ethiopia’s political engagements.
Whatever the reasons, the emergency response support to millions who are severely affected by the disaster is already delaying. The results of such irresponsible acts might claim the lives of the vulnerable groups, if the trend continues so. The internationally accepted “Humanitarian” principles and standards are being compromised in Ethiopia due political irresponsibility in the ruling elites and lack of adequate sensitivity in the aid sector. The hunger incident has already severely affected the life of 15 million people through putting at least six regional states in “red level” hot spot situation. Oromia regional state having more than 125 most affected districts is leading in the humanitarian crisis. It should be noted that the recurrent drought crisis is proportionally shifting to South of the country during the recent incidents.
The claimed “food aid” through various government owned mechanisms do not address the need of all affected communities fairly and equally mainly due to autocratic political acts. The target community/ localities that showed their support to opposition forces during the recent national election 2015, for instant, would be discriminated by blind cadres during such government based aid support. Denial of such food aid-humanitarian support- to certain severely affected households due to failing to pay membership fee for OPDO- ruling party in Oromia region- was also observed in some areas.
Thus, alternative emergency response interventions should be in placed immediately. The Aid Organizations (INGOs) and other national civil society organizations as well as the entire community should act now, irrespective the prevailing political and bureaucratic challenges.
Related:-
SBO – Sadaasa 22, 2015. Oduu, Qophii Beelaa, Dhimmoota Adda Addaa Irratti Gaaffii fi Deebii Namoota Gara Garaa Waliin Taasifamee fi Qophiilee Biroo
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9022 (particularly for urgent matters)
E-mail: tb-petitions@unhcr.org
Mr. Antonio Guterres United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR)
Case Postale 2500 CH-1211 Geneve 2 Depot Suisse
Email: infoDesk@ohchr.org; GUTERR@unhcr.org
The UNHCR Representation in Kenya
PO Box 43801-00100 GPO
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 41 22 739 7280
The President of the Republic of Kenya
President Uhuru Kenyatta
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 74434 – 00200
Nairobi, Kenya.
The International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Ethiopia
Bole Sub city-, Kebele 12/13, House no. New
P. O. Box 5701
ADDIS ABABA
Phone: (+251 11) 647 83 00
Fax: (+251 11) 647 83 01 Head of delegation: Mr REYNOLDS James
The ICRC regional delegation in Kenya
Denis Pritt Road
P.O. Box 73226 – 00200
NAIROBI
(covers Kenya, Djibouti, Tanzania)
Phone: (+25420) 2723 963 – 4 – 5
Fax: (+25420) 2713003
Head of regional delegation: Mr MEYRAT Thierry Media contact persons: Ms KILIMO Anne
Phone : (+254 20 2723963
Mobile (+254) 0722 202039
Mr STRAZIUSO Jason
Mobile: (+254) 733 622 026
Subject: Appeal on the urgent case of Mr. Dabasa Guyo’s disappearance and other Refugees in Kenya
Dear All,
I am writing this appeal letter on behalf of the International Oromo Women’s Organization (IOWO), a Non-Profit, Non-governmental Organization established to promote gender equality and be the voice for the voiceless.
The oppressed people in Ethiopia that include the majority of Oromo people fled their home to escape government persecutions, killings, arbitrary arrest, and abductions in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government spearheaded by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), came to power in the early 1990’s. Since that time until present, mass killings, arbitrary arrests, abductions, and evicting people from their home become the day-to-day activities of the government forces. Hundreds and thousands of Oromo and other nationals run away to escape from such government actions.
However, the government security forces hunt refugees in neighboring countries, assassinate or abduct and take back to Ethiopia for further torture and killing.
I. Few examples of mass killings by Government forces in Ethiopia since TPLF came to power:
• The mass killing of University Students in Ambo and other cities April/ May 2014 on the peaceful demonstration against the expansion of Addis Ababa city to other neighboring Oromia cities, which is still continuing. (BBC News May 2, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27251331).
• The massacre of Muslim peaceful protestors April and August 2013 in Asasa and Kofele, Oromia, killed at least 26. ( Extracted from the report of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation report 19th Session of the UPR Working Group Submitted 16 September 2013)
This is in violation of religious freedom provided in the country’s constitution of 1995 Article 11/3 which states “The state shall not interfere in religious matters and religion shall not interfere in state affairs”.
• The massacre of members of the Suri tribe took place in December 2012, at least 147 Suris killed. (extracted from HRLHA Statement Feb.2013).
• The Massacre of Oromos Gara Sufi in February 2007. The victims age range from 14 years old Ayisha Ali to seventy years old Ahmed Mohamed Kuree. (VOA Afaan Oromo program on Wednesday Feb. 21, 2007).
• The Locke, Sidama, Massacre 24 May 2002 killing 46 and wounded 44. (OSG No. 38).
• The Massacare of Sheko and Majenger people on 11 March 2002, at least 128 dead. (By Nita Bhalla BBC, Addis Ababa, Tuesday, 16 July, 2002, 11:39 GMT 12:39 UK).
• The Massacare of Babo Gambel village West Wollega on 28 April 1995, 27 people were summarily executed by the EPRDF army in the Babo Gambel village in Jarso District at a places called Shimala Ture and Qiltu near Ganda Sheik in western wollega. (Report from Sue Pollock 13 April
1996 Schottlands National Newspaper PP.10-13).
And others.
II. Some examples of individuals abducted by Ethiopian Security forces and disappeared or not known their whereabouts.
Amanti (Shafee) Abdisaa abducted by Ethiopian Airport security men on August 20, 2000 at Addis Ababa Airport after he boarded the plane for conference in Nairobi representing the Ethiopian Environmental Organization he was working for. (OSG Press Release No.38).
Engineer Banti Guddataa Hirpha: Abducted by armed men January 5, 1998 in Addis Ababa around Behere Tsige in his firiend’s house. (OSG press release n. 23).
Efrem (Xibabu) Kaba: abducted from Addis Ababa November 17, 2000. (OSG press release n. 39).
Lammessa Boru: Arrested on September 17, 1992 near Dembi Dollo by EPRDF soldiers in Toyota land cruiser, later seen in military hospital in Jimma, but disappeared from there since October 23, 1992. (AI Index: AFR 25/06/95)
Yosef Ayele Bati: Arrested by unidentified security officer, on November 27, 1992 in Addis Ababa. (Amnesty International: http://bit.ly/yosefbati).
Zerihun Kinati Dheressa: Abducted by armed plain clothe men and uniformed police in Addis Ababa on October 17, 1997. (OSG press release 20).
According to different sources:
Nadhi Gamada: Detained in 1994 by the Ethiopian security force. Since then his whereabouts is unknown.
Jirenya Ayana and Temesgen Adaba: Abducted by government security men when walking near “Urael Church” in Addis Ababa in August 1995 and disappeared.
Bekele Dawano Hebano: Disappeared while in detention in 1993.
Dachasa (Masfin) Bayana Iticha: Abducted in Addis Ababa around “Mesalemiya” near the City Hotel by government security men in September 1995.
Dagaagaa Bayisaa: Abducted in 1993 while traveling by bus between Siree and Nekempt, and last seen in an underground cell at Bakko.
Daniel (Ida’aa) Akkummaa: Arrested in Addis Ababa in 1992. Since then his whereabouts is unknown.
Dereje Qana’aa: Disappeared in February 19, 1992 from the place he was teaching in Bodji in Wallaga.
Mustafa Idris: Disappeared on his way to home from work in Addis Ababa on May 31, 1994.
Takele Oljirraa: Abducted by government intelligence men in November 1992, near “Teklehaymanot” area (Addis Ababa), another person detained in 1994 believes he saw Takale in the Kasainchis secret detetion center in Addis Ababa (OSG August 1995 press release report, p. 13).
Takalinyi Dago: Abducted from Addis Ababa by the Ethiopian Secret Service, on January 14, 1996.
Due to such brutal actions of government forces, some escaped and ended up their lives in Ocean/sea, some suffered in Yemen and other countries, and some seeking asylum in Kenya and waiting for the resettlement option in third countries.
We thank the Kenya government and people for their hospitality. However, the Ethiopian government forces extended their brutal actions in killing or abducting and taking back, torture and put in prison or kill them.
III. Some examples of such Ethiopian government actions mentioned in “AN OPEN PETITION” of the Oromo Refugee community in Kenya to the UNHCR, September 2013, the followings are the victims of killings and abductions by Ethiopian security forces and mercenaries in neighboring countries:
A. OROMO REFUGEES WHO WERE ASSASSINATED BY ETHIOPIAN SECURITY IN KENYA
2. In 2003, asylum seeker Mr. Halakhe Diidoo was killed by Ethiopian security in the town of Moyale – Kenya as he crossed to seek asylum.
3. In 2004, Mr. Areeroo Galgalo was gunned down in Moyale – Kenya just some 50 metres away from Moyale Police Station as he was heading to seek asylum at the police station.
4. On 4th September 2007, Mr. Gaaromse Abdisaa was shot dead in Moyale town – Kenya while in bid to save his life and seek asylum.
5. 6th November 2007, a group of ten (10) Oromo refugees were attacked in their living apartment in Eastleign Nairobi. At least two were killed on the sport and some injured.
6. On 20th March 2010, Mr. Asefa Alemu Tana, a refugee with UNHCR File No.: Neth 029833/1 was found dead at his home near a bathroom, with deep head injuries. He lived in Huruma with his family members.
9. In 1994 a twenty four year old Boru was found hanged on a tree at the backyard of the camp. Most Oromos believe that the EPRDF agents killed him.
10. In 1994 an unknown gunman, who is believed to be an EPRDF agent, shot and killed many Oromo refugees inside the refugee camp.
11. In the same year (1994), an Oromo religious man, Sheik Abdusalam Mohammed Madare, was shot and wounded seriously. As a result, many Oromos living in the camp had protested against the discriminative killings of the Oromo refugee.
12. In 1995 three Oromo houses were burnt down in Kakuma camp, where a 5 year old baby girl, Hajo Ibrahim, was killed.
13. N 1996 a frustrated Oromo refugee, who fled from the camp and was found dead in the surrounding area, after half of his body was eaten by scavengers.
14. In 1998 a group of masked gunmen, showered bullets in the Oromo section of the camp for several hours.
15. In 1998 Mr. Rashid Abubaker was found dead in Eastleign by gunmen believed to be EPRDF agents.
16. In 1999 Mr. Sulxan Adem, Awal and Mohammed Seraj were kidnapped by unknown secret agents, and disappeared.
17. On 3rd June, 2000 a young nationalist Abudulwasi Abdulaziz was killed by EPRDF government secret killing square at Juja Road at Pangani. He was a member of Oromo Traditional Band.
18. In the same year (2000) Mr. Alamu a well known and respected Oromo in Dadab, was killed by unidentified people, but it is believed that those killers were assisted by Ethiopian authorities.
19. In the same year (2000), a UNHCR field officer named Shida had found one of the Ethiopian community members who bought a gun to kill the Oromo. She was said to have brought the person to Nairobi so that he would be charged in Kenya for his killing attempt.
20. In the same year (2000), one Oromo refugee was shot and lost one of his limbs.
21. In the same year (2000), in Dadab Mr. Solomon was shot dead.
22. In 2001 Ifrah Hassen was kidnapped in Kakuma by unknown group of people and her whereabouts unknown to this date.
23. In 2001 Mr. Jamal Mussa, Mr. Mohammed Adem and Mr. Mohammed Jamal and Tofik Water all disappeared and their whereabouts are still unknown.
24. In 2001 again the one Oromo refugee was killed by planned car accident, the car was driven by an Ethiopian who is believed to be an Ethiopian government agent.
25. At the beginning of 2002 Awel Mohammed Hussen was kidnapped from Dadab, and then found while he was taken to Dolo Military Camp in Ethiopia where he was killed by EPRDF soldiers two days later.
26. In the same year four Oromo refugees escaped in Kakuma fleeing to Nairobi from planned assassination by EPRDF squad.
27. On 2nd November 2002 Mr. Indalkachaw Teshome Asefa was murdered by Ethiopian security forces in Moyale town.
28. On the same day the body of Oromo women, believed to be murdered by security force was found in the town.
29. In December, 2009 an organized attempt by the Ethiopian government to deport some innocent Oromo refugee community members Mr. Mamed Said a well known elder of the community Mr. Alemu Ware and Yesuf Mohamed was reversed by the help of concerned bodies and the cry of Oromo community members.
B. DEPORTATION OF OROMO REFUGEES WHO LIVES WITH UNHCR MANDATE IN KENYA
1. Mr. Legesse Angessa and Teklu Baleha Dhinsa were abducted from Dhadhab Refugee Camp and deported back to Ethiopia.
2. In 2005, Mr. Liiban Jarso, Olqabaa Lataa and Amansiisa Guutaa (former student from Addis Ababa University) were abducted from Eastleign, Nairobi and unlawfully deported back to Ethiopia. In connection to this and many other disappearances of Oromo refugees, hundreds of Oromo refugees marched into mass demonstration and gathered outside UNHCR office in Nairobi on 27th December 2005 to complain the rise of insecurity and abduction cases instigated by the Ethiopian government and claimed that some had been killed.
The Kenya government authority intervened and the security detectives arrested three Ethiopian men believed to be secret security agents deployed to cause atrocities to Oromo refugees in Kenya. The three; Mr. Tesfaye Alemayo and Lulu were charged and tried before the law court which ruled and ordered their deportation to Ethiopia.
Efforts by members of Oromo community, Kenya Human Rights Commission and the UNHCR to prevent their refoulement went to no avail, when on 7th May 2007 during a court hearing of Hebeus Capeaus, Kenyan officials told a local judge, and the two were already deported back to Ethiopia to face terrorism charges.” (Oromo Refugee Committee in Kenya, 2013).
Engineer Tesfahun Chemeda has been killed in Ethiopian prison and Mesfin Abebe is still in prison.
IV. Another example of mass killings in neighboring countries: According to OSA appeal letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Massacre of Oromo Refugees in Bassaso, Puntland (Somalia) on Tuesday December 01, 2009 in which at least 67 lost their lives and hundreds wounded and another time in Bassaso at different place on 02/05/09 mass massacre of 65 were brutally murdered and more than 100 others were injured.
Ethiopian government security force hunting Oromo Refugees anywhere in neighboring countries nonstop.
V. According to the recent HRLHA’s Urgent Action and Appeal of October 25, 2015, 131 Oromo refugees in Kenya targeted to be abducted or assassinated by the TPLF regime. The action started with the first named in the TPLF list, Mr. Dabasa Guyo Safarro, 80 years old, an Oromo cultural legend, resident of Mololongo, Kenya for more than thirty-five (35) years disappeared on September 27, 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.
We are highly concerned for Mr. Dabasa Guyyo’s safety and security as well as the security of other 130 Oromo refugees named in the list.
We request President Uhuru Kenyatta and the government of Kenya to protect Oromo refugees in Kenya and stop the Ethiopian government boundary violations and harassing Oromo refugees.
We ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge the Ethiopian government stop human rights violations and abuse.
We request the ICRC to take urgent action in search of the where about of Mr. Dabasa Guyyo and safe his life.
We request the UNHCR to protect registered refugees and urgently work on their applications to secure asylum request to third countries.
We request the third countries governments and societies to support refugees who are in urgent need of security for their lives in providing asylum and urgent process for their resettlement.
Peace and justice for all,
Yours Sincerely,
Dinknesh Deressa Kitila
International Oromo women’s Organization
Board Director
Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere!!!
Related:-
OMN: Jim Bernholtz’s Appeal on The Disappearance of Dabbasa Guyyo Nov. 14, 2015
Waan dubartiin san gaazexeessitootattii himtee keysaa akkana jatteen “Nuti hoongeen nuttii hammattee jirtii. Namnii goodanaa jiraa. Anuu ammaa goodansafiin demaa. Edaa edaatuu hiraata osoon hin nyatiniin bulee. Gargaarsi yeroo dhufe mallaqaa kaffalleeti katabamnaa. Abbaan araddaa maallaqa nurraa guurrateeti nu galmeeysaa. Qarshii san kan beeyladaa qabu horii gargureetii ittii kannaa. Walumaagalatti kan qarshii dhibbaa 300 hin qabnee gargaarsa kana hin fudhatu. Gargarsii osoo ummata hoongeen miidhame biraa hin geenye namootuma muraasaaf hiramee dhuma. Gargarsi aanaa keenyaa kan caasaalee araddaatifi kanuma nama qabenyaa qabuu tahe.” jattee icitii silaa isaan dhoysuu barbadaan mara jalaa bafte.
Galgaluma san TV Oromiyaa sagantaa kana dabarsee ture. Garuu kan nama aja’ibsisuu gazaxessooni kun waan intaltii dhala san ittii himtee hin dabarsine. Kan isaan dabarsan “rakkoo beelaa hin qabnuu tan nuti qabnu rakkoo bishaan dhugatiiti” tan jattu dabarsan. Kanaas kan ja’e nama bulchaan aanaa qopheesseen kan dubbatamee dha. Wanni nama gaddisiisu garuu bulchaan ummata bulchaa jiru kun ummata moo mootummaaf akka dhaabbateedha. Sagaleen ummataa ukkamamtee ummanni beelaan dhumaa jiraachuun kun akkamitti xiqqolee garaa isaan hin nyaanne jechuun ummanni bal’aan kaabinoota aanaa komachaa jiran.
Akka odeeffannoon gara Miidhagaa Lolaatii arra nu gahe tokko ibsitutti, hoongeefi beelaan wal qabatee haalli amma naannoo sanitti argamuu akka malee yaaddeessaa tahuu irraa kan ka’e abaar akka baroota dheeraa dura naannoo sanii namoota kumaatamaan baqachiisee turee san daran tahuun shakkisiisaa jira ja’an. Gargaarsi waajibir naannoo san dhufaa jiruus kan kallattiin ummata bira gahaa jiru osoo hin taane kan aangawoota araddaafi nama qarshii qabuu qofa akka tahe ijaan agartoonni naannoo sanii himaa jiran.
Haaluma wal fakkaatuun aanaalee walakkaan horsiifatee bultootaa tahan kan akka Qumbii, Mayyumuluqqee, Gola Odaa, Baabbile, Gursumiifi Cinaaksaniis beeyladaan isaani margaaf bishaan dhabaaf jalaa dhumaa kan jirtuufi ummanniis haala yaaddeessaa taheen beelaan xuruurfamaa jiraachuufi gargaarsi dhufu eessa akka gahu wanni beekan akka hin jirre odeeffannooleen garasii nu dhaqqabaa jiru ni hima.
MARSABIT: The Kenya Defence Force (KDF) has moved its armoured vehicles and tanks from the Odha Military Camp in Moyale to Sololo following an invasion by Ethiopian forces who killed three police officers.
MARSABIT (The Standard): The development last evening follows a fierce gun battle earlier in the day between Kenya police and Ethiopian forces at Anona and parts of Sololo Township in Kenyan territory.
Marsabit County Police Commander Bernard Kogo said three Kenyan security officers were killed but declined to reveal the casualty on the Ethiopian side. “We lost three officers at the border (Sololo) and I do not know what happened on their (Ethiopian) side,” said Mr Kogo. On Thursday, a senior provincial administrator identified a senior chief who was gunned down by allegedly rebels from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Ethiopia is fighting the rag-tag OLF rebels in Ethiopia and parts of Marsabit County that it claims hosts their rivals. OLF is opposed to Ethiopia’s ruling regime and claims it has marginalised the majority of Oromia-speaking people who include the Borana, also found in Kenya. At dawn Friday, Ethiopian forces in full military attire invaded villages in Sololo District where locals led by area MP Roba Duba said at least 24 Kenyans were abducted. “Eleven people were rounded up and taken away by Ethiopian soldiers. Before that they beat up everyone in their sight with gun butts, kicks and blows,’’ said Adan Jirma, a resident of Sololo South.
See also: Ethiopian soldiers cross to Kenya, kill three policemen, five missing At around midday Friday, Ethiopians soldiers made a second invasion in the two centres while backed by armoured vehicles.
This prompted administration and regular police, backed by Kenya police reservists, to engage the foreign army in a shootout. As the gun battle between the two sides raged up to about 4pm Friday, KDF’s army multi-unit detachment from Odha in Moyale, about 100km away, rolled its armoured cars and tanks that were deployed at the border, stretching a distance of about 15km. Sololo OCPD Benjamin Mwanzia said the military had been deployed to guard against further incursion but declined to give details. National Hospital Insurance Fund Chairman Mohamud Ali called on the Kenya Government to protest what he called frequent invasion by Ethiopian forces into Kenyan territory. “We are a sovereign state and this (invasion) is bad because Ethiopia is considered a friendly neighbour. It is high time our government sends a strong signal to them,” said Ali. Mid this year, Ethiopian forces invaded Kenyan territory on three occasions — at Illeret, Sololo and Moyale.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000183121/kdf-deployed-at-border-after-ethiopian-forces-kill-officers
Related:-
Ethiopia risks diplomatic row after its soldiers enter Kenya and kill local police officers.
NAIROBI will seek an explanation from Addis Ababa after Ethiopian soldiers killed three Kenyan police officers in foreign territory, Kenyan media reported Sunday.
November 16, 2015His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta
Office of the President
The Republic of Kenya
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 74434 – 00200
Nairobi, Kenya.Appeal Regarding the Disappearance of Mr. Dabassa Guyo
Your Excellency President Kenyatta,
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Oromo Community Organization (OCO) of Washington DC Metro Area. OCO was founded as a non-profit organization with the main objective to help Oromo Diaspora, to promote the development of the Oromo language and culture through education and to advocate for the human rights of the Oromo in Diaspora and their relatives in the Horn of Africa.
It is with great shock that we learned the disappearance of Dabasa Guyo – a prominent Oromo Cultural and religious leader residing in Nairobi, Kenya. Mr. Dabassa Guyo was born and raised in the Borana region of Oromia, Ethiopia. Since the Derg and TPLF governments came to power to the present, hundreds of thousands of Oromo and other nationals have run away from arbitrary detentions, degrading tortures and violent killings in Ethiopia to save their lives by seeking refuge in the Republic of Kenya and other neighboring countries. Mr. Dabassa Guyo, has moved to Kenya several decades ago for his safety and due to the persecution of the Oromo people in Ethiopia. Mr. Guyo has been residing in Nairobi for the last thirty-five years until his sudden and mysterious disappearance on September 27, 2015.
Mr. Guyo is an indigenous Oromo philosopher and cultural expert. During his entire life, he has been a peacemaker and has developed a philosophy of peaceful living and coexistence among the human race. He has traveled to the United States of America, and several countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America to teach ways of peaceful living and the resurrection of Oromo culture and ancient civilization, including the Gadaa System (Oromo democracy). Mr. Guyo is a founding father of Oromo civic institution known as Argaa-Dhageeti and a walking encyclopedia of the Gadaa System. In particular his profound knowledge of the Gada system – an indigenous Democratic system of governance- has placed him among the few irreplaceable Oromo experts in the Horn of Africa. Over the last three decades, thousands of Oromo refugees have attended his cultural education center in Nairobi, Kenya, to learn about Oromo culture, history and an indigenous religion. His former students are now scattered all over the world. Mr. Dabassa Guyo is a family man and a prominent teacher of the Oromo people.
Mr. Dabasa Guyo took part in the celebration of Irreecha on September 2015- an annual Oromo thanks giving day – where he delivered his annual thanks giving blessings to his fellow Oromo country men. On this day, he was kidnapped while on his way from the ceremony
We are shocked by his sudden disappearance. Family members, relatives and his formers students have been trying to learn his whereabouts for over six weeks with no results. It is puzzling that someone would attempt to hurt or abduct such a peaceful person and an elder who had been preaching peace all his adult life. But based on a document which the Ethiopian government submitted to your government, which we recently learned from public sources, and other numerous acts of violence that the Ethiopian government has been perpetrating against Oromo refugees in the Horn of Africa, we suspect that Mr. Guyo was abducted by Ethiopian security agents. The letter to your government lists Mr. Guyo at top of 131 Oromo refugees residing in your country whom the Ethiopian government considers terrorists and wants to be repatriated. In fact, threats, illegal and criminal acts of violence against Oromo refugees by the Tigrayan-led Ethiopian government is not new. It has been engaging in terrorizing and killing the Oromo people in general and the Borana Oromo in particular for the last twenty four years. In 1992, the Ethiopian government sent its security agents and assassinated Mr. Jatani (Mebeatsion) Ali, a prominent Oromo and former administrator of the Boraana region in Ethiopia. Furthermore, the government has been sending its security agents to Kenya to abduct other prominent Oromos that it suspects to be national leaders and opinion makers among the Oromo society. For example, Engineer Tesfahun Chamada was abducted, tortured and killed in Ethiopian prison in 2013. We fear that Mr. Guyo may have been a victim of similar act of violence conducted by the Ethiopian government. He may have been abducted to be tortured and killed. Sadly, if our worst fear proves to be true, it will be a huge tragedy and an immense disappointment for the Oromo people and for all peace loving peoples of the world. In short, it is a great loss to the world’s humanity.
Therefore, we appeal to you, so that you could use your presidential power to find the whereabouts of Mr. Dabassa Guyo and return him to his peaceful daily life and his family, so that he could continue his contributions to the development of peace-making and education of his people and others about indigenous Oromo civilization. As a longtime resident of your country, Mr. Guyo and his family deserve the highest protection afforded to all refugees under international law.
We request that you and your government protect Oromo refugees in Kenya and stop the Ethiopian government from harassing Oromo refugees and engaging in gross human rights. Particularly, we request you to take urgent actions to find the whereabouts of Mr. Dabassa Guyo, secure his immediate release and return to his family safely.
Sincerely,
Desta Yebassa, PhD
Board President
Oromo community Organization (OCO)
6212 3rd St NW,
Washington DC 20011
Phone: (office):202-234-1151
(Mobile): 202-422-8971
CC:
Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs
PO Box 56057-00200, Co-operative Bank House, Nairobi
Mr. Antonio Guterres United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR)
Case Postale 2500 CH-1211 Geneve 2 Depot Suisse
Email. infoDesk@ohchr.org;GUTERRES@unhcr.org Attention
The UNHCR Representation in Kenya
P.O. Box 43801-00100 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: kenna@unhcr.org
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Office at Geneva 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
E-mail: tb-petitions@ohchr.org
(Mail & Guardian Africa): ANGOLA marked its 40th birthday this month and while the south African country blew off the candles, there’s one situation it would be happy the world didn’t pay much attention to.
The “Republic” of Cabinda has even set up its own de facto government, but Angola has no doubt about who the area falls under, having steadfastly held that it is sovereign territory administered from Luanda.
The geography, and history, however stokes the debate: not only is the area completely separated from Angola by a narrow strip of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but it was also only a protectorate of the Portuguese (called Portuguese Congo) and was only formally integrated into Portuguese Angola in the 1950s. In 1963, the Organisation for African Unity – now the African Union – recognised the distinction between Angola and Cabinda by ranking Cabinda as the 39th state. Internationally though, the area is recognised as part of Angola.
Following independence from the Portuguese, the self-determination movements in Cabinda carried on in the activities of FLEC (Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda), this time against their African colonisers. The Cabinda people have not given up, even though the region has now become the country’s most militarised area as a way of control. FLEC continues to carry out a low-level insurgency in the area, with sporadic attacks on army patrols and oil workers – one high profile attack included a bus carrying the Togolese football team in 2010.
So why won’t Angola let go? Though Cabinda represents just a tiny part of Angola’s overall territory – it’s about the same size as The Gambia – it holds vital economic importance to the country producing most of Angola’s oil wealth – up to 70%—and therefore the revenue on which the government survives.
Cabinda is not alone. Across Africa there are areas which have famously called for secession such as Western Sahara, Somaliland and Puntland – functioning with their own governments and in some cases getting increased international recognition, but there are still others which fly low below the radar…where their “African masters” like to keep them:
Barotseland
The people and royal household of Barotseland, in western Zambia, have been agitating for the region’s independence. They accuse the Zambian government of ignoring a 1964 treaty which established Barotseland’s position within Zambia as an autonomous region, in place of the earlier agreement between Barotseland and the British Government.
Barotseland, the kingdom of the Lozi people ruled by the Litunga (king or paramount chief), was a protectorate under British colonial rule and became part of Zambia at the country’s independence in 1964. In 2012, a group of traditional Lozi leaders, calling itself the Barotseland National Council, declared that Barotseland was now free to pursue its own peaceful “self-determination and destiny.”
Zambia was quick to quash these declarations and in December 2014 the administrator general of the Barotseland transitional government, Afumba Mombotwa, and three other secessionists were arrested for treason. If they are found guilty they will be hanged. Their trial, which began in August 2015 is still underway though petitions have been handed to the UN demanding the release of the political prisoners.
So why won’t Zambia let go of the Kingdom? Barotseland is in the upper Zambezi valley which means it has very fertile land. The floodplain is also something of a tourist attraction but the main reason could be because the region has oil potential, in addition to other minerals. In 2011 the government awarded the first petroleum exploration licence to a Zambian company, Barotse Petroleum Company, to explore oil and gas in the province.
Free Republic of Rehoboth
Chances are that you’ve not heard of this one.
The Rehoboth Basters, descendants of Cape Colony Dutch settlers and African women, number about 35,000-55,000 people and live in an area of 14.216 sq.km south of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. They claim they settled in the late 1860s and developed their own legislation, years before the Germans installed their colonial rule over Namibia in 1885, giving them a right to independence.
With Namibia’s independence in 1990 they lost their status, which they have been demanding back. The United People`s Movement (UPM) was established in 2009 to unite the Baster People and provide them with a political voice, pushing for autonomy of their political affairs.
However, in the case of the Basters, it’s not that the government doesn’t want to let the area go – they are simply not seen as being of consequence because of their small numbers. Their traditional authority is not being recognised anymore and the Namibian government has registered Rehoboth as commercial land.
Ogoniland
Under the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), founded in 1990, the people of Ogoni are attempting to disengage from Nigeria having declared independence in 2012. They also presented a Bill of Rights to the Government of Nigeria calling for political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people. It states that the Ogoni people seek, “political autonomy to participate in the affairs of the Republic as a distinct and separate unit (by whatever name called), provided that this autonomy guarantees political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people”.
MOSOP claims that the Ogoni people’s independence was first violated by British colonialism and then “handed over to some other Nigerian ethnic groups in October 1960.” The problem is in 1957 Shell Oil Company struck oil in Ogoniland, which set in motion a process transformed both Ogoni society and Nigeria as a whole. Today, oil accounts for over 90% of Nigeria’s export earnings and some 80% of government revenue, controlling the entire Nigerian economy.
The independence movement is driven by the community feeling inadequately compensated for the take-over of their land by the oil companies and the environmental damages they suffered.
Nigeria has also seen activism around Biafra, for which hundreds of people marched this week, as marginalisation grievances swirl over an area that caused a major civil war in the 1960s.
Oromia
In Ethiopia the Oromo people – the country’s largest community with 30 million members, constituting 34.49% of Ethiopia’s population – lay claim to the country of the Oromo, called Biyya-Oromo or Oromia. Oromia is described as one of the free nations in the Horn of Africa until its colonisation and occupation by Abyssinia at the end of the nineteenth century. Their self-determination movement is being pushed by the Oromo Liberation Front, or OLF, an organisation established in 1973.
Their attempts for secession however are being fought by a central government that cannot afford to lose this bread basket, with human rights groups saying there have been excesses. Oromia is the region where coffee first originated, today it accounts for more than 65 % of the country’s total coffee growing land and coffee is the country’s largest export.
Casamance
The Senegalese region has also since the 1980s waged low-level resistance over what it says is marginalisation. Successive peace deals have been signed, and the central government has pushed economic plans to stamp out the disquiet, which has been quiet for the last few years.
Alarm bells are ringing for a food emergency in Ethiopia. The UN says 15 million people will need help over the coming months. The government, wary of stigma and therefore hesitant to ask for help, has nevertheless said more than eight million Ethiopians need food assistance. Extra imports to stem the crisis are already pegged at more than a million tonnes of grain, beyond the government’s means. Inevitably, comment and media coverage compare the current situation with 1984 – the year Ethiopia’s notorious famine hit the headlines. Reports suggest this is the worst drought in 30 years. One declares it a“code red” drought. So how bad actually is it?
The country of close to 100 million people is huge, spread over an area of more than a million square kilometres that ranges from semi-desert to swamp to mountain ranges and fertile farmland. The weather systems and agricultural patterns are diverse and complex. Even within the higher-altitude areas of the country, the most densely populated, the typical rainy seasons vary and crops are grown at different times of the year. This year, the weather has been prone to even greater variation due to the global climate phenomenon El Niño, last seen in 1997-1998.
Ethiopia produces more than 90 percent of its own food. Last year, the cereal harvest was estimated to be 23 million tonnes, but imports in recent years averaged 1.2 million tonnes – just five percent of that. So even if 2015 and 2016 are bad years (the impact of a poor harvest is felt months later as food stocks run out), the vast majority of Ethiopian people will support themselves and eat produce from their own country. But in a giant like Ethiopia, 15 percent of the population is 15 million people – more than the entire humanitarian caseload of the Syrian crisis. An extra five percent of cereals is another 1.2 million tonnes.The costs and logistics become formidable at this scale.
WEATHER
The weather is only one part of the equation in whether people go hungry. Politics, economics, the availability of seeds and fertiliser, conflict, trade and labour markets, population pressure, social habits, and a host of other factors matter too.
While the science and sociology of food security is complex and layered, international agencies working on drought and hunger-prone countries, including Ethiopia, use a scheme called the Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification Framework (IPC) to simplify the mass of underlying data into a five-step scale – from minimal food security pressure to famine. Some parts of northern Ethiopia are already flagged as being in “Phase 4”, one step from the worst category. More are expected to follow, unless sufficient resources can halt the slide.
Even getting a single view of one year’s weather, let alone human interaction with it, is no simple matter.
For more than 30 years, meteorologists have gathered a giant archive of satellite data for Ethiopia. US satellites, in particular METOP-AVHRR, churn out petabytes of data. Triangulating that with other sources, including ground-based measurement, farm assessments, nutrition, and price monitoring provides a rich toolkit to estimate vegetation, rainfall, soil moisture and temperature – ultimately giving an idea of food on the table.
Considering all the variables, the drought and famine watchdog FEWS NET, established in the wake of the 1984 famine, has used direct, but not alarmist, language to describe the prospects: its latest report for Ethiopia is titled “Large-scale food security emergency projected for 2016”. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, meanwhile, warned: “food security conditions sharply deteriorated.”
Political sensitivity, donor pressures, logistics, media distortion, inefficiency and scepticism may yet conspire to tip more Ethiopians into “Phase 4.” Even in the best-case scenario, the financial resources will be hard to find – $270m is still needed for 2015 alone, according to UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, and needs are set to rise sharply (the US, the UK and China have pledged relatively early to the response, according to the government).
To illustrate the complexity of weather patterns in Ethiopia and attempt to demonstrate a link with El Niño, IRIN analysed 30 years of satellite imagery to provide some visual evidence of the complex and erratic picture of weather in the Horn of Africa. Read more in the following link
The thirty-three case studies shed light on the tremendous success of agroecological agriculture across the African continent. They demonstrate with facts and figures how an agricultural transformation respectful of the farmers and their environment can yield immense economic, social, and food security benefits while also fighting climate change and restoring soils and the environment.
What is Agroecology?
Agroecology is the application of ecological science to agriculture and agroecosystems. It encompasses a wide-variety of practices, which are coherent with key principles of environment preservation, social fairness, and economic viability. Therefore, agroecology combines parameters of sound ecological management, like minimizing the use of toxics by using on-farm renewable resources and privileging endogenous solutions to manage pests and disease, with an approach that upholds and secures farmers’ livelihoods.
Local Context, Long-Term Impact
While agroecology promotes low use of external inputs, it is a very knowledge-intensive system. Transmission of this knowledge, adaptation to local contexts, and appropriation by farmers and government technicians, are essential steps for farmers and communities to reap the benefits of agroecology. The case studies demonstrate how the expansion of agroecological practices will generate a rapid, fair and inclusive development, that can be sustained for future generations.
It is doubtful if all those who exalt democracy understand it in the same way. For this reason, let us see if we can find a common ground for Oromo activists. As the son of the last Gadaa practiced in his birthplace, no one, this writer believes, will contest his Gadaademocratic heritage. But so what? What matters is only if he practices and defends it. The word democracy (demockratia), they say, came from two Greek word “demos” for people, and “kratia” for government. The words of Abraham Lincoln in modern times expresses better the Western concept of democracy, which is “a government of the people by the people for the people …” This is notwithstanding the framework in which it is practiced in different countries. From what we observe, genuine democracy is a difficult dream to be realized. Even Gadaa or Oromo democracy, which was more inclusive, was not perfect. Evaluating democracy has to start from structure and function of an organization. An organization is its setup, its kaayyoo and its members who have pledged to struggle for a common cause respecting its laws and regulations; any democratic member or leader is judged by one’s integrity, one’s commitment to the organization, priority one gives for comrades’ concerns, and respect for organizational laws and procedure, and how much one understands national and international human and technological developments.
For this writer, democracy is a way of life where all people are seen as equals irrespective of social position, education, skill, race, ethnicity, etc. All genuine democrats accept the rule of law, encourage participation of members in decision making, and do not try to silence dissenting voices. That distinguishes them from autocrats, oligarchs and totalitarians. Leadership in democracy is based on election with time limit. In certain cases, elected leaders could turn autocratic or oligarchic abandoning organizational rules and objectives that demand all-inclusive teamwork. Autocracy is a rule by an individual. Oligarchy, on the other hand, is a rule by an elite group or clique. In both systems, there are some who initially come through election, but ignoring rules and regulations that had brought them to power, they start to rule by whim. Such usurpation of power cannot be enduring, but the devastation it could cause may be realized later. That is how Hitler came to power, and we know what happened to Germany and the world; Wayyaanee is on the same course and is on its way out. Therefore, there is a lot to worry when someone starts to stray from lawful practices. He or she may get away with it once, but that does no good for the struggle and future member relations unless corrected.
The first schism in OLF was between young brothers who claimed of being more Oromo than the other instead of showing patriotism commensurate with their kaayyoo. The unexpected is, all that came later in senior years who wanted to prove who could faster find out a way to win aliens favor irrespective of own political loss. That is how diaspora Ethiopianists became vocal and daring in a never-seen way. The struggle against oppression is not advancing; individual activists leading it are not materially benefiting yet – and are not searching for a way out. If errors are pointed out, every one is fast to take a position for self-defense and viewing comrades as adversary. What is going on is difficult for a quick analysis. At present, one can smell prolusion in the activist ranks. All the agitation for liberation, all the condemnations of treachery are now forgotten with temptations from colonial masters, even to a great surprise of former pariahs.
All the spilt blood of sisters, brothers and comrades are erased from memory. Some of them are suffering from the struggle’s fatigue; there seems no stamina or honor left in them. It reminds one the two Wayyaanee men and musicians who surrendered and started to give out secrets they held to the Darg during its waning days in return for some protection and comfort. But the fanfare did not last long, the defectors and Darg had to run for their lives. Numbed Oromo politicians are also hurrying to the same end. They will surrender to leaders of the empire and their running dogs to flee again soon, now with their hosts. No one can stay mentally healthy and in peace betraying the Oromo legitimate cause.
Elections usually create bodies that are individually and collectively responsible to the electorate. For that purpose, there is a division of labor and accountability governed by rules and regulations among them. But leaders who have autocratic tendencies break those rules of procedure deceptively and take the law to their hands. In most cases, organizations have executives and a policy-making council or Parliament, which has a supreme power. All power that is not clearly mandated belongs to this council. For autocrats, this mandate is time-wasting and unnecessary. Such autocrats are prone to a third-party influence. Third parties pursuing their own interests prefer partners whose hands are not tied by democratic procedures and accountability. That is how the objective principles of democratic organizations are derailed and distorted by self-seeking individuals in cahoots with sinister interests. For example, that is how Wayyaanee ended up serving individual leaders and foreign interests instead of peoples who elected it.
Legal procedures are laid down so that each division of an entity plays as a check-and-balance on each other. The executive is mandated to implement policies based on guidelines policymakers lay down for it. Chairperson’s duty is to coordinate the work of members of the executive and act as the public face for the organization and do other duties clearly mandated to them by the higher body. That does not mean they cannot suggest new ideas, but it needs approval of their comrades. Members and other functionaries can be asked for their opinions or be informed on the state of their organization, but cannot vote on policy issues outside their competence. Such practice existed only in direct democracy, not representative one.
In representative democracies, leaders may take to the mass members or to those the issue on hand concerns to put pressure on the policymakers though they have no legal significance and do not justify circumventing legally established procedures. However noble the reason for circumventing might be it cannot outweigh abiding by the law in the long run. For instance, in OLF, a body that represents the National Kora as the supreme policymaker is the National Council. If the executive take action on matters that are under council’s jurisdiction without its authorization that does not worth a penny, and is not binding on anyone, but only holds the perpetrator accountable. All deliberations require quorum to be valid. The chairman is a member of the executive committee. Relevant decisions are made through the committee. Such is how decisions are supposed to be made by this organization that has sacrificed so much for democratic rights.
By their oath of office, elected members have committed themselves to be answerable to their constituency individually and severally. And they cannot remain neutral when organizational laws and regulations are transgressed. They ought to struggle for rectification and a redress mechanism when wrongs are done. Disloyalty to the organization and its instruments show contempt for principles it is based on and the goals it aimed at. By doing so, they are making the force behind the organization’s creation irrelevant. That would seem as if they have found a new function and a new loyalty for it. Procedures are laid down to curb authoritarian tendencies which are common to human nature and protect the organization from turning against itself. But that could remain a wish when members are not politically conscious enough, and mobs are turned against to harass them. In Gadaa tradition, elected leaders can be recalled for slight deviations. Not now. The enemy and its agents want Oromo activists to get engaged in internal bickering and schisms, as to make them not bother with the status quo in the empire. This has to be avoided and focus must be on implementation of organizational program in any way possible. The imperial status quo has to crumble whether they like it or not.
If not led by those committed to the cause, it will be naiveté to expect a strong and democratic organization. Without strong organization it will be difficult to win a war or to deliver what one promises. The major causes for weaknesses and dissensions in OLF so far, despite the great potential it could mobilize, are leaders not adhering to organizational objectives, rules and procedures and lacking dedication for the cause. Weak leaders of organizations sometimes seek for strength from external sources rather than internally. That is sure to adulterate all aspects of the organization and its struggle. OLF has a declared anti-colonial agenda. All its relations must be based on this agenda, not on refurbishing the empire state. To remain OLF, understanding current world situation, current Oromo youth demands and maintain independence of the organization is needed.
Unfortunately, devotion to the cause or original kaayyoo, consistency of outlook, unwavering commitment to Oromummaa, determination to sacrifice and valor are becoming rare commodities for many. When OLF shows some hopeful trends, there were those who stampede each other for favors; and when things are not favorable, there are those highly flexible whose conscience doesn’t scratch them a little bit, but hide under faith and region – and try to throw stone at it. On the other hand, Oromiyaa has produced some leaders who are allergic to criticisms – who give ears for alien propaganda, but deaf to members’ comments contrary to theirGadaa heritage. They generally fail to realize that dodging the truth will have always far-reaching consequences for the struggle. For this, no one has more experienced than the OLF. As a remedy, those engaged in the struggle must believe that OLF is greater than anyone of its members and no individual whim can replace it; no one has the right to silence member’s voice from expressing one’s opinion and no one should be hindered from exercising one’s rights and duties. If this is done, there could be internal harmony and there is no reason for the organization not to be strong. Strong organization can approach the world in unison and in one voice, and form alliances in accordance with its political program. But who wants a strong OLF?
A weak organization becomes only an embarrassment for the nation. As a nation with Gadaa heritage, Oromo takes democracy as a way of life where dialog is practiced rather than dictation. Inequality, discrimination, favoritism marginalization, deceit and partiality have no place in democracy. It is a system where the law is supreme over individual’s idiosyncrasies. Leaders and members must reflect democratic Gadaa values at all times in private and official lives. They have to show commitment and dedication for fulfillment of the national Kaayyoo. For a national organization, the motto should always be “Nation’s Interest First.”
The first known democratic system of the world which gave the concept for the government of the people was for equals or free men. Women, slaves and foreigners were not included. It had stayed so for centuries. Voting rights for women did not yet become universal. There is also no perfect model for democracy where people live in harmony with each other and natural environment, enjoying fruits of liberty. Unless the attitudes towards women are changed, it will be like working with one hand amputated. Women are the most important members of human society, and no less productive and resourceful than men. Denying them equal rights with men is probably the most absurd thing that humans have done.
Gadaa system may have no rival – concerning the paying attention to the marginalized, including women in relative terms. That this truth is not mentioned by historians of the world makes history of democracy incomplete. The Oromo do not fit into their classification of society as savage or barbarian. They are shy to call them not civilized like some ignoramus, because in their hearts they know that Oromo civilization precedes theirs. Gadaa is a democratic system ala Oromo that existed from time immemorial.
Oromo society is divided into five Gadaa parties and periods. Each citizen belonged to a Gadaa to which his father belonged. They are those five Gadaa that take responsibility of ruling the nation in turns. Each Gadaa stays in power only for eight years. A Gadaa grade prepares itself from childhood until the stage of Raabaa-Doorii – where it will be ready to take power from the ruling Gadaa orgogeessa Luba before it. Therefore, there is no chance for aGadaa to stay in power a day over eight years without jeopardizing the working of the system. Electing their leaders is the duty and responsibility of each Gadaa.
All male members of the Oromo society are divided into age groups or hiriyaa (peer) separated by eight years. Each hiriyaa group has a social, economic, and political role to play for eight years in aGadaa tier. Grooming for leadership starts at early age and goes own until the time of taking over political responsibility. Thus, all male members are involved in all affairs of their society from birth to death. That is what we call Gadaa democracy. Hiriyaa above 8 years of age are given the roles in aiding adults, serving as scouts, military training and fighting, and ruler ship and administration of justice. Relevant formal and informal education is given at every tear. Thus, an Oromo adult was a well versed person in all aspect of societal knowledge and duties. Now since collective formal and informal education has ceased, one has to use those who got chance to go to modern educational institutions; just like the ancients used the highly enlightened Raagaa.
Women had legal and ritual roles to play in their own right though governing is men’s duty. The Siiqqee institution depicts these roles of women in Gadaa democracy. There are political and social rituals which cannot be completed without their involvement. The Siiqqeeis a sacred stick, symbol of women power through which they find their ways through social webs, and get their human rights respected. Let alone in the ancients, even in modern Western world, women got voting rights relatively very recently. The UN adopted, “Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” in 1979. Even today, these rights are not recognized by all or are recognized with restrictions. Compared to those, ancient Oromo women were in a better position than them with their Siiqqee prerogatives.
For governance, there were elected legislative and executive bodies. Their functions include also the administration of justice under Gaaddisa (Shade). Though the administration of justice is not separately organized like in modern Western systems, it is said to be the most impartial and well thought. Qaalluu, which was hereditary institution, had also significant role in society. The first two are elected and filled with Luba hiriyaa group. Justice, in most cases, is said not to be left to one Gadaa generation, but mostly entrusted to the hayyuu or jaarsa, wise men of society. Every member of society is bound by law, rules and regulations of finnaa, or state. Oromo had also ethical and moral rules known as safuu. Breaking rules of safuu amounts to renouncing Oromummaa. There are few that tarnish the good Oromo tradition and defame even outstanding Oromo patriots in the name of supporting a group or an outlook. Such groups or individuals in whose name the law ofsafuu is broken by social scums have the moral obligation to officially distance themselves from such acts if they themselves believe in decency. In Gadaa, no individual or group is above the law. Breaking the law, in particular by high level leaders, could lead to uprooting. That was the way of Oromo forefathers. Thus, adherence to democracy, and respecting and causing rules ofsafuu to be respected are marks of Oromummaa.
Oromo lost such marvelous political culture and forced to live under the mercy of an alien colonial rule for more than a century. Those who were mentally liberated organized themselves into a movement defying alien domination and rejecting its laws. But the model under which they were brought up is still haunting some of them. Instead of reverting to Gadaa democratic principles, those found it easy to imitate their masters and mentors. For this reason, consensus on the national kaayyoo is affected. As a result, they are wavering between the independence courses and reducing the struggle to individual rights. That means accepting people’s rights not being more than group rights such as of clubs, associations, etc. in tune with the enemy. The enemy propagates this to oppose decolonization and the right to freedom of Oromiyaa, Southern and Nilotic peoples.
Oromo are being harassed not as individuals alone, but more so as a group for mere reason of being Oromo. That is why they see at both rights in their right perspective. Both individual rights and peoples’ rights are inseparable human rights. No one of them can be fulfilled if the other is denied. The right of Oromo as a nation is denied as not to accept their separate identity from Ethiopia. That the Oromo have different culture, language and history is difficult to be denied by anyone. Therefore, it must be understood that just having more fire power does not give anyone the right to erase the identity of the other to stick one’s own in its place. Oromo identity has survived for more than a century under dire situation, and it will survive for many more.
Peoples right, individual right, democracy and self-determination are all universally recognized (UN Charter of 26 June 1945 – Article 1.2.) – not only a plea of the colonized. See the following:
1. The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation.
2. All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. (UN Resolution 1514 (XV) 14 December 1960, (Article 1.1, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966))
The General Assembly, … Affirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples under colonial and alien domination recognized as being entitled to the right of self-determination to restore to themselves that right by any means at their disposal; (UN Resolution 2649, 30 November 1970)
The General Assembly reaffirms that the universal realization of the right of all peoples, including those under colonial, foreign and alien domination, to self-determination is a fundamental condition for the effective guarantee and observance of human rights and for the preservation and promotion of such rights; (UN Resolution 43/105 December 8, 1988)
It has taken the Habashaa over half a century to recognize rights of the oppressed colonial peoples by Article 39 of their constitution. They did that not because they believed in it, but to cool down Oromo furry in demanding for independence after a century of dependence. Otherwise, they had never practiced freedom and democracy even for their own people. Tigray, Tigriny and Amaaraa elites still maintain that. But they better focus on their own affairs if they want to avoid what their kin and kith say “Stretching to take down what is on the raft, she dropped what was in her armpit.”Habashaa elites are divided in opinion on how to govern the empire. The two schools are that of the Wayyaanee and that of those the Wayyaanee defeated in the battlefields. The Wayyaaneechose to declare Ethiopians and non-Ethiopian subjects of the empire as separate entities that deserve the rights to national self-determination contrary to remnants of the fallen Nafxanyaa and the Eritrean leader. They do not understand that the myth of their colonial empire is ending. Henceforth, they may reorganizeHabashaa Ethiopia, and start negotiating for good neighborliness with Oromiyaa and other colonies. Waaq willing, that will be the last stage of Habashaa Colonialism before the master distorters are all gone.
Gadaa system is among the advanced democracies of the world. Genuine democracy is a difficult dream to be realized. Even Oromo democracy which was more inclusive was not perfect. Human beings are all born equal. Differences after birth, concerning character, class, education, position, skill and other capabilities should not allow anyone to justify being more equality than the other. Thus, democracy is a way of life where all people are seen as equals. Accepting the rule of law distinguishes democrats from autocrats, oligarchs and totalitarians. True Oromo liberation movement is not breeding ground for undemocratic elements. But sometimes, there could be a glitch due to human frailty; if that happens, it should be nipped in the bud. It is only unity of the people and strong independent organization that can lead the struggle to victory and make it a reliable ally for anyone. Over and above their ritual role, it remains for Oromo women to claim full democratic rights. Together Oromo women and men shall throw away shackles of colonialism and finish modernizing the Gadaademocratic process disrupted by the enemy long ago by establishing democratic People’s Republic Oromiyaa. Oromo youth will not abandon Oromo revolution started by their elders. Independent Oromiyaa shall be realized! Gadaa democracy shall revive! Down with reactionary elements in the Oromo struggle!
Kanneen demokraasii ol kaasanii ilaalanhundi, akka tokkott qayyabachuun saanii mamsiisaa dha. Kanaaf mee qabsaawota Oromoof yoo ilaalcha waloo ni arginaaf tahe haa ilaaluu. Akka ilma Gadaa naannaa saatt yeroo dhumaaf shakalameett dhaalmaa demokraasii Gadaa qabaachuu saa, barreessaa kun kan ittiin mormu jiraataa itt hin fakkaatuu. Yoo tahewoo? Kan dhimma baasu yoo ofii shakalee fi utubeen qofa. Qooqi demokraasii (demokratia) qooqota Greekii lama “demos” ummata fi “kratia” mootummaa, irraa dhufe jedhama. Jechi Abraham Lincoln “Mootummaan ummataa ummataaf ummataan …” jedhu bara si’anaa rimsama demokraasii sirriitt ifsa. Kun biyya biyyatt mikkillee inni keessatt shakaIamu utuu hin dagatinii. Waan hubannu irraa demokraasiin dhugaa abju dhugoomuun saa rakkisaa tahe. Demokraasiin Oromoo yk Gadaa kan hunda haammatullee muda hin qabnee mitii. Demokraasii madaluun kan eegalamuu qabu, dhaaba, caasaa fi jiruu jarmaa saa irratii. Jaarmaan dhaaba, miseensota kaasaa waloof qabsaawan, kaayyoo, seeraa fi dambiilee saa kabajuuf kakaa seenan dabalataa. Miseensi yk hogganni demokratawaan kan madaalamu qulqullooma keessa ofii, dudhama dhaabicha qabu, durfannoo dhimmama jaalaa kennuu, seeraa fi tartiiba dhaabaaf ulfina kennuu fi hagam guddina ilmaan namaa fi teknolojii sabaawaa fi sabgiddu akka hubateenii. Leadership in democracy is based on election with time limit. In certain cases elected leaders could turn autocratic or oligarchic abandoning organizational rules and objectives that demands all-inclusive team work.
Barreessaa kanaaf demokraasiin akkaataa jireenya hundi adda addummmaa barumsaan, ogummaa fi dandeettii biraa haa qabaatan malee, walqixummaan walliin jiraatanii. Demokraatoti dhugaa hundi seeraan bulmaata ni fudhatuu, murtii dabarsuu keessatt qooda fudhannaa miseensotaa ni jajjabeessu; akkasumas sagalee mormii ukkaamsuu hin yaalanii. Kanatu ofaangessaa, bulchiyaroo fi halleto’ataan adda isaan godha. Demokraasii keessatt hoggansii kennata yeroo murtaawee irratt hundaawaa. Alii ali hogganooti filaman dambilee fi tartiiba dhaabaa, kan hojii garee hunda hammataa gaafatu lakkisanii ofaangessaa yk bulchiyaroott of jijjiiruu dandahu. Ofaangessaan olhantummaa nama tokkotii. Gara biraan bulchiyaroon murna gurguddoo yk sadootaan gaggeeffama. Sirna lamaanuu keessatt tokko tokko jalqaba kennataan aangott dhufanuu seeraa fi qajeelfama angoott isaan fide lagatanii fedha ofiin bulchuu eegalu. Taahitaa finqilchaan dhufe akkasii hin waaruu. Badiisi sanaan gahus booda hubatama. Hitiler akka sanatt aangoo qabatee, Jarmanii fi addunyaa irraan maal akka gahe argineera; Wayyaaneenis karaa sanan walfakkii irra bu’ee sussukaa jiraa. Kanaaf nammi tokko shaakala seerawaa irraa yoo cehu kan nama yaaddesssu hedduu dha. Al tokko daguun ni dandahama, garuu qabsichaa fi hariiroo miseensaa egereef sirratu malee bayeessa hin tahu.
ABO keessatt baqaqi jalqabaa, jaalbiyyumaa kaayyoo saaniin walgituun utuu hin tahin, obbolaa safila, anatu si calaa Oromoo dha waliin jedhan gidduutt gahe. Kan hin yaadamin kanneen sana booda bara manguddummaa dhufan hedduun, kisaaraa malbulchaa ofii utuu hin hedin, eenyutu shafffisaan karaa leelloon halagaa itt argamutt baha kan jedhan tahani. Akkasittii, si’ana Badii keessatt Itophistooti haala kanaan dura hin beekamnett sagaalee olkaasanii dubbachuu fi ugga agarsiisutt kan kahani. Qabsoon cunqursaa irratt tolfamu achi hin siqne; Qabsaawoti sna gaggeessan mata mataatt bu’aa waatatta argachaa hin jirani garuu karaa keessaa bahanis yoo soqan hin mullatu. Yoo dogoggoratt qubi qabames hundi ofirraa faccisuuf ariitiin bakka qabatee, jaala hunda akka hamajaajiitt laaluutt ka’a. Waanti deemaa jiru xiinxala shaffisaaf nama rakkisa. Si’ana qondaalota qabsoo keessatt fooliin falama ciinca’aa jira. Bilisummaaf dammaqsi tahe hundi, balaaleffannaan gana irratt gaggeeffamaa ture, suduudaan yk harka lafa jalaan kolomsiisa gooftolii koloneeffatoon sadarkaa kanneen dur balaaleffatamaa turan malalchiisutt dagatamaniiru.
Dhiigi obbolaa fi jaallewwan dhagala’an rakkoo malee qaabannoo keessaa haqamaniiru. Kaan kaan bututaa qabsoon dhibamaniiruu; annisaa haatahu ulfinni keessatt hafe kan hin jirre fakkaata . Sun bara Dargii gara dhumaa namoota lamaa fi ogneesitoota harka kennatanii iccitii qaban eegumsaa fi bahsananaa tokko tokkoof dabarsanii kennan nama yaadachiisa. Garuu dhiichisi hedduu hin turree miliqoo fi Dargiin lubbuu ofiif baqa eegalanii. Malbulchesitooti Oromoo hadoodan dhuma walfakkiitt arreedaa jiru. Ammas isaanuma waliin utuu hin turiin baqatt ka’uuf hoggana empayeraa fi kittillayyoo saaniitt harka kennachuuf waga jiru. Kaasaa Oromoo seerawaa tahe ganee eenyuu fayyaa fi nagaa sammuun hin jiraatu.
Kennati yeroo hedduu qaamota abba abbaa fi waloon kan kennateef itt gaafatama qaban uuma. Sanaaf hirmaanni hojii fi itt gaafatammi seeraa fi dambileen bulan jiru. Garuu hogganootii gara abbaa humnummaatt duufan dambiilee tartiibaa sana dagaan cabsanii seera harkatt galfatu. Gara caaluu jaarmoti hojii raawwachiiftuu fi gumii aangoon hunda caaluu imaammata baasu yk Caffee qabu. Angoon taliilaan hin kennamne hundi kan gumii kanaati. abootii humnaaf kenni kun yeroo balleessaa fi hin barbaachifnee dha. Abbaa humnooti akkasii dhiibaa qaama sadaffaaf banamoo dha. Qaammi sadaffaan fedha ofii qofa hordofan miltolii harki saanii tartiiba demokraasii fi itt gaafataman hin hidhamne filatu. Akkasitti kan kan kaayyoon dhaabota demokraatawoo namoota ofjaallatoon fedhoota hamoo waliin tahaniin mucuceeffamanii fi roga dhabsiifamani. Fakkeenyaaf, akkasitt Wayyaaneen namoota isaan filan dhiisanii hogganoota abba tokkee fi fedha halagaa tajaajiluun kan raawwate. Tartiibi seerawaan kan diriirfaman murnaasi addaanjiraato tokkoo akka to’ataa fi madaalaa walgidduutt uumuufii. Humnii Shanee Hoji Raawwachiiftuuf (HR) kenname qajeelfama imaammata kan baasaniin akka sararaa masaka kennameett hojiirra olchuu dha. Dirqammi abbaadha barcumaa jiruu HR qindeessuu, akka fuula dhaabichaatt tajaajiluu fi jiruu qaama olhaanuun ifatt kennamuuf hojjechuu dha. Sana jechuun yaada haaraa hin dhihessu hin dandahu jechuuf mitii garuu walii galte jaallewwan saa gaafta jechuuf dha. Miseensoti yk qondaaloti biraa haala dhaabi isaanii irra jiru iyya’amuufii ni dandaha, garuu qabattee imaammataa dandeettii saanii ala tahett irba hin kennan. Shaakalli akkasii demokraasii suduudaa keessatt malee kan bakka bu’ootaa keessatt hin baramne.
Demokrasii bakka buhootaa keesssatt hogganootii miseensa ballaatt yk kanneen qabateen harka jiru dhimma saanii tahett kanneen imaammata baasan irratt akka dhiibbaa tolchan dhiheessuu ni dandahu taha. Garuu sun seeraan aangoo hin qabatuu yk tartiiba seeraan diriirfame irra cehuuf sababa tahuu hin dandahu. Dhimmisaa hagam barbaachisaa yoo tahellee tartiiba seera finqilchuun wanti gahuu jiraachuu hin qabu. Fakkeenyaaf ABO keessatt Kora Sabaa kan bakka bu’ee shaakalu Gumii Sabaatii. Hayyama malee hojii raawwachistuun aangoo gumii kan taheen tarkaanfii yoo fudhate gatii hin qabu, eenyuu sarmuuf dirqama hin qabu. Garuu kan sana godhetu itt gaafatama. Murtiin marii hunda aangoo qabaachuuf mijuu gaafata. Dura taa’aan/teessuun miseensa HRtii. Murtiin barbaachusu shanicha keessaan darba. Dhaaba mirgoota demokraasiif aarsaa guddaa baase kana keessatt, murtiin akkasitt fudhatamuutu hedama.
Kakaa waajjiraa fudhataniin miseensoti kennataman waliinjiroo saaniif abba abbaa fi waloon gaafataamoo akka tahan of dudhaniiru. Kanaaf yeroo seeraa fi danbileen dhaabaa irra cehaman callisanii ilaaluu hin qabanii. Daba qajeelchuu fi mala hamaan itt sirraawu argamsiisuuf qabsaawuutu irraa eegama. Dhaabaa fi dhooftuu saaf amanamummaa dhabuun tuffii akeekota inni irratt hundaawee fi itt gala inni agammateef qaban agarsiisa. Kanaan humna dhaabicha uumuu duuba turan gatii hin qabnee godhu. Sana gochuun waan jiruu fi amanamummaa haaraa arganiif fakkeessisu. Tartiibi kan diriiraniif abbaa hirrummaa fedha uumaa namaa keessa jiru hankaaksuu fi dhaabichi akka ofitt gara hin galle gochuufii. Garuu sun bakka miseensoti gahaatt ofbara malbulchaa hin qabnett tuutii itti kakaafamanii sodaachisuu waan dandahaniif hawwa duwwaa tahee hafaa. Dudhaa Gadaatt, hogganooti kennataman karaa irra mucucaacha xinnoon deebi’anii waamamuu dandahu. Amma garuu mitii. Diinnii fi keettoliin saa qabsaawoti Oromoo akka qoccolloo fi babbaqaqa keessaatt qabamanii haala empayeraa keessa jiruuf dhimma hin qabanne gochuu fedhu. Kun dhaabbatee, jaallatanis jibbanis karaa dandahamu hundaan xiyyeeffannoon sagantaa dhaabaa irratt tahuu qaba.
Yoo namoota kaasichaaf dudhaa qabaniin hin hogganamne, dhaaba jabaa fi demokraatawaa eeguun gowwummaa dha. Dhaaba jabaa malee waraana injifachuun haa tahu kan irbuu seenaniif dhiheessuun salphaa hin tahu. Hamma yoonaa, humna riphaa guddaa hiriirsu qabatuyyuu, kaasaan dadhabinaa fi gargar ta’inaa ABO keessaa, hogganooti kaayyoo, dambilee fi tartiibota dhaabaatt cichuu fi kaasichaa fi of kenna dhabuu dha. Hoogganooti dhaabaa dadhaboo tahan alii al of keessa dhiisanii jabina madda alaa irraa soqa dhaqu. Sun gara halleen dhaabichaa fi qabsoosaa xureessuu hin oolee. ABOn bu’uura farra kolonii labsate qaba. Hariiroon saa hundi bu’uura kana irratt malee empayera suphuu irratt hundaawuu hin qabu. ABO tahee hafuuf haala addunyaa si’anaa, gaafii dargaggoo Oromo qayyabachuu fi walabummaa dhaabichaa eeguu barbaachisa.
Akka carraa tahe kaasichaa yk kaayyo ganamaaf of kennuun, kan qabanitt cichuu, Oromummaaf dudhama hin daddaaqne, wareegamuuf murteeffachuu fi jannummaan, kaan kaaniif meeshaa hin argamne tahaa jiru. Yero ABOn faara abdachiisaa tokko tokko agarsiisu leelloo argachuuf kan walcaccabsan, yeroo faarri itt badu amantee fi ganda jala dhokatanii kan dhagaa itt guuruu yaalan, seexaan saanii xinnoollee isaan hin quuqne dhommoqina guddaa agarsiisan hedduu dha. Karaa biraammoo Oromiyaan hogganoota qeeqii rifachiisaa taheef; kanneen faallaa dhaalmaa Gadaa saanii alatt, halagaatt gurra yoo qeensan yaada miseensotaaf duuchatan hortee jirtii. Dhugaa jalaa miliquun yeroo hundaa hamaa hin yaadamne guddaa dhaqabsiisuu akka dandahu hubachuu dadhabu. Kana kan ilaalutt ABO caalaa muxannoo kan qabu hin jiru. Akka falaatt kanneen qabsoo keessatt qooda fudhatan ABOn miseensota saa kamuu caalaa guddaa akka tahee fi fedha abba tokkee kamu akka isa bakka buhuu hin dandeenye amanuu qabu. Eenyuu sagalee miseensotaa akka of hin ibsinett ukkaamsu akka hin qabnee fi eenyuu mirgaa fi dirqama saa akka hin shaakalle godhamuun irra hin jiru. Yoo kun tahe atommi keessaa waan jiraatuuf dhaabichi jabaa taha. Dhaabi jabaan tokkummaan addunyaatt bahe dubbachuu fi akka sagantaa dhaabatt kan fedheen walii tumsuu dandaha. Eenyutu ABO jabaa fedha?
Dhaabi dadhabaan saba ofiitii waan qaanii taha. Akka sabaa dhaalmaa Gadaa qabuutt Oromoon demokrasii akka akkaataa jireenyaa, ajaja irra, ilaa fi ilaameen dhimma itt bahamutt fudhata. Wal caalmaa, faanfana, leellifachummaa, moggeessa, sobaa fi loogiin demokraasii keessatt bakka hin qabani. Demokraasiin sirna miira abba abbaa caalaa seerri Olaanaa itt tahe. Hogganootii fi miseensonni yeroo hundaa, dhuunis qondaalamanis seexaa demokraasii Gadaa calaqisuu qabu. Fiixaan baha kaayyoo sabichaaf of kennaa fi dudhama agarsiisuu qabu. Dhaaba sabaawaa fi dhaadannoon saa “Fedhii sabaa haa dursu” kan jedhu tahuu qaba.
Sirni demokraasii addunyaa beekaman dura kan rimsammi “mootummaa ummataa” irraa madde dhiirota walqxootaa fi birmaduufii. Dubartii, garbootaa fi halagaa hin dabalatu ture. Jaarroleef akkasumatt jiraate. Irbi dubaroof ammayyuu gumeessawaa hin taane. Fakmishoon demokraasii mudaa hin qabnee kan namooti atoomaan walii fi naannaa uumaa waliin firii bilisummaan basha’anii jiraatan ammallee hin jiru. Firoomsaan kan itt gaalchan akka jara Lixaa faa jiru. Ilaalchi dubartiif jiru hin jijjiiramu taanaan akka kaan cite harka tokko qofaan hojjechuu taha. Dubaroon miseensota hawaasa ilmoo namaa keessaa hedduu barbaachisoo fi homishaawummaa fi waa maddisiisuuf dhiiraa gad hin taanee. Mirga walqxxummaa isaan dhowwachuun waan ilmaan namaa godhan keessaa kan maljecha hin qabne.
Sirni gadaa firomsaan kanneen moggeeffamaniif dubartoota dabalatee dhimmama agarsiisuutt kan ittiin dorgomu hin jiru taha. Dhugaan kun argaa dhageett addunyaan bira dabamuun seenaa demokraasii haanquu godha. Oromoon hirmaata isaan hawaasaaf akka namdiidaa fi buubaatt ilaalan keesaatt bakka itt sutan dhabu. Akka daallota tokko tokkoo qarooma hin qaban jechuufis garaa saaniitt qaroommi Oromoo kan isaaniin duraa tahuu waan beekaniinf ni qaqana’uu. Gadaan akaakuu demokraasii Oromoo bara hin qaabatamnee kaasee jiru.
4) Labsiin Magaalota Oromiyaa dhihoo kana bahe shira Maastar Pilaanii Oromoon mormu kana kara biraatin hojiirra oolchuuf kan saganteeffame waan ta’eef ni balaaleffanna.
Jilli UNesco Ayyaana irreecha Malkaa Hora Harsadii kan Bara 2015 irratti argamee odeeffannasi godhe.
Millions of Oromians, and visitors from around the world, converged in Bishoftu, Oromia, by Hora Arsadi (Lake Arsadi) on 4th October 2015, to celebrate this year’s Irreecha Birraa (‘Oromo Thanksgiving’) Festival, which is the largest such public event in Africa. Millions celebrated at Malkaa ateetee, Gafarsaa, Buraayyuu, at Odaa Bulluq (Horroo Guduruu) and Malkaa Sabbataa, Oromia on 11th October 2015. The celebrations of Irreecha Birraa at Malkaa Hawaas (Awash valley, in the cradle of humanity) and 0n 18th October 2015 at Malkaa Boyyee in Jimma (Western Oromia, the birth place of Coffee (Buna) was joyful and colorful with massive attendance. In similar situation Irreecha Malkaa celebrated in Naqamtee city at Haroo Adiiyaa on 8th November 2015.
Irreecha Birraa( Malkaa) Oromo celebrated in Midaaqanyi (Central Oromia) on 15 November 2015. Over one million people in attendance.
UNesco representative attended the festival at Hora Harsadi, Bishoftuu, Oromia.
Irecha marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning Jesen Foawer traveled thousands of spring, along with hopes for an abundant harvest. of miles to celebrate Irecha in Bishoftu
Adorned with snow white colourful costumes, turbans, and hides of wild animals as well as holding spears and a special stick that bespeaks the Gada system, thousands of celebrants from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, last Sunday gathered at the south east town of Bishoftu, Hora Arsadi, some 25-kms to the south of Finfinne, the capital city to celebrate Irecha festival. Almost all celebrants from both gender were catching newly cut green lash grasses that bespeak of fertility and soaking it the lake water.
The Oromo’s from different parts of the country for long have been meeting flocking to celebrate to praise their creator for his blessings.
Irecha marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning of spring, along with hopes for an abundant harvest. Irecha has been observed on the shore of Lake Hora annually for not less than a millennial.
Also according to sources, the Gada system, in which Irecha is a component, is due to be registered by UNESCO as a world intangible heritage. The Ethiopian Heritage Conservation Authority is working with the UN body to make this a reality.
It is evident that the Gada system is a fabulous and greatest home-born democratic socio-political system of the Oromo people. The Ethiopian proposal is technically completed and the next step is nomination for decision in November or December.
Jesen Foawer traveled thousands of miles to celebrate Irecha in Bishoftu. He is from the United States of America,Washington DC. Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, he said: “It is for the third time I celebrate this cultural anniversary. Following suit celebrants I saw during my previous visit, this time I am adorned with this cultural garment. It is an amazing celebration. I think it is a wonderful holiday for the Oromo people and beyond. I think it is an important cultural festival for Ethiopia too. It is fantastic and it is getting recognition by the UNESCO. It is amazing to see a massive crowd. It is incredible. I am hoping to come again with friends and relatives.”
“This is an excellent celebration and I hope it continues to be. It will be widely celebrated in the future. So, I definitely advise people to enjoy firsthand Irecha,” Foawer added.
Waaqa
Akka amantii Waaqeffannaatti, Waaqni uumaa waa maraati. Uumama qoollo kana keessa jiraatu kanneen lubbu qabeeyyii fi maleeyyii ta’an hunda kan uumee fi tiksee kan jiraachisu Waaqa dha.
Waaqni fulla’aa beelii-belel. Hin dhalu, hin dhalchu, kan hin dulloomnee fi hin duune jiraataa bara baraati. Hiriyaa fi morkataa kan hin qabne ta’uutti amanna. Waaqeffannaan amantii Waaqa tokkichatti buluu fi amanuudha. Akka amantii kanaatti Waaqni waan hunda kan uumee fi madda jireenyaa ta’uu dhugeeffanna. Waaqeffannaan amantii waggoota 6000 oli turee fi osoo amantiiwwan kanneen akka Kiristaanaa fi Isilaamaa gara gaanfa Afrikaa hin seeniin dura kan ture, amantii ummata Kuush isa duraa fi hundee amantiiwwan maraati.
Waaqeffatoonni seera uumaa fi uumman qajeelfamuu. Kabaja Waaqaf, jaalala uumamaf qabaachuu, dubbii hamaa fi cubbuu irraa fagaachuu fi lagachuun hundee amantichaati. Kana bu’uura godhachuun kaayyoon amantii Waaqeffannaa Safuu, Laguu, Hooda, Seeda, Aadaa fi Duudhaa Oromoo fi warra Kuush eeguu , kunuunsuu fi guddisuu irratti hojjechuudha. Gama biraan hordoftoonni Waaqeffannaa amantii fi aadaa saba biraaf kabajaa qabaachuu, elaa fi elaameen waliin hojjechuu qaban. Sirna Waaqeffannaa keesssatti, sabni Oromoo uuumaa isaatif Irreessa galchuun iddoo guddaa kennaaf. Kanaafu aadaa ummata Oromoo keessaa inni mul’ataa fi guddaan kabaja ayyaana Irreesaati. Amantii fi Aadaan waan hedduun walkeessa jira ykn walitti hidhataadha. Sabni ykn biyyi hundi amantii hordofuu fi aadaa jabeeffatu qaba. Kanneen lamaan akkaataa wal hin faallesiineen ittiin jiraatan. ” Sabni aadaa hin qabne garbicha” jedha, hayyuun argaa-dhageettii obbo Dabbasaa Guyyoo. Akkas jechuun sabni akka sabaatti bilisa ta’ee jiraatu aadaa saba biraa irraa waan adda isa godhu qaba. Yoo bilisa hin taane garuu, kan ofii gatuun aadaa warra isa gabroofateen liqimfama jechuudha.
Egaa ayyaanni irreechaa, kaleessa ykn waggoota digdamman darban keessa kan uumame osoo hin taane, amantii Waaqeffannaa waliin kan ture, aadaa Oromoon Waaqaa fi Uumaa isaa kan ittiin galateeffatuu fi isa fuulduraaf immoo kan itti kadhatudha. Ayyaanni Irreessaa akka duudhaa ganamaatti, ilmaan Oromoo naannoo jiraatan hundatti haalaa fi yeroo adda addaatti raawwatu. Haa ta’u malee dhiibbaa sirnooti darbanii fi amantiin biroon irraan gahaa turanin bakka hedduutti dhorkame ykn akka hin mul’anne golgame Ayyaanni irreecha birraa magaalaa Bishooftuu, Hora Arsadeetti kabajamaa jiru hambaawwan bakka bakkatti hafanii kabajamaa jiran yoo ta’u, baroota dhihoo keessa tattaaffii jaalatoonni aadaa Oromoo godhaniin beekamaa fi guddataa dhufee yeroo ammaa ummata kumaatamaan hedamu kan hirmaachisu, Afrikaa keessatti isa guddaa ta’ee kan mul’atuu fi ummata alagaa hedduu kan hawwataa dhufe dha. Ummati Oromoo, amantii, kutaa fi siyaasaan osoo walhin qoodiin tokkummaan eenyummaa isaa akka mul’isu kan godhe aadaa guddaa ta’uu isaa argina.
Yeroo ammaatti Irreechi aadaa moo amantiidha? kan jedhu gaaffiin ka’aa akka jiru hubanna. Akkuma olitti ibsame aadaa fi amantiin waan hedduun walitti hidhata. Akka aadaa Oromootti ammoo sirna raawwatu hunda keessatti osoo maqaa Waaqaa hin dhahiin waanti raawwatu hin jiru. Sirna gumaa, gaa’ela, araara ykn jaarsummaa fi waan kana fakkaatu irratti Coqorsa ykn marga jiidhaa qabachuun wal eebbisa ykn Waaqa kadhata. Coqorsi ykn margi mallattoo nagaa fi araaraati. Coqorsi ykn lataan qabatan irreecha jedhama. Haala kanaan irreechi aadaadha, amantiidhas. Yeroo irreeffannaaf Malkaa bu’an ykn Tulluu bahan Waaqeffatootaaf aadaa fi amantii yoo ta’u, warra amantii biraa keessa jiraniif ammoo aadaadha. Yeroo irreechaatti siiqqeen, caaccuu fi kaallachi, bokkuu fi meeshaaleen dhalaa fi dhiirri qabatu, uffati aadaa uffatamuu fi walleen achitti mul’atu marti aadaa fi seenaa Oromoo calaqqisa. Kanaaf ummati miliyoonaan lakkaa’amu, Isilaama, Kiristaanaa fi Waaqeffataan gamtaan walcina hiriiree Irreeffataa kan jiru. Haaluma kanaan jabaatee akka itti fufuu fi irreechi kan Oromoo qofa osoo hin taane, ummati Afrikaa marti kan ittiin boonuu fi waliin kabaju ta’uuf akka jiraatu abdii qabna. Kun akka ta’uuf Waaqni nu haa gargaaru, nutis ciminaa fi gamtaan waliin haa jabeeffannu.
Oromia’s Irreecha Festival – A Revival of an Ancient African Culture – An Attempt to Understand and Explain
By Mekuria Bulcha, Ph. D.
Irreecha (also spellled Irreessa), the Oromo equivalent of Thanksgiving, was traditionally celebrated bi-annually in different parts of the Oromo country. The Irreecha Birra festival is celebrated in the month of September and Irreecha Arfaasaa in the month of April. Although it was a non-political festival, the irreecha was suppressed by Ethiopian regimes. Brought back to life by a struggle for cultural revival which the Oromo have waged during the last fifty, the festival is now playing a significant role in the manifestation and preservation of Oromo national identity. The festival in its traditional form is celebrated in different localities across Oromia. At the national level, it is an event that brings millions of Oromos from all over the Oromo country and non-Oromo visitors from other parts of the world to the shores of Hora (Lake) Arsadi in the city of Bishoftu in central Oromia. As such, it has no parallel in Africa. The festival is celebrated not only in Oromia, but has become an event which is observed transnationally by tens of thousands of Oromos settled in many countries around the world.
This paper aims to shed light on the role of the irreecha festival in the expression of Oromo unity and national identity. It is said that a collective identity is constructed not only in and of its present life, but also in reconstructing the collectivity’s earlier life. I will describe the role of numerous pan-Oromo socio-cultural and historical symbols and artefacts which the festival has brought to light, in awakening the Oromo sense of belonging to a community. The pan-Oromo democratic tradition is reflected in the artefacts displayed in the irreecha parade, in the blessings of elders who officiate it, in the environmental ethics articulated and in the performances of artist who entertain the celebrants.
Elements of a reviving culture packed up in a festival
In the pre-colonial past, the IrreechaBirra marked the end of the rainy season and the beginning of harvest season. It is an Oromo custom to gather on the river banks and the shores of lakes and give thanks to Waaqa (God) for all his bounty and pray for Nagaa (peace) and Araara (reconciliation) among humans and with God. Today, the festival has come to mark the end of the rainy season, and more. It marks the end of the cultural trauma which had affected the Oromo for about a century. It heralds and confirms that the time when the Oromo culture was seen as “pagan and primitive” is gone for good. It denotes victory over a history of cultural denigration.
The elders of the nation, their counsel and benediction
Like in the past, the haayyuu (elders, wisemen, the learned – both singular and plural) thank God and bless the nation as their ancestors did. They bless the nation; they remind their audience to uphold the Oromo ethics of safuu and nagaa (respect and peace), reconcile among themselves and pray to God to reconcile with them. Although many of the Oromo concepts, vocabulary and semantics thehaayyuu use are archaic, the meanings of their blessing and sagacious counsel are comprehensible to their audience. The following is a rough translation of an excerpt from the counsel and blessing of a haayyuu who officiated an irreecha festival outside the city of Naqamtee in 2013.
Shall evil have no place amongst you?
Shall hate have no place amongst you?
Shall truth find you?
Is this your testimony before God?
Let peace be among all!
Let peace be among adults!
Let peace be among the youth!
Let peace be with the livestock!
He reminded the participants the connection that the occasion has with the Oromo heritage and counsels and commands them to confirm the authenticity of the occasion. He asked them whether spirit of the celebration is aligned with the spirit of Oromo traditions as reflected in the laws of the five major Odaas: Odaa Nabee (in central Oromia), Odaa Bisil (in western Oromia), Odaa Bulluq (in north-western Oromia), Odaa Roobaa (in south-eastern Oromia) and Odaa Bultum (in eastern Oromia). He asked them whether the traditions of Madda Walaabuu are respected. The five Odaaswere centers of the ancient gadaa republics where the Oromo met and elected their leaders and reviewed their laws and made new ones every eight years according to the constitution of the nation, and Madda Walaabuu was the seat of Abba Muuda, the high priest of traditional Oromo religion Waaqefannaa. The response of the celebrants is in the affirmative. This was followed by another moment of blessing which, roughly translated, said the following
You shall not conspire against one another
You shall not betray one another
Let God be at peace with you
Let the Earth be at peace with you
The significance of this ritual is not that the counsel of the haayyuu is translated into action, but the historical and cultural knowledge it conveys and the consciousness it raises in the minds of the audience. The past is memorized and communicated not only by the haayyuu but is also stored and reflected in the array of artefacts and costumes that decorate the irreecha parade. Combined with sagacious words of the haayyuu, the rich symbols of the Oromo gadaa culture – that attire the multitude who march in total harmony – reveal the dignity and pride with which the Oromo nation is re-asserting its culture and identity.
The poetic interpretations of artists
The collective memories of the nation, preserved in the ritual and symbols, then expressed in the words of the haayyuu, are supplemented by young artists who herald the revival of their heritage with songs and dances. Some of songs such as Galaanee Bulbulaa’s “Kottaa ni hirreefannaa, aadaa bade deeffannaa” which means (“Come let us celebrate Thanksgiving; Let us revive our banned culture”, Giftii Dhadhii’s Oromoon seera qabaa (“The Oromo have laws”), Abdoo Badhaasoo’s Irreecha irreeffanna (“We will celebrate Thanksgiving”), Gaaddisee Shamsadin’s Beenu Oromia, irreechi irree keenya (“Go on Oromia, irreecha is our power”) and Amartii Waarii’s Kottaa ni kabajna kuni aadaa keenyaa (“Come, let us celebrate our culture”), which were performed at the irreecha festivals and elsewhere, connect the Oromo present with the past. They herald the recovery, revival and survival of the Oromo culture from the destruction to which it was doomed by conquest and colonization. In short, they reflect the feelings which underpin the ongoing Oromo recovery from a century of cultural trauma. The “green” leitmotif of luxuriant vegetation and abundant water against which the artists perform, provides a symbolic connection with God and nature that suggest that the Oromo are and will be at peace, with God, and also with nature. Their lyrics imply that the earth, the forests, rivers, lakes, animals and all the other living things are both natural and divine. Their implicit message is that what hurts the eco-system hurts humans also.
The dynamics that are at work during the irreecha festivals and what the participants experience is more than what the eye can see or the ear can hear. It is a joy and sense of belonging and experience of being part of a community that cannot be expressed fully in words. It is more. What the participants experience is a resurrection of a nation and a reconstruction of collective memory through the festival and the array of artefacts it displays. The occasion creates a collective “reality” and history. This collective reality connotes a state of being of the same mind, sharing a collective memory about a shared past and, just as importantly, an aspiration for a common future. This is more than a product of individual perception or understanding. When asked by a journalist fromChina Central TV Africa (CCTV) what he was thinking about the irreecha celebration at the 2014 festival in Bishoftu, a young celebrants replied
I have don’t have a word to express what I see or feel. I believe that this is my culture and religion at the same time. This is what was forwarded to us by our ancestors; and it is what I will forward to my children.
This individual is not alone in having that “feeling” about the festival. His feeling is shared by other Oromo participants around him and those who watch the process on TV. They may or may not express what they see and feel with words, but most of them, share with him the experience that what they see is their culture symbolized in the festival. When human communities attach symbols to words, concepts and artefacts that signify their collective experience, they share a vision. A society cannot exist without a degree of this sort of vision shared by a majority of its members. The young respondent cited above says that what he sees is his culture and religion which was passed to him by his ancestors and which he will pass over to his children. In other words, what he sees reflects his identity and that of others around him. My point is that the irreecha festival is one of the ways in which the Oromo society “recognizes itself”, that is to say imagines, feels, experiences or knows about its own existence. As an occasion and venue for the symbolic expression of Oromo history and culture, the irreecha festival connects the Oromo to a common past through the tangible artefacts on displays in the massive parades.
It important to note here that the Oromo celebrate the irreecha irrespective of their religious backgrounds. Whether they are Waaqeffataa, Christians or Muslims they participate in the festival. The moral counsel and ideals officiated by the haayyuu do not contradict the essence of any of the three religions. In fact the haayyuu who officiate it are from all the three religions on most occasions. The festival unites the Oromo and harmonizes their thoughts and voices. It creates a “mental state” shared by the entire Oromo nation. Whether one interprets the occasion culturally or politically, the significance of the prayer, counsel and blessing of the haayyuu and the songs of the artists in raising Oromo consciousness and unifying the nation cannot be overlooked. It is important to stress, however, the fact that the aim of the counsel of the haayyuu and the songs of the artists is not to “mobilize” the participants for collective political action on the spot. The occasion is to celebrate a tradition and its revival. The traditional Oromo ethics of safuu and nagaa, or respect for and peace with God, humans and the natural world pervade the atmosphere in which the festival is conducted. As I will explain in more detail below, the tranquillity which the occasion demands is respected.
Tranquility underpinned by tension and ethically controlled anger
It is important to note here that the tranquillity that has characterized the Bishoftu irreecha parade of millions of men, women and children during the last few years is not a sign that the participants are satisfied with their situation or the status quo. The tranquility reflected in the massive annual parades should not give us the impression that Oromia is a peaceful territory and that Ethiopia is a stable polity. In fact, the benedictions of the haayyuu who officiate the festival are often underpinned by restrained feelings of dissatisfaction. The songs of the artists who entertain the participants contain anger felt against the prevailing political conditions. During the 2014 irreechafestival, for example, the prayers of the elders were marked by a feeling of grief for the Oromo students who had been cruelly killed by the agents of the regime because they were opposing the so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan. The “crime” for which students were killed, as we all know, was participation in a peaceful protest against the eviction of the Oromo people from their land en masse. The haayyuu were not calling their audience to make war, but praying for the restoration of justice and for Oromo victory over all those who are harming or will harm them. Concern about human rights’ violations committed by the TPLF regime was also reflected through slogans which called for “Respect to Oromo humanity and sovereignty” and “Respect Oromo Rights to their Territory” from the crowd. In short, the bright colors, the melodious songs and entertaining dances we observe in the irreecha parades do not signify Oromo satisfaction with their present situation in Ethiopia. We cannot expect a people whose youth are killed cruelly by a dictatorial regime, or, a people who are evicted from their homes and land, or, a people who are rounded up routinely and are thrown into jail en masse without the rule of law, to be satisfied. The celebrants of the irreechafestival were immensely dissatisfied with the Tigrayan regime. But, as Asmarom Legesse has remarked, “among the Oromo, war is war and peace is immensely tranquil” (see Gadaa Democracy, 2000, p. 77). The irreecha festival is an occasion that requires such tranquility. To feel anger about the injustice is normal and expected, but to express it would violate the spirit of a sacred occasion that Oromos greatly value. As a journalist from CCTV Africa who visited the festival in 2014 described it “the irreecha is a sort of family gathering.” Indeed, the festival is a sacred come-together for the different branches of the Oromo nation. It would be considered immoral to disturb it. However, given that the ruling Tigrayan elite are nervous about every Oromo gathering and that they have shown unprecedented impunity against the Oromo people, the possibility of interference by its security forces that can turn the tranquil “family gathering” into a bloody scene cannot be disregarded. During the last ten years the peace was disturbed by measures taken against participants of the festival: visitors were beaten, and many were imprisoned. Some of them were wounded by bullets fired by the police. During the 2010 festival 120 young participants were imprisoned accused of being “terrorists”; the gadaa cultural costume they wore was interpreted as a symbol of the Oromo Liberation Front (personal communication). Yet the Oromo have continued to come to Lake Arsadi in an ever increasing numbers to continue with the revival of their ancient culture.
Artefacts that symbolize the “staying power of Oromo institutions”
After decades of suppression, the spontaneity with which irreecha, and other Oromo traditions, have come back to life during the last two decades has proved the resilience of Oromo culture. This shows that the majority of the Oromo people have successfully maintained a collective identity different from an identity which the Ethiopian ruling elites have been trying to impose on them in an effort to create a people with “one culture (Abyssinian), one religion (Orthodox Christianity), one language (Amharic) and one nation (Ethiopia)” out of a colonial empire.
The symbols that the irreecha festival has brought together are ancient and pan-Oromo reflecting what Asmarom Legesse has famously referred to as the “staying power” of the gadaa cultural heritage (ibid. p. 103). They symbolize justice, peace, and sovereignty which the Oromo of the gadaarepublics enjoyed in the past. In fact, the bokkuu which are carried by men and siqqee carried by women, as well as a range of other pre-colonial pan-Oromo gadaa symbols which are lined-up prominently by participants in the irreecha parade, reinforce the memories and values shared by the multitude gathered at the festival sites as well as those who are following the event in the media from afar, whether in Oromia or in the diaspora. The bokkuu and siiqqee are the symbols of the democratic ethos of the gadaa system. The bokkuu, a scepter which is carried by elderly men, is the symbol of the gadaa system, signifying both power and justice. As a symbol of gadaa democracy thesiiqqee stood for the inalienable rights of Oromo women and the inviolability of their human dignity. It is a symbol for an institution within the gadaa system. A woman is “accepted” into such an institution on her marriage day and thenceforth she is protected by it against any violation of her rights or human dignity, be it by her husband or other men. The siiqqee entitles Oromo women to prticipate in many instances of decision making, in conflict resolution and other important matters that concern their society. The authenticity of the irreecha festival is reflected not only in the artefacts displayed in the parade or the blessings conducted by the hayyuu and songs sung by the artists, but is also in the amazing harmony which pervades the gathering of millions of people: the festival is serene; it proceeds peacefully and ends without incidents.
To go back to symbols, nations need symbols to frame their self-identification: that is symbols which help them to recognize themselves as collectivities, or that they exist as a “We”. Those who claim belongingness to such a collectivity share a culture, the elements of which are given significance in ritual practice. Thus, the array of symbols, such as the ones displayed in in the irreecha parades, constructs a narrative which holds together the imagination of a people and provides bases of harmonious thought and collective action. Nations around the world organize parades for different reasons. Some organize them to commemorate historical events such as their victories in battles or day of national independence. Others use parades to exhibit their cultural achievements or display technological progress. The irreecha festival, in the form it takes in Bishoftu today is, by and large, a national parade organized to celebrate the revival of Oromo culture. It heralds Oromo victory over ethnocide, or the attempted destruction of their culture by Ethiopian regimes. The costumes which the majority in the parade wear and the artefacts they carry reflect the culture and history which the different branches of the Oromo nation had shared and preserved. It is a history and culture which they rejoice with pride and will revive and defend. For the Oromo people, the consequences of the Abyssinian conquest was prolonged cultural trauma. The irreecha festival heralds that the Oromo are now leaving behind that trauma.
The irreecha is taking the place of the ancient muudaa pilgrimage
What is very significant about the festival is that the multitude of men and women who converge on Bishoftu city from all over the Oromo country celebrate a culture that was denigrated, despised and suppressed for about a century. Such a massive gathering is reminiscent of another aspect of Oromo culture. The spontaneous pan-Oromo participation in the festival suggests the manner in which the ancient pilgrimage to Abbaa Muuda was undertaken by thousands of jila (pilgrims) from the different gadaa federations. The pilgrimage to the holy muuda shrines attracted every eighth year tens of thousands of men who represented every Oromo clan from every corner of the Oromo country. Today, the irreecha festival celebrated on the shores of Lake Arsadi is playing a similar role.
The jila pilgrimage was both a religious and a political undertaking. Those who traveled on foot for months every eight years to the muuda shrines from regions which are far apart, were drawn together by a myth of origin from one ancestor, Orma. This was reinforced by a common language, a common religion through a strong attachment to their spiritual leader Abba Muuda, a common system of law, a shared attitude toward the natural world as well as their democratic character – all gave the Oromo who lived in different gadaa republics a sense of a single nation. The muudainstitution maintained the moral unity of the Oromo nation until it was banned in 1900 by Emperor Menelik. The ban exacerbated the traumatic disruption of Oromo culture which I have mentioned above. The revival of the irreecha festival is a major step in dispelling the distortion of Oromo self-perception as a nation that was created by the disruption of conquest and colonization.
It is important to recollect here that it was the Macca Tuulama Association (MTA) that paved the way to take the Oromo nation into the present phase of their history. It is a well known fact that the activities of the MTA launched the recovery of the Oromo nation from the cultural and political traumas of conquest and colonization. It became the first forum to gather members of the Oromo branches from different parts of their country for a common purpose decades after the jilapilgrimages were banned by the imperial Ethiopian government. The MTA itself was banned by a successor of Menelik in 1968; but its work was resumed by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) beginning in the mid-1970s. It was also by the initiative of the MTA members that the Lake Arsadiirreecha festival was revived in the mid-1990s overcoming the restrictive surveillance of the present Ethiopian regime. The MTA was banned and its leaders were imprisoned for the second time in 2004, but the irreversible work of Oromo cultural revival that had started fifty years ago has continued on a large scale as reflected in the Irreecha festival.
Although the aim of the journey taken by Oromo masses to Lake Arsadi today is not exactly the same as those which stimulated the pilgrimage to the muuda shrines in the past, the effects are similar. It brings people from every corner of the Oromo country to one place. The irreecha festivals have re-established the sense of belonging to a single nation by the different branches of the Oromo nation in the way that the jila pilgrimage did in the past. The national consciousness created by the irreecha festival may be even deeper than the awareness that was created by the muudapilgrimages and kept the Oromo nation intact in the past. Covered by mass media which takes the festival home to millions of Oromos at home and transnationally, the annual event makes Oromo imagination of their national community more vivid, immediate and real than it had ever been in the past.
For the Oromo their land is holy to all religions
As a cultural and religious site Lake Arsadi is located in a district which, de facto, was a holy land for the Oromo. Odaa Nabee, one of the oldest and most historic and ritually significant sites of thegadaa assemblies, is located about 15 km north of the lake. Tulluu (Mount) Cuqqaalaa (Ziquala in Amharic), Tulluu Erer, Tulluu Bosati, Tulluu Furii, Tulluu Eegduu, Tuluu Foyataa, Tullu Galaan and TulluWaatoo Daalachaa which were called Saddetan Tulluu Waaqayoo (the eight mountains of God) in Oromo tradition are also located in the district within less than 30 km distance from the lake. Scholars of Oromo studies have argued that mountains were seen as ceremonial grounds in the past and that the tops of the mountains mentioned here were used for that purpose. In fact, the shores of a crater lake on Mt. Cuqqaalaa was a site for the irreecha festival for centuries. In short, the proliferation of ritual sites indicates the importance which the region has in the religious and political lives of the Oromo.
It is well known that Abyssinian kings and Orthodox clergy built churches in the lands they conquered to serve their soldiers and settlers, and in some cases also to Christianize the conquerd peoples. It seems that the Oromo region of Ada’a in which Bishoftu city is located was given more attention in this respect than normal. The conquerors did not stop with building churches and converting the indigenous population; the intention seems to have been Christianizing the land and changing its Oromo identity as well. Biblical names such as Debre Zeit to Bishfotu and Nazret (Nazreth) to Adama. Farther south, two islands in Lake Zway were also called Galila Daseet (Galilee Island) and Debre Sina. The change of these place names in a region which is seen as sacred by the Oromo to Semitic Biblical names is perhaps to “Semiticize and Abyssinize” the region, deny its idigenous Oromo identity and claim it as a “holy” land proclaiming that it belonged to their Christian empire since ancient times. However, the policy did not succeed; the place names were reversed back to Oromo names in the 1970s, and now the irreecha festival is reviving the cultural identity of the district. Waqeffannaa, the traditional Oromo religion, with which the irreecha is culturally aligned, is also reviving. This does not meant there is no opposition to the re-instution of the Oromo heritage. According interviews given by Abba Abdiisaa Dhaabaa, Hunddataa Waqwayyaa and Kaasaa Balchaa to a journalist from the Oromia Media Network recently (OMN TV, September 13, 2015), the opposition of the Orthodox clergy against the Bishoftu irreecha festival is still persistent. The denigration of the Oromo religious festival has not stopped.
The opposition of the Orthodox clergy seems to be even more marked against the celebration of the Spring irreecha on the shores of the crater lake on Mount Cuqqalaa. As mentioned above, the shores of that crater lake is an ancient site where the Oromo festival was celebrated for centuries. A monastery run by Orthodox Christians had also existed since the twelvth century on the same mountain. Its clergy had co-existed with the Oromo who follow their own religious tradition and celebrated irreecha festival on the shores of the crater lake. On the part of the Oromo, who do not see the co-existence of the different religions as a problem, this is not surprising. What is remarkable is the decision of the Orthodox clergy to share the shores of a small lake for ritual purposes with a people their church considers as heathen. According to oral tradition the remarkable co-existence was a result of an agreement made with the Oromo by a bishop who founded the monastery. The condition which forced the bishop to accept the coexistence of the two religion is not clear. Ironically, the tolerance which the Orthodox clergy have shown over the centuries has changed into irrational opposition in recent years and the co-existance between the two religious communities is distrubed. According to my informant, the Oromo have been forbidden to celebrate the irreecha festival on Mount Cuqqaalaa since 2010. It is reported that a stelae calledsida Nabee (Nabee’s statue) which stood for centuries and was associated with Oromo traditions was also destroyed recently. According to the same source, the resistance of the clergy is against the revival of the Oromo religious culture. However, given the number of people of Oromo “pilgrims” who visit the irreecha celebrations, it is plausible to suggest that the revival of Oromo religious and cultural traditions is unstoppable. Above all, based on the religious backgrounds of the millions of people who participate in the irreecha festival and the haayyyuu who officiate it, one can say that today Bishoftu is a sacred place not only for Waaqeffataa (followers of the traditional Oromo religion), but also for Christians and Muslims. That shows that in Oromia people from all religious background are welcome. But, religious fanaticism is not. It is detested.
Refutation of Oromo misrepresentations and misconceptions
The festival refutes many of the misconceptions which are created by Ethiopianist narratives. As I have pointed out my recent book The Contours of the Ancient and Emergent Oromo Nation (see Bulcha, 2011, Chapter 8), there are Ethiopianist writers who posit that the Oromo “have never had a sense of collective identity based on popular memory,” that the Oromo have no common historical symbols that are emotionally appealing to them or which could serve as primary symbols of their national identity and that they do not have a collective consciousness “rooted in myths and symbols.” The range of pan-Oromo symbols and artefacts, which are mentioned above, refute these propositions. They contradict the argument, which says the Oromo “do not possess a sense of belonging to a single societal community who shared important past experience and a common historic destiny.” The enthusiasm with which the Oromo are reviving the irreecha shows not only the resilience of this element of their traditional culture but also the revival of Oromummaa (being Oromo) in contradiction to the imposed culture of Ethiopiyawinet (Ethiopian-ness) with unexpected speed and vibrancy. Contradicting the picture of a “chaotic” people depicted in the Ethiopianist discourse, the festival also proves that the Oromo are a people who have a culture capable of bringing together millions of men, women and children from different religious backgrounds in one place to celebrate their ancient traditions with utmost harmony and peace. The revival of theirreecha festival in such a manner and on such a scale confirms, among others, that time when the Oromo were made to feel shame about their history, culture and identity; and the time when they strived to behave like or speak the language of their conquerors in order to be taken as Ethiopians is gone.
It is also interesting to note here the profound refutation the festival offers to the Ethiopianistmisconception of Oromo history, culture and identity. It refutes the misconception that the Oromo are a mixed bag of different tribes who do not share a common past or have a collective identity. As I have discussed at length elsewhere (see above), literature on Ethiopia – still in use – asserts the ‘fragility’ of Oromo socio-cultural features in contrast to the ‘tenacity’ of Abyssinian traditions. It has been argued by Ethiopianist historians that the Oromo lack a sense of community and solidarity and possess no collective memory or corporate history. For those who will understand Oromo culture and history it suffices to watch the irreecha festival. It narrates a cultural history shared by an entire nation. It does not narrate stories about kings and emperors who conquered and subjugated other people; it mirrors a heritage that is different from the Abyssinian heritage which the Ethiopianist historiographers have in mind when they talk about peoples “who lack history”.
Conclusion
Given what is said about the irreecha in this article, the following can be concluded. From the historical point of view, a recent and clear manifestation of the resilience of Oromo cultural heritage is that the Oromo have, in the face of a vicious colonial repression, preserved the irreecha. This achievement shall be added to the preservation of important aspects of the Oromo gadaa system and the traditional Oromo religion, Waaqefannaa.Indeed, this confirms that time when the Oromo were made to feel shame about their culture is gone for good, and the time has arrived when the Oromo culture assumes the place it deserves as a noteworthy cultural heritage of Africa and a significant contribution to global culture.
Taking into account the colorful costumes of its celebrants, it is clear that the festival has brought out expressions, colors, and art forms that are uniquely Oromo but which were hidden from public sight in the past. It is incumbent on Oromo artists, designers, scholars and organizers of festivals and Oromo events to polish and create quality out of the treasure of Oromo arts, artefacts and narratives that have been preserved by their people and are now manifested in abundance in Oromo oral literature and cultural traditions, including in the irreecha festival. In short, the festival is an occasion that can be used by the Oromo to introduce themselves and their unique African culture to the world community.
As a parting word, I would like to point out that as an event which attracts millions of participants from near and far, the Bishoftu irreecha festival is becoming a major income generating event. Unfortunately, most of the beneficiaries are not Oromo. Frantz Fanon has reminded us that the poverty of a colonized people, national oppression and the inhibition of their culture are one and the same thing (see his Wretched of the Earth). This has been the fate of the Oromo. Because of the policy of the previous Ethiopian regimes, the majority of property owners in and around the city of Bishoftu are no longer Oromo. The present regime’s land policy which is encroaching on the district and displacing the Oromo from the area and is worsening their predicament. The income generated by the lease or sale of their land to local and international contractors along with the value generated by their cultural significance is not benefiting the Oromo. For the irreecha festival to benefit them, the displacement of the Oromo should cease, and the so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan (AAMP), which is encroaching on the district from the north, should be stopped. If the Plan continues, the irreecha festival will soon end up celebrated in a territory bereft of its Oromo inhabitants and culture.
———————-
Mekuria Bulcha, PhD and Professor of Sociology, is an author of widely read books and articles. His most recent book, Contours of the Emergent and Ancient Oromo Nation, was published by CASAS (Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society), Cape Town, South Africa, in 2011. He was also the founder and publisher of The Oromo Commentary (1990-1999). He is an active member of the OLF and has served in the different branches of the national movement since the 1970s.
QOPHII AYYAANA IRREECHAA MALKAA KAN BARA 2015 (Events Planning):-
We continue update this page since the celebration of the blessing event takes the month
(A4O, 3 September 2015) It is with great pleasure that to invite you to the annual Irreecha Birraa festival, Oromo National Thanksgiving day, of the year on Sunday 4 October 2015.
Irreechaa Birraa is a celebration that repeats once in a year-in birraa and involves special activities or amusements as it has a lot of importance in our lives. It symbolizes the arrival of spring and brighten season with their vibrant green and daisy flowers.
It’s a day all Oromian’s celebrate and cherish due to our ties to our root: Oromo Identity and country. It’s a time for reflection, celebration and a good connection with our best heritage, Oromummaa.
Theme: Moving Forward: A Year of Networking
This year’s Oromian Irreechaa Festival is going to be bigger and better than ever, with a whole theme park devoted to diverse Oromian cultural Identity. The theme of this national Thanksgiving Day is “Moving Forward: A Year of Networking ” in which it aims to celebrate Irreechaa festivals as a medium for bringing all Oromias togetherto follow and promote our tradition and religion in society, to create public awareness where Oromo cultural and religious issues will be discussed, to provide a better understanding of Oromo culture and history, to pave the way for promotion of the Oromo culture, history and lifestyle and to celebrate Oromo Irreechaa, a national Thanksgiving Day.
We celebrate Irreechaa to thank Waaqaa for the blessings and mercies we have received throughout the past year at the sacred grounds of Hora Harsadi (Lake Harsadi), Bishoftu, Oromia. The Irreechaa festival is celebrated every year at the beginning of Birraa (the sunny new season after the dark, rainy winter season) throughout Oromia and around the world where Diaspora Oromos live.
We celebrate Irreechaa not only to thank Waaqaa (God) also to welcome the new season of plentiful harvests after the dark and rainy winter season associated with nature and creature. On Irreechaa festivals, friends, family, and relatives gather together and celebrate with joy and happiness. Irreechaa Festivals bring people closer to each other and make social bonds.
Moreover, we are celebrating this auspicious event to mark the end of rainy season[1], known as Birraa, was established by Oromo forefathers, in the time of Gadaa Melbaa[2] in Mormor, Oromia. The auspicious day on which this last Mormor[3] Day of Gadaa Belbaa[4]-the Dark Time of starvation and hunger- was established on the 1st Sunday of last week of September or the 1stSunday of the 1st week of October according to the Gadaa lunar calendar ‐‐ has been designated as our National Thanksgiving Day by modern‐day Oromo people. Oromo communities both at home and abroad celebrate this National Thanksgiving Day every year.
Irreechaa as a medium for bringing all Oromias together
The Oromian Irreechaa Festival will not only serve as a medium for bringing all Oromias together, from all its diasporas, as one voice, but will also focus on promoting and enhancing Oromummaa in freedom struggle, tourism, arts and crafts, business, restaurants and hospitality, and entertainment. Moreover as a moving and flourishing heritage, Irreechaa also connects our Oromo identity with the global civilization in which the industrial and manufacturing sectors of heavy and light machinery of natural resources and raw materials.
During the event, we will be serving with Oromo foods and featuring with traditional dances by Oromo children, youth and dance troupes. Irreechaa is about a lot more than just putting on shows, it encourages engagement and participation from everyone in the greater community across our great city, country and the globe.
Please join and experience Oromo culture.
[1] Rainy season symbolized as a dark, disunity and challenging time in Oromia.
[2] Gadaa Melbaa was established before 6400 years ago at Odaa Mormor, North-west Oromia.
[3] Mormor in Oromo means division, disunity, chaos.
Irreecha Birraa 2015, Oromo Thankisgiving, FrankFurt, 19 September 2015
– Waamicha Qophii Ayyaana Irreechaa Malkaa Kan Bara 2015: Waldaa Hawaasa Oromoo Awuroopaa (WHOA)/ Oromo Community Association In Europe (OCAE) e.V. (Inc.)
(UN News Centre): With Ethiopia experiencing its worst drought in decades the United Nations is reporting deepening food insecurity and “severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths” as the Organization’s humanitarian wing has allocated $17 million in emergency funding to help the Government tackle climate challenges and ensure timely food relief.
A recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that severe drought, driven by the El Niño phenomenon, has not only caused livestock deaths especially in pastoral areas, but it has also deteriorated food security conditions in recent months, as food insecure people have almost doubled from August to October this year.
While cereal prices dropped last month thanks to the carryover stocks from previous year, the report also indicated the soaring prices of dairy and vegetables, as a result of food inflation.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) allocated $17 million last week from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), aiming to reach those in the areas hard-hit by the drought with immediate food assistance and relief.
“A timely response to the emergency is critical,” said Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, warning that “if we don’t act today, we face an even graver situation tomorrow, with more immense needs in 2016.”
This emergency funding will be provided to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), for supporting some 1.37 million Ethiopians with food, and providing specialized nutritional supplements to 164,000 malnourished women and children.
Some 8.2 million people currently need emergency food assistance – up almost 3 times compared to last year – and the number will likely double at the start of 2016, according to the Ethiopian Government.
The CERF pools donor contributions in a single fund so that money is available to start or continue urgent relief work anywhere in the world. Since its inception in 2006, 125 UN Member States and dozens of private-sector donors and regional Governments have contributed to the Fund. In 2015, CERF has allocated over $27 million to support humanitarian operations in Ethiopia.
Related:-
WHO warning over Ethiopia climate change risks
THE HEALTH BODY HAS SAID THAT CLIMATE CHANGE COULD WORSEN HEALTH PROBLEMS IN AFRICAN COUNTRY.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that climate change is threatening to exacerbate health problems in Ethiopia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that climate change is threatening to exacerbate health problems in Ethiopia.
The WHO released details in its Climate and Health Country Profile 2015 on Tuesday (17 November 2015).
“Increased temperatures, intense heat waves, more extreme rainfall, floods and landslides, are expected to intensify existing challenges of communicable diseases, food insecurity and poverty unless timely action is taken,” according to a WHO statement.
Ethiopia’s country profile is one of the first 15 country reports the WHO is releasing.
“Ethiopia is vulnerable to many of the effects of climate change, including increases in average temperature and changes in precipitation. This threatens health, livelihoods and the progress that Ethiopia has made in recent years,” the WHO added.
The international body claims that by 2030, almost 250,000 people in Ethiopia will be at risk from annual river floods.
WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said: “Our planet is losing its capacity to sustain human life in good health”. She called for “strong, flexible and resilient health systems” as a defense against the impact of climate change.
We have been sold this “Ethiopia rising” meme for years now. The Ethiopian government keeps projecting this narrative 24/7. State media have been preoccupied with plastering images of construction projects and GDP rates on the minds of citizens; and Global “Experts on Africa” have added the “Ethiopia rising” meme to their already existing “Africa rising” meme as well.
The “Ethiopia rising” meme has become pernicious in part because it is half-truth. Construction projects are indeed visibly “booming”. We can at least see the Addis Ababa light rail with our own eyes. Sophisticated international economists tell us the latest GDP figures as well. Local, Bole resident, developmental government minions and cadres echo these GDP figures too; along with their fellow traveler, foreign born drive by reporters who are mostly based in Addis Ababa; They go out on field missions on few occasions and believe new buildings and a new light rail in Addis Ababa is the same as development of an entire country of 94 million people.
For such people, their echo chamber is filled with the “Ethiopia rising” noise. As a result, “Ethiopia rising” is the answer to everything. They have been so primed with this meme that they might even answer the question “What is 1 + 1?” with “Ethiopia rising”. Ask them if bricks can be bread or if starving children can eat a train and they will have no answer. (Or maybe they’ll just answer you with “Ethiopia rising”)
In addition, Ethiopia is now facing yet another severe drought and looming famine catastrophe ; the worst it has seen in 30 years and estimated 15 million people will likely need food assistance in 2016. UNICEF figures indicate a 27% increase in the number of children treated for Severe Acute Malnutrition already; 197 woredas had measles outbreaks; 14,300 suspected and 11,700 confirmed measles cases so far. Once again, the international community has started its never ending task of feeding hungry Ethiopians who are failed by their own government; yet another evidence for why the “Ethiopia rising” meme remains half-truth, if not a complete lie.
The extent of lives lost due to the ongoing drought is an unknown know reality for the moment. The government has suppressed report on mortality rates. Although public health information is incomplete without such vital statistics, UNICEF’s situations reports on the current humanitarian crisis bear no mortality rates. Even zero deaths should be reported in well-respected information sources such as the UNICEF. But that’s not the case here. UNICEF seems to have adopted a position that says “If the government says there are no children who died of starvation, then there are not children who died of starvation”. Yet, one BBC report states “The United Nations say two babies are dying of starvation every day in one area”. However, the government insists “No one has died or displaced due to lack of food in the areas affected by the drought”.
Without vital information such as mortality rates from independent sources, given the extent of Ethiopia’s previous famine disasters, previous and current governments’ denial and cover up on the extent of such disasters, and in spite of the “Ethiopia rising” meme, it’s hard to tell how bad the situation is. It might even be comparable with the 1984 famine.
The EPRDF government officials are repeatedly denying the current famine that around fifteen million people are facing In Ethiopia. International media are busy reporting about the famine showing the pictures of emaciated children; the dead bodies of hundreds of animals and telling stories of mothers who lost their children due to starvation. It is funny to hear what the government officials say regarding the drought and famine that is causing the death of many people and animals. Some of the government officials are even accusing these media (BBC for example) that tried to showcase the extent of the problem to the world saying that they have sensationalized reports about the drought in Ethiopia.
The EPRDF leaders say Ethiopia is food self sufficient; needs no aid from outside. They say there is no problem, no famine, no drought and no death. Other time they say, there is drought in some parts of the country and it is under control. Still, they say, only very insignificant number of people (15 million people out of 90 million people) are affected by the drought. Oh, my God, how on earth they say that 15million people are very insignificant? These people are gone out of their mind; the life of a single person matters let alone the life of 15 million people.
Recently, we have learned that the government is building very modern houses with 154million birr for six retired EPRDF officials. What a paradox! People are dying because they have nothing to eat while the government is allocating all this money for building houses for its corrupt retired officials who have been amassing unimaginable wealth over the last two decades.
Why does this government likes denying the facts on the ground? Why is it they are hiding the famine? is it because it contradicts with their 11% economic growth for 10 consecutive years?Please, guys come to your sense, tell the world the truth about the scale of the problem; mobilize all the citizens and gather the resources needed to save the millions of people who are on the verge of death. At least for now, forget the politics and do the right thing-saving the lives of people should be given a priority.#Ethiopiafamine
Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of mutual distrust and acrimony roughly similar to the history of India and Pakistan. Somalia has border dispute with both Ethiopia and Kenya whose roots are in colonial impositions. It would be just as cynical and foolish for Ethiopia to send troops to Somalia as for India to send troops to Waziristan intending to stabilize its relation with Pakistan.
Regarding democratic elections in Ethiopia, Susan Rice could not contain herself fromchuckling cynically about the regime’s 100% claim of victory. How she could reconcile her sarcasm with her impassioned speech during the mourning for the late Prime Minster, Meles Zenawi, is puzzling. She called those who oppose Meles fools and idiots. After the violence and rigged election of 2005, hopes for any democratic transfer of power in the country have been dashed.
There are also questions raised on the sustainability of the much publicized double- digit economic
growth of Ethiopia, despite the current dramatic makeover of Addis Ababa: the government seems oblivious to the fact that 80% of Ethiopians are peasants even asfamine now threatens 15 million Ethiopians. The impact on the country of the foreignland grab, with its environmental cost and human displacement and the destruction of the pastoralist life style, has received wide coverage. A fertile area the size of Belgium has been leased cheaply to Indian and Saudi investors in the name of development. Along with the environmental costs, the displacement of indigenous pastoralists is enormous.
Mary Harper in her report says that inequality gap in Ethiopia is one of the narrowest in the world. However, a quick search shows that inequality in Ethiopia is one of the highest in the world. Ethiopia’s positioning in UN’s Human Development Index (HDI) is 173rd of 187 countries for the 2013 data. Transparency index ranks Ethiopia 111th of 177 countries for corruption, “with a score of 33 on a scale where 100 means very clean and 0 means highly corrupt.” The country suffers from high levels of bribery and those with access to state power act in brutally self-interested and exploitative ways. By most accounts, polarized ethnic divisions in the country have led to winner-take-all situations.
In an ideal scenario, the brotherly people of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia, whose fates are intertwined by geography and history, need cooperation and trade between and within themselves based on mutual respect for basic human rights and due regard for the health of the environment. Increased militarization and fragmentation will only entrench existing cycles of violence, death, displacement, environmental degradation and famine. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yohannes-woldemariam/the-ethiopian-regime-is-d_b_8507642.html
The Ethiopian Regime Is Destabilizing the Horn of Africa Region
huffingtonpost.com
By Yohannes Woldemariam, Associate Professor of International Relations and Environmental Studies at Fort Lewis College
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn claims Al-Shabab is diminishing with Ethiopian support to the Somali government. He also told BBC Africa editor, Mary Harper, that “Ethiopians are satisfied with the system of government in the country.”
During the interview, PM Desalegn painted a very rosy picture of the situation in Ethiopia and its dealings with the region. The regime seems to be on a charm offensive with the Western media. According to Mary Harper, PM Desalegn requested for the interview, which was conducted impromptu. After listening to the interview, I wished Ms. Harper had scrutinized the PM a bit more on Eritrea and Somalia as she did with his domestic human rights violations. For example, the PM was never confronted on the important issue of the boundary demarcation with Eritrea. He freely pontificated on the issue of refugees without being challenged about the role of the Ethiopian regime in refugee production.
One can easily make a case that in fact Ethiopia is destabilizing the region through its interventions in Somalia and its insidious refusal to implement the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia has chosen to blackmail Eritrea with impunity through a “no war, no peace” strategy assisted by successive U.S. administrations. As a result, Eritrean survival as a state is increasingly threatened, exacerbating the acute issue of refugee flows.
The Eritrean regime’s response of indefinite conscription of its population into the military is having disastrous consequences. Eritrea is hemorrhaging and experiencing unsustainable brain drain. A whole generation is being wasted in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Sudan, and those who made it farther are suffering all the tragic consequences of life-in-exile. The Ethiopian regime, while claiming the moral high ground, appears to be enjoying humiliating Eritreans by every means available.
Mr. Girma Asmerom, who is the Eritrean envoy to the UN, dubiously claims that the reason for the exodus is economic and that the pull factor from Europe exerts a “pull factor” when it “freely” grants asylum to Eritreans. He also blames Eritrea’s suffering on a conspiracy by Western countries to weaken the regime. It is true, as Mr. Asmerom also asserts, that many African countries in addition to Ethiopia are experiencing unprecedented migrations of their own; neverthelsss, the Eritrean exodus is numerically more alarming and qualitatively different from other migrations in Africa.
To dismiss it as motivated primariy by economics is to wallow in a dangerous self-serving denial. Indeed, there can be no doubt that a major cause of the refugee exodus is the indefinite military conscription by the Eritrean regime and by the loss of even basic freedoms for the people. The Eritrean government has declared a self-defeating war on the Eritrean people while deceptively affording the same Ethiopian government the opportunity to play the magnanimity game.
It is also true that the U.S. continues to reward the Ethiopian government despite its intransigence in the face of accusations of human rights abuses and other flagrant violations of international law. The U.S. wrongly and stubbornly assumes that Ethiopia is a stabilizing force for the region.
Faced with isolation from the world community as well as by UN sanctions and Ethiopian belligerence, the Eritrean regime appears to be looking to strengthen its alliances with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. There are reports that Eritrea is “making available…its land, territorial waters and airspace to conduct military operations” against the Houthis in Yemen in exchange for fuel and monetary compensation. About 400 Eritreans are also said to be embedded with troops from the UAE/Saudi campaign in the Yemeni civil war.
If true, this is a dramatic turnaround after the rumors that Eritrea was serving as an Iranian conduit for the transfer of weapons to the Houthis. It appears that the latent Ethiopian ambition to snatch and annex the port of Assab, its refusal to demarcate the border between the two countries, and the effectiveness of Ethiopian campaign to isolate the Eritrean regime may have driven it to entangle itself in the Yemeni conflict. The Yemeni conflict started out as a local civil war but is increasingly a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
According to Howard French, a keen observer of Africa, writing in The Atlantic and quoting Samantha Power, says that Rice has a “Cold War” approach to African politics, who supports African strong men whom she approves of — regardless of their human rights track record and complete disregard for international law. Salem Solomon, writing an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times articulates the destructive role that Susan Rice has played with the Eritrea Ethiopia dispute.
Decisions by the likes of Susan Rice impact the lives of so many like we witness with the youth exodus from Eritrea. It should be noted that Ethiopia has a population approaching 100 million while Eritrea’s population is approximately 5-6 million. I fear that increasing Ethiopian bravado over U.S. support may cause more states to collapse in the Horn of Africa. U.S. military involvement in Africa is much deeper than is generally acknowledged. The U.S. has a base in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, which it uses to unleash drone operations in Somalia, in addition to camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
The U.S. encouraged Ethiopian intervention in Somalia in 2006 with disastrous implications. Any one with a cursory understanding of the region knows that Ethiopian intervention only strengthened the extremists in Somalia, resulting in the emergence of Al-Shabab. Even as PM Desalegn was claiming in his interview that Al Shabab is “diminished,” it struck with a suicide attack in Mogadishu against a well-fortified hotel which hosts foreign journalists and important Somali political and military figures. The violence shows no sign of abating. If anything, it has expanded into the neighboring countries of Kenya and Uganda.
Ethiopia and Somalia have a long history of mutual distrust and acrimony roughly similar to the history of India and Pakistan. Somalia has border dispute with both Ethiopia and Kenya whose roots are in colonial impositions. It would be just as cynical and foolish for Ethiopia to send troops to Somalia as for India to send troops to Waziristan intending to stabilize its relation with Pakistan.
Regarding democratic elections in Ethiopia, Susan Rice could not contain herself fromchuckling cynically about the regime’s 100% claim of victory. How she could reconcile her sarcasm with her impassioned speech during the mourning for the late Prime Minster, Meles Zenawi, is puzzling. She called those who oppose Meles fools and idiots. After the violence and rigged election of 2005, hopes for any democratic transfer of power in the country have been dashed.
There are also questions raised on the sustainability of the much publicized double- digit economic
growth of Ethiopia, despite the current dramatic makeover of Addis Ababa: the government seems oblivious to the fact that 80% of Ethiopians are peasants even asfamine now threatens 15 million Ethiopians. The impact on the country of the foreignland grab, with its environmental cost and human displacement and the destruction of the pastoralist life style, has received wide coverage. A fertile area the size of Belgium has been leased cheaply to Indian and Saudi investors in the name of development. Along with the environmental costs, the displacement of indigenous pastoralists is enormous.
Mary Harper in her report says that inequality gap in Ethiopia is one of the narrowest in the world. However, a quick search shows that inequality in Ethiopia is one of the highest in the world. Ethiopia’s positioning in UN’s Human Development Index (HDI) is 173rd of 187 countries for the 2013 data. Transparency index ranks Ethiopia 111th of 177 countries for corruption, “with a score of 33 on a scale where 100 means very clean and 0 means highly corrupt.” The country suffers from high levels of bribery and those with access to state power act in brutally self-interested and exploitative ways. By most accounts, polarized ethnic divisions in the country have led to winner-take-all situations.
In an ideal scenario, the brotherly people of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia, whose fates are intertwined by geography and history, need cooperation and trade between and within themselves based on mutual respect for basic human rights and due regard for the health of the environment. Increased militarization and fragmentation will only entrench existing cycles of violence, death, displacement, environmental degradation and famine. As it stands, the egoistic leaders are making the region dangerous and vulnerable to intensive neocolonialist extractive exploitation by the U.S., China, Canada, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others.
The purpose of this paper is to make known historical development of written Afaan Oromo to 1900. The study draws upon primary and secondary sources. The primary data are drawn from oral and archival sources. Books and articles in Afaan Oromo and in other languages about Afaan Oromo were consulted. Many of these sources are not only indicators of the status of written Oromo but also of situations that the Oromo people have endured over decades and centuries. The paper reveals how the assimilation activity targets above all the language of the society to be assimilated and how Afaan Oromo had been able to survive such assimilation policy of successive Ethiopian regimes. In addition, it puts an overview on how the missionaries, foreign travelers, religious personalities and some Ethiopians attempted to reduce Afaan Oromo into written language. It gives an idea about the beginning of writing Afaan Oromo in the early 17th century. The study also indicates the school founded in those problematic periods to teach in Afaan Oromo and the translations of many books into Afaan Oromo.
INTRODUCTION
Literature is linguistically documented facts and ideas through which people used to preserve their deeds and worldviews from one generation to the other (Owamoyala, 1993). It is also important to note that one cannot separate language and culture from literature that define them. Language is therefore, a pedestal in the evolution of literature as it is one of the typical ingredients in one’s awareness of her/his culture, identity, custom and history. The sources to study the historical movements of human beings have come from the study of languages that were spoken by the preceding generations as a proto language. This is because, language harbors human culture, knowledge, arts, history and others (Isichei, 1995; Yule, 1996; Ehret, 2008). This is also true for Oromo language what the Oromo prefer to call Afaan Oromo (henceforth Afaan Oromo). Among the Cushitic language families to which it belongs, Afaan Oromo ranks first by the number of its speakers. It is the third among the widely spoken languages in Africa next to Swahili and Hausa Languages. It is a common language among many nationalities, like the Harare, Bartha, Shinahsa, Anuak, Sidama, Gurage (Mekuria, 1994), Koma, Yam, Kaficho, Dawuro, Gedeo, Konso, Somali, Afar, Amhara, and others (Feyisa, 1996). The indigenous speakers are uninterruptedly distributed from Southern Tigray in the North to Northern Kenya in the South, and from Harar in the East to Gidaamii in the West (Gada, 1998; Richard, 1995; Baxter, 1978). They form the largest homogenous culture sharing common descent, history and psychological makeup (Baxter, 1978). Geographically, except in the Northern, Afaan Oromo is found in Eastern, Southern, Central and Western Cushitic Language families by retaining its homogeneity. The Oromo of all these areas could communicate in this language without dialectical barriers (Ibid.). Despite these facts, it is denied official status and no comprehensive scholarly study conducted on it.
Some Facts as a Precursor to Written Oromo Language
Recent sources are reveal the neglected history of Afaan Oromo under its past consecutive Ethiopian rulers. The attempts of the rulers to lock up Afaan Oromo’s outlets where they had been are now being wearied away by discovering of the sources which were masked by the scholars of Ethiopian history under the influences of her rulers. Jackson who made anthropological and historical studies of the civilizations of the Middle East and Northeast African states that Afaan Oromo is the purest living specimen of primitive Babylonian languages. He asserts that when the other languages have since been mixed up with other languages, Afaan Oromo in Ethiopia and Mahra in South Arabia have been able to maintain their purity without significant changes. As he put it:
In regard to the language of the primitive Babylonians, the vocabulary is undoubtedly Cushite (Cush Ethiopia), belong to that of tongue which in the sequel were everywhere more or less mixed up with the Semetic languages, but of which we have probably the purest modern specimens is the Mahra of South Arabia and the [Oromo] of Ethiopia (John G. Jackson, 1974)
Šihãb ad Din Ahmad bin Abd al-Qãder, Chronicler of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahm al-Gahz and an Arab writer, indicates that the Yejjuu Oromo had been well established in Walloo before the war of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim alGahz. According to Šihãb ad Din, the Imam ordered his soldiers to speak only Yejjuu (Oromo) language as the area was populated by the Yejjuu Oromo. Even, the Imam recruited more than three thousand Yejjuu Oromo into his soldiers (Lester Stenhouse, 2003). This indicates that Afaan Oromo was a popular language in northern Ethiopia before the alleged Oromo expansion of the sixteenth century began. Similarly, Abbaa Bahrey (1993) who is said to have been the author of “Zenaw Lahula (Oromo)” written in 1593 employed many Oromo names and terminologies like gadaa, malbaa, muudana, Tuulama, Maccaa, Galaan, walaabuu and many cultural concepts. Moreover, the book leads us to raise an argument that there was at least one person who knew both Geez and Oromo languages to have produced the book. Otherwise, as Jan Vansina (1995) states it is difficult for someone to collect oral tradition of the society whose language he/ she did not know. At the very least, it would have been impossible to get oral information embodied in the book without Abbaa Bahrey’s using the services of Oromo with good knowledge of the Geez language. Whether Abbaa Bahrey knew Oromo or used the services of others, the literature of the book written by him is another instance of an indirect entrance of Oromo into written literature. Early Printed Sources of Written Oromo Language In the middle of seventeen century, Hiob Ludolf, in his linguistic production, wrote a few Oromo words with its parallel translation in Geez and Latin. According to Ludolf (1682), the Oromo words were told to him by Abbaa Gregory between 1652 and 1658 which again gives clue that Abbaa Gregory was well versed in Oromo language. This book in which Oromo words were written appeared in 1682. It is the first written words of the Oromo language we have at our disposal. James Bruce, who visited Ethiopia, did some work related to Afaan Oromo. (Jumce Bruce, No year of publication) In his journey to discover the Source of Blue Nile, Bruce had the opportunity to be among the Oromo of Walloo. Bruce was the first traveler and second European writer next to Hiob Ludolf to record the Oromo language in his account as one of the major languages he had come across. According to his report, he had wished to get ready made written literature for the languages; but he points out that he could not get even one because of the traditional law that forbade the translation of any religious documents into any language other than Geez (Ibid.). The act was religiously condemned and became immoral. As he puts it: …there is an old law in this country (Ethiopia), handed down by tradition only, that whoever should attempt to translate the holy scripture into Amharic, or any other language, his throat should be cut after the manner in which they kill sheep, his family sold to slavery, and his house razed to ground…it was great obstacle to me in getting those translations of the song of Solomon made which I intended for specimens of different language of those distinct relations (Ibid.). Daringly breaking that traditional law, he translated Solomon’s alleged praise for the Queen of Sheba into Afaan Oromo by using Geez characters on a page of his work. This is the second early tangible evidence of the beginning of writing in Afaan Oromo. Afaan Oromo was a palace language during the reign of Iyoas who was monolingual in Afaan Oromo (Richard Greenfield, 1965). The employment of 3,000 soldiers as palace guards (Tesfaye Zergaw, 2001; Trimngham, John, 1965) helped to make Afaan Oromo virtually the official language of the palace (Martial De Slavic, 2008).
The occupation of the position of Ras Bitwedid by the Yejjuu lords from the middle of 1770 onwards (Ibid.). Further exalted the use of Oromo language in the state system. On the other hand, many Oromos who were sold into slavery attempted to make Afaan Oromo popular under the opportunities got to be Christian preachers (Ibid.). Although the origin of Alaqa Zannab, Chronicler of emperor Tewodros, there were many freed Oromo slaves participated in the translation of the scripture before the popular Abba Gammachis (Onesmos Nasib), Zannab , Ruufoo, Waaree, Jagaa, Soolaan and Liban (Wolbert Smidt, 2002) are few among many. The translation of the Scriptures into Oromo language continued. On June 30, 1877, Menilek ordered Alaqa Zannab to translate the books of Jeshewa, Judge Ruth, and Samuel to use the translation for himself for revision after Hebrew. However, the works did not see light of the day due to the death of Krapf, who used to publish Alaqa Zannab’s works, in 1881 and the unstable political situation between the interior and the coast. Nevertheless, R. Pankhurst, who has written about these materials, does not explain why Menilek II preferred Afaan Oromo to Amharic for the revision of the Hebrew Bible (Pankhurst, 1976). But the reason is clearly stated by Hudeson “It is a curious fact that, although so many of the great Abyssinian officers are pure [Oromo], and although nearly every Abyssinian know[s] [Oromo] as well as Amharic, yet they do not care to speak [Oromo] in public. This can only be ascribed to a kind of false pride, as in private they will talk it readily” (Hudeson and Walker, 1922). To have indigenous religious scholars who could study Oromo language scientifically and translate the religious scripture into the language, the Catholic missionaries invested lots of their efforts on Afaan Oromo. Abbaa Massaja intensively continued to request the opening of (Oromo) College in France. It was great for Massaja to get land for the construction of (Oromo) College on 18 January 1866 in Marseille. On 15th April, 1866, St. Michael Oromo College was officially inaugurated by Massaja Marseille, France. By February 1869, the college was reported to have enrolled about twenty-nine Oromo students collected especially from ransom slaves (Abba Antonios Alberto, 1998). For the first three years, the Oromo College was functional to teach theology and linguistics with the focus on Oromo language under the direction of Fr. Emanuel and Louis de Gonzangue Lassere. However, it was unfortunate that the Oromo students of the College could not acclimatize well with the weather and many of them died (Ibid.). This forced Massaja to try to establish another College in the homeland of the students in order to fulfill the pastoral missions of the vicariate. Following his requests, the Capuchin of propaganda Fide allowed Massaja to build another (Oromo) College in the Oromo country in 1868. As soon as he received the letter of permission, Massaja left for Shawaa accompanied by his four Marseille Oromo students and instructors. After forty-eight days of tiresome journey, they reached Liche, the king’s court at the time on March 11, 1868 (Ibid.). Based on Menilek’s advice Massaja sent Fr. Tuarin, the vice-perfect of the mission to Finfinnee with some of the Oromo students on 11 September 1868. Immediately they began constructing Catholic Church of St. Marry at Birbirsaa with the assistance of some Oromo people (Ibid.). Birbirsaa (Oromo) College was officially inaugurated on 25 July 1869. The former instructor of the Marseille Oromo College, Fr. Emanuel and Fr. Louis de’ Gonzague were sent to teach at the college but Fr. Emanuel died on the way to Shawa. Louis de’ Gonzague became the director of (Oromo) college of Birbirsaa in 1873 (Ibid.). At this College, Fr. Tuarin prepared religious texts in Oromo language for church and academic services. Attempts were made to produce religious and academic literature both in Oromo language (Ibid.). At the college, many recruits and some freed Oromo slaves, enrolled and became literate. The trained Oromo also participated in productions and translations of Oromo language literature as both writers and assistants to the foreigners. Nonetheless, the progress of Catholic Missionaries’ expansion and its roles in the development of written Oromo literature were impeded by Emperor Yohannes’s suspicious policy of king Menilek’s secrete contact with the Europeans. Yohannes feared that Menilek might have earned ample firearms through the contact.
Consequently, Yohannes ordered Menilek to stop contacting Europeans independently and the two sealed this in one of the articles of the Liche Agreement signed in 1878. The agreement forced Menilek to expel Europeans including all the Catholic missionaries from Shawaa. (Elio Ficquet, 2003) After thirty years of evangelical activity and Oromo language study in Ethiopia, Massaja was expelled (Tewelde Beyene, 2003). The mission station and the (Oromo) College of Birbirsaa had to close down. In 1897, the St. George Church was built on the site of the college by the order of Menilek (Alberto, 1998). Despite these challenges and obstacles, the catholic missionaries had never given up their mission of evangelizing the Oromo and translating books into Oromo language. Mgr. Cahagne, who became Vicariate Apostolic of the Oromo following the resignation of Massaja on 3 October 1879, designed another way to enter the Oromo land. Mgr. Cahagne and his compatriots were able to pass through Zeila and established themselves at Harar in 1881. In Harar, they established two schools; one for freed slaves and the other for missionaries. In both schools Afaan Oromo and Arabic languages were intensively given. Fr. Andre Jarosseau was busy in studying Afaan Oromo and Arabic in Harar during 1882- 1883, which could be a key for his future apostolate among the Oromo. (Kevin, O’Mahone, and Wolbert Smidt, 2003). Parallel with the establishment Oromo College and missionary station, the Catholic Missionaries embarked on collecting Oromo words, studying its grammar. They also translated their religious scriptures into Oromo language. In addition to the 1853 of catechism translation, Abbaa Jacob had translated the gospel of Matthew into Oromo language. He published the book which was 135 pages long at the printing house of Banasfus in Carcassonne in 1900. The main constituent of the translation is 28 chapters of Matthew, Morning and Evening Prayers, Revelation of Sin, and the Ten Commandments. Like his translation of 1853, the book has the problem of precise representation of Oromo sounds which is difficult only for the non-native learners but also for the natives themselves. His orthographical usage is based on the accent of French language. Otherwise, Jacobi had the concept of Oromo words that are long or stressed (Abba Antonios Alberto, 1998). The attempt of translating and composing Oromo language continued. In 1887, Ettore Viterbo an Italian scholar published Afaan Oromo grammar in Italian language under the title Grammatica Della Lingua Oromonica in Ermanno. The grammar consists of about 397 pages majority of which is devoted to the discussion in Italian language. The first hundred pages are devoted to Oromo grammar, from 103- 266 to Oromo-Italian and from 267-397 to ItalianOromo vocabularies where as the rest is left for Kaficho, Yem and the other Southern nations’ grammar. In the book Oromo words, phrases and sentences written in Latin script are cited as an example under each explanation of the grammar with it transcriptions into Italy. As he states in his grammar, his Oromo-Italian and Italian-Oromo bilingual vocabularies were aimed at easing twoway translations that was to benefit both the Oromo and Italian speakers. (Abune Jacobi, 1900) Nonetheless, as his approach of both the grammar and the vocabularies orthographic representation of Oromo sounds are the corruptions of Italian sounding system that it is difficult to pronounce Oromo words correctly for both the Oromo and nonnatives. Similarly, Franz Praetorius a German scholar, published Zur Grammaticka der Gallasparche in 1893 in Berlin. Praetorius’ 130 pages of Oromo grammar in Germany employed Geez script for the Oromo words, phrases and sentences cited in the book to show the practicality of the discussion. (Franz Praetorius, 1993) In this grammar, the focus he made on Oromo language is not worth as most part of the account is left for the German.
Conclusions
Although Oromo nation has been one of the largest ethno nations in Ethiopia, the attention given to study their language particularly from historical aspect is remains minimal. Policy of marginalization was also exercised for the purpose of building a country of one language, religion and culture. Promotion for the language was inspected and strictly forbidden. Therefore, the Oromo language in general and written Oromo literature in particular remained less studied. Until recently, Afaan Oromo lacked developed written literature and has insignificant written and printed materials. In spite of this pressures, some literate Ethiopians, foreigners, religious men and sold Oromo slaves to Europe tried to document some sketches of Afaan Oromo whenever they got any opportunity they came across. These efforts enabled us to take down the origin of written Oromo literature down to 17th century.
![Jimma[1]](https://qeerroo.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/jimma1.jpg)
Dhumaatii beelaan uummattoota naannoo roobni hin geenye irra gahaa jiru daa’immaan, haadholii fi horiiwwan yeroo itti wal faana dhumaatii sukkanneessaa irra jiranitti mootummaan Wayyaanee ofii cooma muree guddina biyyaa odeessaa jira.Kan baayee nama gaddisiisu keesssaa naannowwan kun beelli itti hammaatetti nyaataan mootummaan keenya isaan deggeraa jira jechunis miillii fi harki wayyaanee kan taate jaleen OPDO’n miidiyaa irraan oduu sobaa lafa naqaa jirti kan seenan lubbuu kumaan lakkawamaa jiru gaafatullee sobuudhaan uummata beelaan dhumaa jirutti qoosan. Yeroo biyyaaf boo’ichaa wayyaanee fi jala kaattuu sheef garaa guuttachuun nyaattee uummatatti dhaadatti. Kanumaanuu kan walq abate gaaffiii uummanni Baalee aanaalee garagaraa irratti mootummaan maaliif soba gargaarsi godhame nama dhuunfaa irraa kan hafe hin agine kan warra beela’aniif kan jedhanii wayyaanee soba ishee saaxilan yeroo kana gara siyaasatti harkifamanii qabamaa kan jiran jiru. Akkasuma sadaasa 25/2015 yuuniversirii Madda walaabutti barattotni gaaffii kaasan uummata keenya obbolaa keenya beelaan dhumaniif gaddina jedhuu fi akaksuma barattootni moora yuuniversitichaa mootummaa wayyaanee balaaleffatan.
Oromian Economist 