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“It is because of the absence of self-rule that you see millions of farmers evicted and their land given to ruling party officials or foreign companies. The regime downplays the scale of questions raised as well as the scale of the lethal forces used.” – Habtamu Dugo, an exiled Oromo journalist and US-based professor
Ethiopia: Government says Oromia has self-rule but activists vow to continue protests
Oromo protesters in Karsa town, West Arsi Zone, Oromia state, on 16 February 2016Oromo activists
People in Ethiopia’s Oromia state already have self-rule and protesters’ demands are already in place, an Ethiopian official told IBTimes UK. Abiy Berhane, minister counsellor at the Ethiopian embassy in London, made the comment as activists said they are still on the streets of Oromia calling for self-rule, the release of political prisoners and the end of military presence in the region.
Protests in Oromia began in November 2015 against a government draft plan to expand the boundaries of the capital Addis Ababa. Demonstrators, mainly from the Oromo ethnic group, argued the so-called “Addis Ababa master plan” would lead to forced evictions of Oromo farmers from their lands and would undermine the survival of the Oromo culture and language.
Who are the Oromo people?
The Oromo people are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group and their population amounts to more than 25 million (around 35% of Ethiopia’s total population).
Oromo people speak Afaan Oromoo, as well as Amharic, Tigrinya, Gurange and Omotic languages. They are mainly Christian and Muslim, while only 3% still follow the traditional religion based on the worshipping of the god, Waaq.
In 1973, Ethiopian Oromo created the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which stemmed from the discontent over a perceived marginalisation by the government and to fight the hegemony of the Amhara people, another large ethnic group in Ethiopia.
OLF – still active today – also calls for the self-determination of the Oromo people. It has been deemed as a terror organisation that carried out violent acts against people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The group has always denied such allegations, claiming its mission is to terminate “a century of oppression” against the Oromos.
The government denied the allegations of violence and claimed the death toll was much lower, but did not give a specific figure.
Berhane explained Ethiopian authorities conducted an assessment on the unrest and admitted they took slow steps in addressing people’s legitimate grievances. “Had these demands been addressed quickly and effectively, dissident groups would not have been able to infiltrate peaceful protesters and instigate violence,” he said.
“The government does not want to see any of its people die, even the death of one person is one is one too many. What the country needs first and foremost is peace. Inciting violence, creating division, coming up with horrific stories and posting those stories on social media does not help in any way.”
Earlier in March, Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn apologised for the deaths and destruction for which he blamed “anti-peace forces” that infiltrated demonstrations.
Self-rule already in place
Berhane claimed that people are ruling themselves in Oromia, where the official language is Oromo, people have their own regional parliament and run their own budget. “Political problems in Oromia and indeed in any other part of Ethiopia have been for the most part resolved. If there are any that are not resolved, the Constitution provides the mechanism for resolving them so there is no need for violent conflicts,” he said.
However, Oromo activists who spoke to IBTimes UK denied Oromo people have self-rule in the region, claiming that Oromia’s ruling party, Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), is an organisation of “ex-war captives” created by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Activists also denied violent people infiltrated protests, and alleged the government iscracking down on peaceful and unarmed demonstrators, including pregnant women and children. They also claimed the government declared martial law in Oromia, which they say is now divided into eight military divisions controlled by “ethnic Tigrean generals”.
“It is because of the absence of self-rule that you see millions of farmers evicted and their land given to ruling party officials or foreign companies. The regime downplays the scale of questions raised as well as the scale of the lethal forces used,” Habtamu Dugo, an exiled Oromo journalist and US-based professor, said.
“Oromo are not able to elect their leaders in a free and fair election and the ruling party serves the interests of few ruling elites from the Tigray region. Although Afan Oromo is recognized on paper as a regional official language, people are demanding it to be made into one of the federal languages, since it is the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia.”
An Oromia-based activist who spoke to IBTimes UK on conditions of anoymity, denied the government of Oromia rules on its own budget. The source said: “While Oromia contributes 60% of Ethiopia’s GDP, OPDO has to accept 70% of its recurrent and capital budget from the TPLF-dominated federal governement.”
The source also alleged at least 40,000 Oromo people are currently imprisoned and many of them “had to suffer severe torture”.
“There are so many problems facing the Oromo people… “But those who speak about it are getting arrested. Educated people, farmers, teachers, doctors — the government accuses them all of being part of the protests.”
ADAMA, Ethiopia — For those who would speak frankly about politics in this landlocked East African country, the first challenge is to find a safe space.
But on a recent evening in Adama, a city in the heart of a region reeling from the largest protest movement Ethiopia has faced in decades, most people seemed at ease. University students poured out of the city’s main campus, spilling into claustrophobic bars and pool halls. Others crowded around a cluster of aging taxis, jostling for a quick ride home.
Though it is one of the largest cities in Oromia — where members of Ethiopia’s Oromo ethnic group have taken to the streets in recent months in unprecedented numbers to protest their political and economic marginalization — Adama has remained mostly quiet.
Hidden beneath the casual veneer of daily life, however, lurks a deep-seated suspicion of the government, which has built a massive surveillance apparatus and cracked down violently on its opponents
Hidden beneath the casual veneer of daily life, however, lurks a deep-seated suspicion of the government, which has built a massive surveillance apparatus and cracked down violently on its opponents.
Citizens feel they have to watch what they say, and where they say it. At the hangouts where crowds have gathered, a political statement might be overheard. Out on the sidewalks, government spies could be on patrol. Inside the university campus, security officials are on the lookout for suspicious behavior.
In a way, the recent unrest is rooted in Ethiopia’s rapid economic rise. The federal government claims to have notched double-digit GDP growth rates over the past decade, but its rigid, top-down approach to developing industry, and attracting foreign investment, has resulted in mass displacement and disrupted millions of lives. This, in turn, has heightened ethnic tensions that today threaten Ethiopia’s reputation for stability.
All across Oromia, government security forces have been struggling to control the spate of violent protests that erupted in November, partly in response to the government’s so-called master plan to coordinate development in Addis Ababa with nearby towns in Oromia, a sprawling central region that surrounds the capital on all sides. Like much of the country, the vast majority of Oromia is rural, home to small-scale farmers who feel left behind by the dazzling growth of Addis.
When this latest round of protests began last year, demonstrators seized on the master plan as symbolic of broader encroachments on Oromo autonomy. They also accused the government of taking land from Oromo farmers for little or no compensation, suppressing the Oromo language in schools, and unfairly redistributing the region’s natural resources.
In Adama, a 23-year-old engineering student, whose full name has been withheld for his safety, was initially reluctant to speak with this reporter for fear of reprisal. He relaxed only after he and some close friends sat down in a deserted cafe near campus, where a quiet woman brewing coffee over hot coals was the only person listening in.
“There are so many problems facing the Oromo people,” he said. “But those who speak about it are getting arrested. Educated people, farmers, teachers, doctors — the government accuses them all of being part of the protests.”
His caution was warranted. Less than two weeks later, a confrontation erupted at the university, reportedly in response to a small demonstration by students — though the details, as always, are hazy. One witness who asked not be named said he heard gunshots as security forces descended on the campus. Amid the confusion, at least two fires were sparked — one in the school’s backup generator.
“On campus, students already feared the armed forces,” said the witness, who is a student at the university. “Now, no one feels like they have any right to speak at all.”
Government security forces have been accused of exacerbating the crisis in Oromia by violently suppressing the protests. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch said it had “documented security forces firing into crowds of protesters with little or no warning, the arrests of students as young as 8, and the torture of protesters in detention.” The rights group said military and police forces have killed “several hundred peaceful protesters” since November.
Members of the Ethiopian diaspora have been equally vocal, taking to social media to call attention to alleged atrocities. Jawar Mohammed, who is based in Minnesota, is perhaps the most prominent online activist, manning a number of social media feeds featuring bloody photos of dead demonstrators and grainy videos of police brutality that have become hubs for Oromo diaspora members around the world. His Facebook page has amassed nearly a half million followers.
“We have freelancers embedded in pretty much every district across the country,” said Mohammed, who was born in Ethiopia but works abroad as the executive director of the Oromia Media Network, a news broadcaster whose satellite feed here has been repeatedly jammed by the Ethiopian government. “They infiltrate the system from top to bottom,” he said in a Skype interview.
How much of an impact social media activism has had on the actual protest movement is a matter of debate. In a country with limited Internet penetration, and where the sole government-owned telecommunications provider has the power to shut down signals and block opposition websites, online activists like Mohammed are necessarily limited in what they can do. According to the engineering student in Adama, people on the ground are driving the protests, and social media matters “only a little bit.”
Where online activists have succeeded is in channeling video and photographic evidence of abuses to the outside word
Where online activists have succeeded is in channeling video and photographic evidence of abuses to the outside word. But even this evidence is difficult to verify; several journalists, including this correspondent, have been detained by officials for attempting to report in some of the worst-affected areas.
There are also questions about the direction social media activists have steered the debate surrounding the protests. Comments by Mohammed’s passionate social media followers sometimes advocate violence against members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party from the northern region of Tigray that dominates the government’s security and intelligence agencies. And because he and other online activists are far from the front lines, some argue that their social media posts are ultimately a distraction. The student who witnessed the altercation at the university in Adama, for instance, said he agrees with Mohammed’s political analysis, but is concerned that the Facebook page has become a magnet for a dizzying array of viewpoints — about religion, regional politics, and ethnic strife — that make the movement more controversial than it needs to be.
Still, Mohammed has a clear strategy in mind. When it comes to human life, he advocates nonviolence. But he encourages demonstrators to block trade routes, destroy the property of companies that are seen as operating against Oromo interests, and avoid bringing crops to market in order to raise food prices.
Might such tactics be unethical during the worst drought Ethiopia has witnessed in decades, which has left 10.2 million people in need of emergency food aid? “Morally, yes,” Mohammed said. “Strategically, no.”
Officials have no time for these “activists on the other side of the Atlantic,” said government spokesman Getachew Reda. He claimed that agitators, some of whom have backing from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s archrival, have infiltrated the ranks of the protesters and are responsible for the current violence. The government security forces, by contrast, have generally handled the situation professionally, he said.
“We may have some bad apples,” Reda said. “Otherwise, the security apparatus that we have in this country is very much oriented towards serving the interests of the public.”
Amid this war of words, normal citizens are caught in the middle. In the quiet café in Adama, the engineering student spelled out a set of remarkably prosaic demands: He would like to see more Oromo professors at the university, for instance, and a fairer allocation of resources for the region. But, he said, he stays quiet for fear of Ethiopia’s pervasive security and intelligence apparatus.
“People don’t feel free,” he said. “We are all psychologically impacted.”
After two months of violent demonstrations, the government announced that it was scrapping the master plan. It wasn’t enough. Some protesters said they didn’t believe it had really been canceled. Others were motivated by grievances that run much deeper than any development scheme, citing marginalization stretching all the way back to the late 1800s, when the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II swept in from the north to expand Ethiopia’s borders and establish the capital city in Oromo lands.
On paper, today’s federal system is meant to ensure some measure of autonomy for all of the country’s ethnic groups, including the Oromos. The ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), is made up of four regional parties, including the TPLF and the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO). But the government lost some credibility in May, when the EPRDF and allied parties won every parliamentary seat in a national election. Though the OPDO holds more parliamentary seats than any other party, protesters say the party either cannot or will not challenge the dominance of the TPLF — and Oromos remain marginalized as a result.
Officials say they are trying to promote meaningful dialogue. “It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that people’s legitimate grievances are addressed properly,” Reda said. To that end, OPDO officials have convened meetings with concerned citizens across Oromia, and hundreds of low-level officials have been dismissed for corruption.
But the government has continued to lean on its powerful security apparatus, which has both enabled Ethiopia’s impressive, state-led economic development and imperiled it by bringing ethnic tensions to the fore. The ongoing protests in Oromia point to cracks in the facade, where citizens feel left out as the government pursues its uncompromising vision of modernization.
By continuing to crack down on demonstrators instead of listening to their demands, Ethiopia risks compromising the reputation for political stability that fueled its unprecedented decade of growth and foreign investment. In that way, the government may soon erode the very foundation of its own economic ambitions.
By Hailegabriel Gedecho, Addisstandard, 22nd March 2016
My starting point for this short reflection is my discomfort with friends and acquaintances who question (and dismiss) the morality of supporting (to use their pejorative expression‘mafafam’) Oromo Protests from overseas. As most of these critiques reside in Ethiopia (where public display of solidarity with Oromo Protests is meant risking torture, incarceration, and of course one’s life), the claim of immorality of Ethiopian diaspora showing solidarity with Oromo protesters may be interpreted as either a fear of tyranny or a disguised yearning for an Ethiopia where public display of resistance does not cost one’s freedom or life.
But there seems to be more to this argument than the fear or yearning that I alluded to above. If you push a bit further and ask why they are not themselves doing the support (if the morality of protests overseas is the issue as they claim), they end up telling you ‘order’ must be managed or Oromo Protests must first be reframed as ‘Ethiopia Protests’. So, for them, order (whatever that means) and fetishizing Ethiopia are the litmus tests of the morality of protests against the Ethiopian state. As a corollary, one can legitimately assume these people don’t care if the Ethiopian state kills, dispossess, disempowers, and denigrate Oromos as long as ‘order’ is maintained and fetish Ethiopia is thereby performed. In this piece, I will try to explain why, in many ways, the silence these resident Ethiopians seek from their overseas friends is ethically more troublesome than the solidarity (often expressed through social media outlets such as Facebook) that Ethiopians in overseas show to the victims of state terrorism in Ethiopia.
The participation of Ethiopians overseas in protests has more often involved social media activism. Although the effects of this social media activism cannot be contradicted, it is hardly the cause or the primary instigator of the Oromo Protests on the ground. In a country where internet access is limited to only less than 5% of the total population (the majority being Addis Abebans who are not apparently interested in the protest), the impact of social media activism in fuelling Oromo Protest is negligible, more so in rural Oromiya where we are witnessing the protest. Oromo Protest has its origin within Ethiopia and is related to developments there. The impossibility of the protesters’ demand to be expressed through other less explosive spaces of resistance and the eternally undemocratic and imperial nature of the Ethiopian state and its development model are its major contributors. The social media activism by the diaspora cannot be implicated in this, unless one wants to easily buy into the dull rhetoric of the Ethiopian government blaming every wrong on ‘external forces’.
Instead, complementing the voice of the subaltern in spaces where their participation is marginal (e.g. social media) is morally satisfying. As can be easily noticed, the social media is a space of its own dynamics. Though it can generally be open to all, there is every possibility that sympathisers of the violent Ethiopian state dominate the social media discussion of current affairs in the country. This makes the active complication of the suffocating state-sponsored discourses of developing, democratizing, and modernizing Ethiopia urgent. Those who perform their resistance on social media may at least vindicate the causes of the subaltern (such as the Oromo protesters) by exposing the state’s pretentiousness vis-à-vis its politically and economically marginal communities.
Of course, there is an additional reason why Ethiopians overseas should do the social media activism. Unlike their brothers and sisters at home (who are paying dearly for asking legitimate questions), Ethiopians overseas are removed from the immediate threat of state reprisal for echoing these questions. Although doing the easy thing in a virtual space cannot compensate for the pain suffered by victims of state terrorism, it is at least a blameless (as well as useful) thing than remaining silent about the injustices perpetrated by the Ethiopian state.
Another thing which seems to obsess the silent supporters of injustice relates to vocal diaspora activists and their increasing popularity. It is often argued resistance from afar is cowardice and meaningless. In their eyes, the brave is the one who dare to challenge the government from within. Admittedly, those who do their protest in Ethiopia are brave. But, their bravery cannot and should not be measured against the alleged spiritless-ness of vocal diaspora activists. In fact, numerous foreign-based Oromo protesters know what it means to challenge the Ethiopian state from home. They have experienced the brutality of the Ethiopian state for having done that.Their bodies and souls unalterably inscribe experiences of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment under the Ethiopian state that rendered them homeless in the first place. Hence, they have every reason to fear the brutality of the evil state, least for having part of their family back at home. This fear is not illegitimate and cannot be ridiculed as cowardice, not least by sympathisers of the violent state who often rationalise their desire for status quo in terms of fear of the unknown post-Oromo protest future.
Interestingly, some admit the Ethiopian state has always (perhaps unsurprisingly) justified its excessive violence in terms of the ‘need to maintain order’. It is unclear how one can ethically and consistently claim the primacy of order (which assumes the sincerity of state’s monopoly of violence to supress any protest) as well as suggest that those who languish in Ethiopian prisons (as a result of their participation in creating ‘disorder’) are morally more righteous than runaways who make the talk from overseas.This is just like saying: ‘come and face the power of the ruthless state or don’t tarnish Ethiopia’s hard won image of stability and development by channelling the legitimate question raised by the people of Oromiya through social media outlets’. Local elites who do not want their privileged life disturbed and their demand for silence from their equally privileged friends abroad may be interpreted as a desire to normalize the violence the majority is living under in Ethiopia. If anything, the diaspora can contribute (as well as it does) in exposing the façade of development and stability that the Ethiopian state and its sympathisers deploy to invisibilize the multidimensional structural violence in the country. There is no wrong in siding with the powerless, even if that would ‘disturb’ the imperial peace of the privileged that charge the diaspora for the continued mess at home.
For me, this is not the time to worry about the good image of Ethiopia or the Oromoness of the protest. Whether the protest is framed as Ethiopian or Oromo protest it is irrelevant as long as what is at stake is an issue of social justice. Those who suspend their support to Oromo Protest because of its framing as “Oromo” cannot be more ethically wrong than this. If they sincerely believe Oromo questions are Ethiopian questions, they should have done the framing themselves and join the struggle under the banner ‘Ethiopia Protests’ instead of demanding the Oromos to reaffirm the primacy of Ethiopia (which they cannot for legitimate reasons) or wanting the likes of me (who is not an Oromo by the way) keeping silent about the plight of the Ethiopian subaltern.
I don’t understand why it is morally right to keep silent about injustices while at the same time complaining about the ‘disturbing voice’ of Ethiopians overseas that rightly believe they are supporting the cause of justice and channelling that voice to those who care to hear. Those who don’t care to hear can continue complaining about the disturbing voice. Should I worry for incidentally disturbing the privileged and the complicit in violence? No. Those who worry much are those who have something to lose (like the ruling EPRDF) or those who want the continuity of violence. And, they are the reasons why I should take my otherwise insignificant but disturbingly resistant voice seriously.
Ed’s note: Hailegabriel Gedecho former assistant professor at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. He now studies law at University of Melbourne, Australia
Oromo athlete Sifan Hassan claimed her first global title in women’s 1500m IAAF indoor Championships Portland 2016. On 19 March 2016, Saturday night, the 23-year-old seizing control of the women’s 1500m final with less than three laps to run and refusing to be passed thereafter to win in 4:04.96.
Hassan was followed by other Oromo athletes Dawit Seyaum and Gudaf Tsegay, who ran 4:04.96 and 4:05.71 respectively to round out the podium.
OMN in Afaan Oromoo interview with Siifan Hasan: Gaaffii fi Deebii gabaabaa Atileet Siifan Hasan Waliin Taasifame.(Bit.21,2016)
Oromo athlete Genzebe Dibaba cruised to victory and her third world indoor title, unchallenged, in 8:47.43 ahead of teammate Meseret Defar (8:54.26) and Shannon Rowbury (8:55.55).
WOMEN’S 3000M FINAL – IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS PORTLAND 2016.
Genzebe Dibaba gets a warm congratulatory kiss from her fan
Oromo athlete Yomif Qajelchaa cruised to victory for the world indoor title in men’s 3000m, Portland 2016, 20 March 2016
The 18 year old, Oromo athlete Yomif Qajelchaa went to Eugene in 2014 and won the world junior 5000m title. Last year, he won over the same distance at the famed IAAF Diamond League meeting there and on 20 march 2016 he took the gold medal over 3000m at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
By William Davison, Bloomberg Business, 21 March 2016
Building glut seen fueling biggest political crisis in decade
Fatal land protests near capital have raged since November
(Bloomberg business) — When Ethiopian farmer Mulugeta Mezemir ceded his land three years ago to property developers on the fringes of the expanding capital, Addis Ababa, he felt he had no choice.
A gated community with white picket fences and mock Roman pillars built by Country Club Developers now occupies the fields he tilled in Legetafo, Oromia region, after the 60-year-old said local government officials convinced him to accept an offer or face expropriation. He took the cash and vacated the land, which in Ethiopia is all state-owned.
“We were sad, but we thought at the time that they were going to take the land for free,” said Mulugeta, a father of 12, while feeding hay to cattle a few meters from foundations for the next phase of housing. “We thought it was better to take whatever they were paying.”
As Ethiopia, which the International Monetary Fund estimates saw 8.7 percent economic growth in the last fiscal year, undergoes a construction boom, complaints over evictions and unfair compensation have fomented the country’s most serious domestic political crisis in a decade.
Fatal Protests
In protests by the largest ethnic group, the Oromo, that began in November, security forces allegedly shot dead as many as 266 demonstrators, according to the Kenya-based Ethiopian Human Rights Project. The government says many people died, including security officers, without giving a toll. Foreign investors including Dangote Cement Plc had property damaged.
Ethiopian Communication Minister Getachew Reda said protesters were in part angry at “some crooked officials” who have been “lining their pockets by manipulating” land deals around the capital. Property developers CCD followed legal procedures, paid standard rates of compensation and employed many members of farmers’ families, according to Tedros Messele, a member of the company’s management team.
Cases such as Mulugeta’s have been a growing trend on the outskirts of the capital over the past two decades, said Nemera Mamo, an economist at Sussex University in England. No recent, independent studies have been conducted into how many people have been affected.
‘Beggars, Laborers’
“The booming construction industry has contributed to Addis Ababa’s rapid expansion that’s dispossessed many poor farmers and turned them into beggars and daily laborers,” Nemera said. “The Oromo protest movement opposes the mass eviction of poor farmers.”
Ethiopia’s state-heavy model seeks to industrialize the impoverished nation within a decade by improving infrastructure and combining investment with cheap labor, land and water to produce higher-value goods. Projects for what the IMF calls African’s fastest-growing economy include the continent’s largest hydropower dam, railways and the building of 700,000 low-cost apartments by 2020.
Construction accounted for more than half of all industry in the fiscal year that ended in July after it grew an annual 37 percent, according to National Bank of Ethiopia data. Industry comprised 15 percent of output.
Domestic Supply
Investors such as Diageo Plc, the world’s largest liquor maker, and Unilever Plc are tapping into the expansion by building Ethiopian facilities. Citizens of Africa’s second-most populous nation are using money earned there or abroad to build residences, malls and offices.
The ruling party hasn’t kept pace with the boom by improving governance and the ability of domestic manufacturers to supply the industry, said Tsedeke Yihune, who owns Flintstone Engineering, an Ethiopian contractor that’s built upmarket housing and African Union offices.
“Construction has not been used as it was supposed to, as a means of building domestic capacity, building good governance, as well as delivering the government’s development agenda,” Tsedeke said in an interview in the capital.
More than 70 percent of construction materials are imported, including cables, steel, ceramics, locks, furniture and electrical fittings, Tsedeke said. Ethiopia’s trade deficit increased by $3 billion to $14.5 billion last fiscal year.
Government Spending
Addis Ababa-based Orchid Business Group is another recipient of government capital spending, which the IMF says could double to almost $15 billion a year by 2020. Orchid’s projects include one with Italy’s Salini Impregilo SpA building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, said Hailealem Worku, the construction and engineering head.
Cement plants built by companies including Dangote have made Ethiopia self-sufficient in the material, while manufacturing incentives means glass, paint and steel factories will play a bigger role soon, Hailealem said.
The government wants to improve regulations and change attitudes so contractors boost their skills and ethics, Construction Minister Ambachew Mekonnen said in an interview. “The construction industry suffers from a lack of good governance,” he said.
In Legetafo, Mulugeta was paid 17 birr ($0.80) a square meter in compensation. Meanwhile, people were bidding as much as 355,555 birr per meter to rent land in Addis Ababa last year. Mulugeta used the 200,000 birr he received for the plot for expenses including renting more farmland. Two of his children now work as CCD cleaners, earning 40 birr a day.
“We are getting deeper into poverty,” he said.
Oromo: Ethiopia’s Construction Boom Marred by Evictions and Unrest
Partial list of Oromos mainly students that have been killed by Ethiopian regime police, security agents, Special and armed force during peaceful demonstration of last three months (updated stand. March. 2016)
Partial list of Oromos mainly students that have been killed by Ethiopian regime police, security agents, Special and armed force during peaceful demonstration of last three months (updated stand. March. 2016)
ABC News: Right Group:Oromia: #OromoProtests: Ethiopia’s security forces carrying out serious rights abuses, killings and rapes in clashes with protesters in Oromia
Portland Senators Jeffrey A Merkley & Ron Wyden write letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to ensure resource given to Ethiopia are not just for purposes that undermine US long term interst. The also request the State Dept to provide account of killings, arrest and other human right abuse in response to #OromoProtests, and to identify persons responsible for committing these crimes. We are grateful to the Senators and the Oromo Community of Portland.
Dhuma irratti WBOn waraana mootummaa faashistii wayyaanee kan ummata Oromoo karaa nagaan harka duwwaa gaaffii mirgaa gaafataa fi warraaqsa finiinsaa jiru irratti yakka waraanaa raawwataa jiru haleeluu fi lukkeelee diinaa gufuu qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoo ta’an adabuu cimsee kan itti fufu ta’uu Ajaji WBO Godina Kibba-Baha Oromiyaa beeksisee jira.
Oduu wal fakkaatu (related News):
(Oromia Press, Bitootessa 14 bara 2016): Oduu Tarkaanfii Amma Nu Gaheen
Ona Ebantuutti Itti Gaafatamaa Dhimma Tikaa fi Nageenyaa Wayyaanee Kan Ture Ajjeefame.
Godina Baha Wallaggaa Ona Ebantuutti yeroo dheeraadhaaf itti gaafatamaa dhimma tikaa fi nageenyaa Onichaa ta’uun hojjechaa fi ummata irraan dararaa ulfaataa ga’aa kan ture namni Geetaachoo Xilahun jedhamu Bitootessa 13,2016 Dilbata kaleessaa tarkaanfii irratti fudhatameen ajjeefame.
Farra ummataa fi gufuu QBO kan ta’e lukkee Geetaachoo Xilahun magaalaa Hindee maadheffatuun barattoota Oromoo fi sabboontota ilmaan Oromoo basaasaa, hiisisaa fi dararaan gara garaa akka Oromoota irra gahuuf yakka dhiifama hin qabne hanga guyyaa ajjeefamuutti raawwataa akka ture oduun SBO dhaqqabe ifa godha.
Namni kun gochaa isaa diinummaa fi farra ummataa ta’e kana irraa akka dhaabbatuuf dhaamsi isa dhaqqabus irraa dhaabbatuu waan dideef tarkaanfiin xumuraa irratti fudhatamee jira.
Tarkaanfii lukkee diinaa irratti fudhatame kanatti ummatni Oromoo Ona Ebantuu gammachuu isaa ibsataa jira jechuun oduun nu dhaqqabe ifa godhee jira.
(HRW 15 March 2016) — A human rights crisis is taking place in Ethiopia. It has received little attention internationally but is the biggest political crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 elections.
Protesters in Oromia region, Ethiopia, December 2015.
Since November 12, 2015, protesters across Ethiopia’s Oromia region have been risking their lives and liberty in the face of a brutal—and sometimes lethal–response from security forces. Soldiers and police have used deadly force and killed several hundred peaceful protesters. We understand that thousands of people have been detained in official and secret detention facilities. While there have been some incidents of violent clashes and some members of the security forces have also been killed, the vast majority of the protests have been peaceful.
The protests were triggered by the so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan, which envisioned expansion of Addis Ababa’s municipal boundary 20-fold. Protesters raised concerns that ethnic Oromos living in the area of that boundary expansion would be displaced from their farms. Ethnic Oromos, who make up approximately 35 percent of Ethiopia’s population, have long felt politically marginalized and culturally discriminated against by successive governments.
The government’s cancellation of the master plan in January came weeks too late for many protesters, who have seen too many killed and arbitrarily arrested. Over the four months of the protests, Human Rights Watch has documented security forces firing into crowds of protesters with little or no warning, the arrests of students as young as 8, and the torture of protesters in detention. Security forces have also arrested teachers, artists, political opposition leaders, and other influential Oromos who they believe are mobilizing protesters.
Since 2009, the Ethiopian government has systematically restricted independent media and civil society groups, both domestic and international. As a result, there has been limited reporting on the crackdown and inadequate international attention to this ongoing crisis. These restrictions make it difficult to verify the death toll and scale of the crackdown. It is clear, however, that the crackdown is putting Ethiopia on a very dangerous trajectory that could endanger its long term stability and progress.
Human Rights Watch urges the Council to raise concerns over the serious abuses taking place in Oromia. The Council should call on the Ethiopian government to cease using excessive force against protesters and release everyone arbitrarily detained. The Council should also support an independent investigation into the killings and other abuses. Any investigation should include sufficient levels of international involvement to ensure it is independent, credible, and impartial. Thank you.
Group: Ethiopia Forces Kill, Rape in Clashes With Protesters
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 14, 2016,
A rights group is accusing Ethiopia’s security forces of carrying out serious rights abuses during recent protests in the country’s Oromia region.
The Ethiopia-based Human Rights Council said Monday that it found evidence of extrajudicial killings, tortures, beatings, illegal detentions, forced disappearances and arson attacks during and after the protests.
In November, protests erupted in the Oromia region over a proposed plan to expand the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, which some believed would lead to the displacement of farmers.
Authorities have since abandoned the plan but clashes continue. The Human Right Council said at least 103 people have been killed.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn recently told lawmakers he is “apologetic for the death and destruction” that happened during the protests.
Injifannoo ilma Oromoo! Baga gammanne! Baga gammaddan! Leenconni imaan ilmaan Oromoo Bitootessa 13 bara 2016 fiigicha magaalaa liverpool Biyya UK irrati ta’ametti injifannoon galuun Alaaba keenya akkanatti addunyaa irratti ol nuf Qaban.
Athlete Dejene Gezimu has won the 2016 Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon and raised Oromo (athletic nation) national flag in the events.
The 22-year-old Oromo athlete, who has a string of other race wins under his belt, recorded a personal best for the half marathon with a time of 01:06:59 – averaging five minutes and seven seconds per mile.
He was 50 seconds faster than his nearest rival, Benjamin Douglas, who was runner-up.
The fastest woman to finish the 13.1-mile course, run in warm sunshine, was Michelle Nolan in a time of 01:20:20 – averaging 6 minutes and eight seconds per mile.
Meanwhile the winners in the 10 mile race were Connor McArdle, on a time of 58 minutes and 41 seconds, and Michelle King in 01:11:26.
Here are the top five male and female competitors in each of the races.
Large group protests the treatment of Oromo people in Ethiopia
The Star Phoenix, March 11, 2016
A group is marching today in downtown Saskatoon to draw attention to violence against the Oromo people in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian government forces killed more than 80 people in protests in the country’s Oromia region.
Ethiopia’s prime minister apologized this week for the deaths resulting from the anti-government protests in the Oromia region but accused the protesters of being responsible.
SASKATOON,SK–People protesting the treatment of Oromo protestors in Ethiopia gather and march at city hall in Saskatoon, Friday, March 11, 2016. Part of the protest included a mock display of treatment of protesters. (GREG PENDER/ SASKATOON STARPHOENIX)GREG PENDER/SASKATOON STARPHOENIXPeople protesting the treatment of Oromo protestors in Ethiopia gather and march at city hall in Saskatoon, Friday, March 11, 2016. Part of the protest included a mock display of treatment of protesters. (GREG PENDER/ SASKATOON STARPHOENIX)
The group, called the Saskatoon Oromo Self-Help Association Corporation, marched downtown and protested outside of City Hall.
“There has been rampage violence and and reckless mass murder of the Oromo people by the country’s militarily armed police forces and security agents,” the group said in a press release.
The group is “appalled” by the treatment of the Oromo people in Ethiopia.
as members of Utah’s Oromo community rally for human rights
in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 11, 2016.
Summary
Utah Oromo community members rallied in front of Salt Lake’s federal building Friday to demand U.S. help in bringing justice to their friends and families living in Ethiopia, where government forces have killed hundreds of peaceful protestors.
SALT LAKE CITY — Holding signs depicting bloodied victims of the violence that has erupted in the Oromia region of Ethiopia over the past several months, Utah’s Oromo community rallied Friday in front of the federal building.
The group is demanding U.S. help in bringing justice to their friends and families living in Ethiopia, where government forces have killed hundreds of peaceful protesters opposing the annexation of the country’s capital Addis Abada into surrounding towns.
“We’re here today to protest the killings taking place in every corner of Oromia and to bring that violation of human rights to the government of the United States so that the United States can make some pressure to stop the killing,” said Geleta Fite, who came to the U.S. in 2013. But his family, he said, remains in Ethiopia.
“We will not sit back until we see some change and we see some justice for the murdered,” he said.
Fite joined several dozen other Oromo community members to deliver letters to Utah’s U.S. senators, demanding that the United States “condemn the brutal acts of the Ethiopian government and ensure these acts stop immediately,” the letter states.
Among its requests, the group urged the U.S. to advise its business community to limit spending in Ethiopia until the violence ends and pressure the Ethiopian government to establish an independent investigation into the killings.
The Human Rights Watch has said that there have been “almost daily accounts of killings and arbitrary arrests” since the beginning of the year as Ethiopian forces have suppressed peaceful protests in a government crackdown.
The Associated Press has reported that the protests were led by students who opposed what they believed to be a government plan to expand the capital, which would ultimately lead to the displacement of thousands of families and farmers. The Ethiopian government has denied the protestors’ claims, saying it only seeks to link Addis Ababa with nearby towns.
In January, after the deadly protests erupted, the AP reported Ethiopian officials canceled plans to integrate the capital with surrounding communities. However, the Human Rights Watch has said the bloody crackdown has continued, after the plan’s cancellation did not halt protests.
“This is genocide,” said Genemo Bedaso, chairman of the Utah Oromo Community. “We appeal for America to stop it. They have the power.”
Bedaso and Fite tried to meet with Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee on Friday to deliver their group’s letter. The senators were not available, but staff members accepted the letters. Hatch’s spokeswoman, Heather Barney, said the letter will be relayed to the senator in Washington.
“Sen. Hatch is always responsive to his constituents’ concerns and has directed staff to meet with them,” she said. “He’s very concerned about the problems that they’re sketching out and he’s happy to listen.”
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in January to condemn the peaceful protest killings, call for an investigation of the violence, and demand immediate release of arrested Oromo activists.
About 100 people rallied in front of Calgary MP Kent Hehr’s office Friday morning to protest police crackdowns in Ethiopia over plans to requisition farmland in the African country.
It was to support dozens of university students who protested in Ethiopia’s capital on Tuesday, demanding an end to police crackdowns that followed months of demonstrations over plans to requisition farmland in the country’s Oromia region late last year.
Protesters held signs and waved flags outside of Hehr’s Calgary office. (Colin Hall/CBC)
The government wanted to develop farmland around the capital, Addis Ababa, and its plan triggered some of the worst civil unrest for a decade, with rights groups and U.S.-based dissidents saying as many as 200 people may have been killed.
In Calgary, Gilcha Mohammed, the chairman of the Oromo Community Association of Alberta, called on the Canadian government to pressure Ethiopian authorities.
“We’re all taxpaying Canadian citizens and we want our government to send a strong message to the Ethiopian government that they can’t continue killing and arresting peaceful protestors,” said Mohammed, speaking above the shouts of the protesters gathered outside Hehr’s Calgary office.
Protesters were crossing their arms during the rally. (Colin Hall/CBC)
“They are confiscating thousands of hectares of land. There’s about 3 million farmers that have been displaced. They’re leaving farmers without anywhere to go and that’s why we’re here.”
Protesters in Calgary marched down the street holding Canadian flags and the flag for the Oromia region.
Ethiopia has long been one of the world’s poorest nations but has industrialized rapidly in the past decade and now boasts double-digit growth. However, reallocating land is a thorny issue for Ethiopians, many of whom are subsistence farmers.
Authorities scrapped the land scheme in January, but sporadic demonstrations persist.
This woman lays down in a form of protest. (Colin Hall/CBC)
Mohammed said Canada should use its influence to encourage a peaceful resolution.
“Canada is a major contributor of foreign aid to Ethiopia and it has a lot of influence over the Ethiopian government,” he said. “We just want Canada to put pressure on the Ethiopian government and even cut that aid if necessary.”
Mohammed said Hehr’s office agreed to meet with the group after the rally.
Students believed to have been injured during protests at Wallaga University Oromo activists
UK (International Business Times) — Hundreds of people from Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest state, are still protesting on the streets calling for self-rule. An activist who spoke to IBTimes UK on condition of anonymity explained that Oromopeople, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, were also protesting against the alleged violence carried out by security forces against demonstrators.
The Oromo people are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group and their population amounts to more than 25 million (around 35% of Ethiopia’s total population). They originated in the Horn of Africa, where they are believed to have lived for millennia.
Oromo people speak Afaan Oromoo, as well as Amharic, Tigrinya, Gurange and Omotic languages. They are mainly Christian and Muslim, while only 3% still follow the traditional religion based on the worshipping of the god, Waaq.
In 1973, Ethiopian Oromo created the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which stemmed from the discontent over a perceived marginalisation by the government and to fight the hegemony of theAmhara people, another large ethnic group in Ethiopia.
OLF – still active today – also calls for the self-determination of the Oromo people. It has been deemed as a terror organisation that carried out violent acts against people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The group hasalways denied such allegations, claiming its mission is to terminate “a century of oppression” against the Oromos.
The Ethiopian government scrapped the master plan following increasing agitation which activists claimed led to the death of at least 200 people.
“The issue of the master plan was only an immediate cause,” a source close to the campaigners said. “The root causes are real demands for Oromo self-rule, democracy and rule of law, among others and the government has continued to respond violently.”
The activist also claimed that during student protests which occurred on 8 March, police allegedly arrested more than 50 people and injured many.
“Student protests occurred at some large universities including Addis Ababa University,Jima University and Wallaga University,” the source added.
“AtAddis Ababa , Oromo students demonstrated for the second round in front of the US embassy chanting ‘we are not terrorists, we are Oromo, stop the killings inOromia’. In Wallaga, government forces beat and injured many students. Hospital beds were overflowing with injured students and ambulances were prevented from taking victims to hospitals in other cities around that part of Oromia,” the source alleged.
Government dismisses allegations of violence
The Ethiopian embassy in London has not responded to a request for comment on the fresh allegations.
On 21 February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report warning that at least 200 people had been killed with further arrests of Oromo protesters by security forces, including the military.
However, Ethiopia dismissed the allegations with an official telling IBTimes UK the HRW report was“abysmal propaganda.” The government claimed the death toll was much lower than 200 but did not give a specific figure. Protesters were also accused of trying to secede and create an independentOromia state.
An earlier statement by the Ethiopian embassy sent to IBTimes UK stated that the government engaged in public consultations which resulted in the decision to scrap the master plan. Authorities also launched an investigation to identify people behind “corrupt land acquisition practices”, loss of innocent lives and damage to private and public properties. The investigation has led to a number of arrests.
Sir, Your Big Read article, “The billionaire’s farm” (March 2), captures well the ramifications of the takeover of land and natural resources on the most marginalised communities in Ethiopia, a destination for many of the foreign investors. The devastating impact is way too personal for some of us.
Okello Akway Ochalla, mentioned in the article, is my father. He was kidnapped and then renditioned to Ethiopia and has been languishing in jail for two years, charged as a terrorist. His crime being — having witnessed the massacre of his people in 2003 as the governor of Gambella, having had to flee the country since he feared for his own life, having been separated from his family — my sister and I spent half of our lives as refugees in Kenya, before coming to the US in 2013 — that he dared to advocate for the human rights of the people of Gambella and the Anuak community.
On March 7, a final verdict was expected in my father’s case and yet once again to break his spirit, the verdict has been postponed to April 6. The strongest evidence the court has against my father is his own confession. A confession obtained, as my father explained in his closing statement, “after being kidnapped and suffering in detention for more than three months without any defence lawyer and communication with anyone”. He added: “The defence statement was made to look as if it was voluntarily submitted to the court… at the time I was giving the statement to the police, I was in an environment where the police investigator had put the pistol on the table in front of me and I was being tortured.”
If anyone cares to read the evidence brought forward by the defence and my father’s closing argument, it is obvious that the crime committed by my father is one of dissent and that he has committed no terrorist activities. His dissent challenges the continued suffering of Anuak people and the theft of natural resources such as our land, rivers and forests, which is igniting social and political conflict. My father is no terrorist. A good man, a good father and a good leader, my father is a land rights defender!
In the light of the excellent coverage by the FT, my sincere hope is that big donors to Ethiopia, including the US, the UK and the World Bank, will reconsider the impact of this land rush on families such as mine and urge the Ethiopian government to release my father.
Greetings, We are pleased to share a great response to Oromo and other advocacy from the Office of Maryland Senator Ben Cardin. Since the Oromo protests broke out in November and especially since m…
Oromia, the largest regional State in the Ethiopian Federation, has been rocked by series of protests in the past 100 days since mid-November 2015. The protests began with the aim of having the proposed Master Plan of the capital, Addis Ababa, officially referred as the ‘Addis Ababa–Finfinne[1] Integrated Development Plan’ (‘Master Plan’) scrapped. The Master Plan was designed by Addis Ababa City Administration in collaboration with the government of Oromia Regional State and introduced early in 2014. The protestors opposed the Master Plan, which covers 1.1 million hectare of land (approximately twenty fold the current size of Addis Ababa), saying that its implementation will result in the eviction of millions of farmers and families from their land. The first protests against the Master Plan were held mainly by students of Oromia regional State in April/May/June 2014 which resulted in deaths, injuries and imprisonment of many people all over the state. The protests erupted again in November 2015 and continued up until now.
The ‘second round protests’, as it is called by activists, took wider area and longer time than its antecedent. Police brutality have reached its climax and deaths, injuries, mass arrest, kidnapping have tragically been reported in the State. In only the first hundred days of these protests, hundreds of towns and villages have witnessed mass incidents. In addition, death tolls have reportedly reached more than four hundred, thousands of people were injured and tens of thousands people were briefly arrested. Even though the Master Plan has been officially been scrapped by OPDO, ruling party in the regional State, on 13 January, 2016, fifty four days after the second round of the protest erupted, the third round of the protests have continued with a new momentum; what has started as an opposition to the Master Plan seems to end up looking for answers of political questions that have grown in the past two decades.
The Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP) has actively followed the first 100 days of the protests and summarized the issues, causes, and the human rights violations perpetrated by government security forces in response to the protests in Oromia region. Click the next line to read the full report:-
(Blog Talk Radio) — Join “Africa On The Move,’ as we engage in a ‘live’ Pan-African discussion on ‘The Struggle of the Oromo Peoople & Its Movement.’ Members of the Oromo’s Movement will share their realities on what is happening to their people inside Ethiopia and Africa ….Why are there mass killings within their community? Come and join us today, Sunday, March 6, 2016, from 7 – 9 p.m. est., by dialing in at (323) 679-0841 or go online. the following invited gursts are: Mr. Daniel Dafa, Professor Asafia Jalata, Mrs. Lali Galan, Mr. Zel Negassa and Mr. Hakeem Landry. Blog Talk Radio
OPINION: FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ETHIOPIA: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
By J. Bonsa, PhD, ADDISSTANDARD, MARCH 03, 2016
In conflict prone contexts, foreign investors, especially whose actions while entering a given country were not subject to checks and balances, may undermine political stability and fuel social unrest.Depending on the level of accountability in the recipient country, foreign direct investment (FDI) could be a blessing or a curse.
In this piece, I will attempt to highlight Ethiopia’s political economy and the setting for the operations of foreign investors.
Peculiar political context
Notwithstanding the announcement of a 100% electoral victory by the ruling EPRDF, the fact remains that Ethiopia has never had a fully representative government. This rather unique situation means it is naïve to discuss Ethiopia’s current affairs by applying standard rhetoric.Doing so fails to capture the peculiarity of the situation on the ground. For instance, familiar phrases such as“dictatorial regime” or “totalitarian government” do not fully capture the essence of the current political system in Ethiopia.
The key to understand the strange nature of the ERPDF government, a coalition of four parties, is to recognize it as a system of “internal colonial rule” led by one powerful party, the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).It is a conspicuous knowledge held by many that EPRDF essentially means TPLF.
The loyalty towards TPLF of Ethiopia’s military and security apparatus has remained the only source of EPRDF’s strength and tight grip on power. Without further ado it is suffice to mention that the country’s army generals and high ranking officers hail from Tigray, the geographic location home to TPLF. In turn the army’s brutal efficiency in military and security command system has earned the TPLF an extraordinary reputation and near complete political upper hand in the eyes of the other three parties within the coalition.
Technically that leaves Ethiopia with a reverse political system: the world is familiar with majority-rule and minority-rights, Ethiopia’s, on the other hand,is a political system without even some majority-rights. Today’s TPLF dominated EPRDF needed to be certain that the majority would not have the bare minimum of rights, because, if allowed, this might eventually lead to the emergence of democracy.
Business as unusual
The political and military power disparity favoring a single party has also caused divergences in economic and domestic private investment opportunities. This resulted in the emergence of domestic crony capitalism of the ugliest type. Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), the acronym that has more than 50 companies under its control, owns its presence and dominance to the growing trend of domestic crony capitalism.
In the last 25 years EFFORT has emerged as the most powerful domestic business conglomerate controlling the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy. Its monopoly on the Ethiopian economy ranges from heavy engineering, construction, import and exports (of key capital and raw materials including fertilizers on which all Ethiopian farmers rely) to freight and passenger transport, wholesale and retail distributions. And yet, there is little information about EFFORT that is available for the general public.
It is a misnomer to describe EFFORT as a business group “affiliated to the government”. But Ethiopians know that the same groups of people who occupy government positions are also owners of the companies under EFFORT.
And as of late another unlikely business monopoly has emerged in the form of the military establishment, the same military whose top leadership is either loyal to or under the indirect control of TPLF. METeC, a company run by the national army, is having an elaborate business interest from production of computers and flat screen TVs to heavy metals, car assembly and hotels. Once again, there is no or little information available to the public on the exact nature of METeC’s business empire.
The dark horse
It is within this political reality that one needs to look into the economic aspects, including the manner by which the EPRDF led government is regulating the flow of FDI. It is a public knowledge that cronyism has, by and large, emerged as the trade mark of EPRDF’s economic governance over the past two decades, including its deals with foreign companies operating in the country.
As of this writing, news is coming that protesters in Guji zone of southern Ethiopia and Dembi Delo of western Ethiopia are targeting the two gold mines in the area owned by the MIDROC Ethiopia Investment Group. To understand this boiling public frustration, it is important to acknowledge that the people of Ethiopia have no knowledge about how these two gold mines were sold to MEDROC in the first place, and to evaluate whether the people in the areas where the natural resources are being ferociously extracted have stood to benefit from it in any way. It is also important to know that the name MIDROC stands for Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies, a name that implies nothing about the nature of the vast business functioning under its umbrella. For Many Ethiopians, therefore,MIDROC is the dark horse that appeared on the scene from nowhere but spread itself in all sectors of the Ethiopian economy at alarming pace.
For much of the first decade under EPRDF’s rule, Ethiopia suffered a serious setback in attracting foreign investment. Foreign investors were cautious (rightly), observing the unhealthy governance system as a risk not worth taking. However, during those days, MIDROC Ethiopia was often presented as a cover up to entice other foreign investors, giving the impression that the EPRDF regime was trustworthy and foreign investment was safe to flow in. That, and its sworn allegiance to the ruling party in power, gave MIDROC the opportunity to enjoy unparalleled access to Ethiopia’s natural resources. This was done primarily because the EPRDF could count on MIDROC as a foreign investor. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development once reported that about 60 per cent of the overall foreign direct investment approved in Ethiopia was related to MIDROC.
MEDROC’s expansions began with acquisitions of many previous public enterprises – manufacturing branches, state farms, gold mines, and other mineral resources mostly outside of public scrutiny. MIDROC is most commonly associated with land grabs in many parts of Oromiya, at the heart of Addis Abeba and Gambella, causing havocs through evictions of millions of households from their ancestral lands.
The other murky deals
The contradictions in Ethiopia’s business environment are rather perplexing. On the one hand the TPLF dominated regime in Addis Abeba has a very hostile attitude to private domestic investors. Ethiopia has remained at the bottom of World Bank’s country ranks in ease of doing business, ranking 146th out of 189 countries in 2015. But EFFORT, METeC and MDROC business empires and their affiliates are exempt from such restrictions and the little private businesses in the country have to survive the three to make a meaningful economic gain.
On the other hand Ethiopia is known for making extraordinary concessions to attract foreign investors, particularly during the last decade. Here is the question – why such officious treatmentfor foreign investors when private business are forced to eat dirt? The answer lies in the assumption that the government often acts in the interest of domestic cronies – foreign investors are needed to camouflage EFFORT’s aggressive expansions. The deals to couple EFFORT with foreign businesses are surrounded by dark secrets; details are unavailable to the general public. Foreign investors have often been lured into joint ventures with party owned or affiliated local companies. The recent US$30 million worth deal between a local pharmaceutical company owned by EFFORT and a foreign company symbolizes that assertion. The overlap between the operations of domestic oligopolistic companies and their foreign counterparts is so much that it is difficult to know where one ends and the other begins.
The recent fall out between the government in Ethiopia and the Karuturi Global Ltd has revealed the murky nature of foreign investment deals in Ethiopia that prompted many to summarize “in Ethiopia, foreign investment is a fancy word for stealing land”. In 2010, Karuturi Global Ltd was given a concession to develop 300, 000 hectares of agricultural land in Gambella. However, in Dec. 2015, the deal collapsed when the Agricultural Ministry’s land investment agency “cancelled the concession on the grounds that by 2012 Karuturi had developed only 1,200 hectares of land within the initial two year period of the contract.” There is a lot more into this fall out than meet the eye, least the fate of the hundreds of thousands of indigenous people who were forced to give up their lands to give way to a deal they know nothing about.
But one of the most unsettling details to emerge out of this fiasco was the claim by Karuturi Global Ltd management that the land was forced upon them by the local authorities despite their insistence otherwise. At first glance this may sound awkward, as if the foreign investor and the Ethiopian authorities switched sides in the process of bargaining. However, for someone who is familiar with the shrewd operations of doing business in Ethiopia it is easy to know why Ethiopian officials were forcing the foreign investor to take 30 times more than it said it could handle. One plausible explanation held by many is that since enough land grabbing had already been done by the cronies during the previous decades, authorities found it prudent to frame a foreign investor as a vehicle to continue land expropriation.
In the wake of a possible persistence of protests by Ethiopians, protesters’ targeted attacks against foreign companies operating in Ethiopia may come as sheer anarchic for outsiders. But as long as the people of Ethiopia are kept in the dark as to the nature of the real deals between foreign companies and a government flawed by asymmetrical party coalition (deals that symbolize a life deprived of its means and style),incidents of targeted public outrage against selected foreign companies should not come as a shock.
The same explanation holds true for the land expropriations for flower farms and industrial parks in Oromiya, particularly in the vicinity of Addis Abeba. It is for such reasons that the infamous Addis Abeba Master Plan was formulated, eyeing 20 times more land that would be transformed into wasteful industrial parks all in the name of attracting foreign investment the nature of it is kept secret from the very people it greatly affects.
ED’s Note: J. Bonsa is an economist by training. He can be reached atdinade0612@gmail.com. The opinions expressed in this article are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial principles of Addis Standard.
A woman and her child await medical attention in Oromia, Ethiopia, January 31. A severe drought and anti-government protests in Oromia have increased restrictions on press freedom in Ethiopia, according to a journalists’ association.EDMUND BLAIR/REUTERS
Press freedom in Ethiopia is dwindling in light of recent anti-government protests and the severe drought in the Horn of Africa state, according to a journalists’ association.
Two journalists and a translator were arbitrarily detained for 24 hours on Thursday when reporting on the protests in Oromia, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa (FCAEA) on Monday. Bloomberg correspondent William Davison and freelance journalist Jacey Fortin, along with their translator, were not given any reason for their detention. Their phones and identification cards were taken during the arrest.
Protests among the Oromos, who constitute Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, have been ongoing since November 2015 and were originally directed against plans by the federal government to expand the capital Addis Ababa. At least 140 protesters were killed between November 2015 and January, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Addis expansion plans were dropped in January but the protests—which have morphed into a general expression of dissatisfaction with the government among Oromos—have continued and demonstrators are still being subjected to “lethal force,” HRW said on February 22. The Ethiopian government has said that “destructive forces” —including some from neighboring Eritrea—have hijacked the protests and would be dealt with decisively. The FCAEA said that the detentions marked “a worrying escalation” in Ethiopia, which already has a poor record for allowing journalists to operate freely. Ethiopia was ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2015 by non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders, which recorded six newspapers closing and more than 30 cases of journalists fleeing abroad in 2014. “Ethiopia is well-known for its tough stance on journalists but this is a worrying spike of arbitrary detention of media workers at a time of increased interest in Ethiopia,” says Ilya Gridneff, chairman of FCAEA. “Journalism is not a crime and those in Ethiopia should not be treated as criminals.”Davison told Newsweek that the risks of reporting on certain topics in Ethiopia is too high because of the threat of detainment. “It was a shock to be held overnight in a prison cell and not be given any explanation of what we were being held for,” says Davison. The “very heavy and militarized response” to the Oromo protests “raises the chance that reporters are going to be obstructed from doing their work,” he says.
Newsweek contacted the Ethiopian Embassy in London but was yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.
Coupled with the Oromo protests, Ethiopia is currently experiencing its worst drought in around 50 years, partly due to the El Nino weather pattern. Up to 15 million people in the country require emergency humanitarian food assistance and the United Nations is appealing for $50 million to help the government cope with the crisis.
Amensisa Ifa wins ‘Best Director’ at the first Tom Film Awards
Gibe.Tube, 6 March 2016
Amensisa Ifa producer of “Maalan Jiraa?” and many other movies & TV Series, wins Best Director at the first Tom Film Awards! Amensisa Ifa have been working with TVO & ETV(EBC) as an Editor. Currently He is working with BBC Media Action and editing a TV series drama DHEEBUU, which is about of 80 episodes, broadcast on TVO.
I’m excited to win Best Director at the first Tom Film Awards! Thank you everyone for your continued support! Amensisa Ifa
Press Release: Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa (FCAEA)
The Foreign Correspondents’ Association of East Africa (FCAEA) is concerned about an escalation of the threat to press freedom in Ethiopia after the recent 24-hour detention of two accredited journalists and their translator.
Journalists in Ethiopia have for years faced obstacles to press freedom. Now, two ongoing news events — a drought in the Ethiopia’s eastern regions, and protests across the central Oromia region — have called for increased travel outside of the capital Addis Ababa, which has become difficult due to a high security presence.
Arbitrary detentions, which typically last a few hours, were already a common impediment for accredited journalists in Ethiopia. But the recent 24-hour detention marks a worrying escalation.
William Davison, a correspondent for Bloomberg in Ethiopia; freelance journalist Jacey Fortin; and their translator were traveling in eastern Ethiopia on March 3rd when they were detained on the main road near Awash town, Afar region, at 12:40 p.m. by the Federal Police. Their phones and identification cards were taken during the arrest.
The three were escorted by Federal Police on a four-hour drive back to Addis Ababa. They were then briefly taken to an office of the security services, held overnight at a police station jail, and released around noon on March 4th. The authorities never offered a reason for the detention.
“Over the last five years, I have been detained multiple times in Ethiopia. I think reporting on certain topics has now become too risky because of the threat of detainment,” said Davison. “Until the government makes a genuine commitment to media freedom, it will be impossible for journalists to report safely with accuracy and integrity.”
The FCAEA is equally concerned about the dangers faced by translators, fixers and local journalists, who have no support from foreign embassies or international news organizations.
“Every time I’ve been detained while working in Ethiopia, I’ve felt that my translator has been most at risk,” said Fortin. “They are often asked to produce a media license like mine, despite the fact that such documentation is not available to translators.”
These threats are making reporting in Ethiopia increasingly difficult. We hope that dialogue with the relevant government agencies, including the security services, can begin to resolve the problem.
TPLF Ethiopia’s land robbery and barbarism must end!
#OromoProtests: TPLF’s barbarism against Surma (the Suri , the Mursi and the Mekan) people of Lower Omo basin in Southern state. TPLF’s Agazi forces are conducting mass torturing of the kushitic people of Omo Valley (the Surma) in 21 century as their land is taken for woyanes sugar plantations, owned by a Tigrean.
Namoonni akkanatti Wayyaaneen hiraarfamaa jiran kun lammiilee saba Surmaa kan laga Oomoo irra galaniiti. Ummanni kun lafti isaanii irraa fudhatamee abbaa qabeenyaa Tigree tokko warshaa sukkaraa irratti dhaabuu waan mormaniifi.
March 3, 2016
President Jacob Zuma
President of South Africa
Union Buildings
Private Bag X1000, Pretoria 0001
South Africa Dear Honorable President Zuma:
On behalf of many Oromo refugees in South Africa, Oromo refugees all over the world and Oromos in Ethiopia who are experiencing severe and violent oppression under the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front, I congratulate the African National Congress, the People of South Africa and you on the 104th anniversary of the ANC.
Oromo is one of the largest and indigenous African groups on the continent and the largest single ethnic group in Ethiopia. During the nineteenth century, the country of Abyssinia was never colonized by any European power as happened to nations and regions across the rest of Africa. However, at that time, there was a struggle for power in Abyssinia. The King of Shewa (later Emperor Menelik II), in his pursuit of the imperial crown, saw an opportunity to augment his wealth, military power, and territorial domination by expropriating the lands of the Oromo people lying to the south of Abyssinia and directly or indirectly enslaving many Oromo children. He also imposed taxes on all Oromo slaves (almost all children) taken through his kingdom en route to the Arab slave markets across the Red Sea. In this way, Menelik II managed to bring the Oromo people to their knees by breaking their resistance, taking away their land, their livelihoods, and their children. The fall of the Oromo nation paved the way for the conquering of all the southern nations and nationalities including the expropriation of their lands to create the territory defined and known today as Ethiopia.
Since colonization by Menelik II, Oromo have suffered at the hands of successive Ethiopian rulers. A recent historical study has shown that a group of sixty-four liberated Oromo slave children arrived at Lovedale Institution in 1890 where they were cared for and educated. By 1910, one-third had returned home, one-third had died and one-third (23) chose to remain in South Africa. Among these was Bisho Jarsa, the grandmother of the late Dr. Alexander Neville, the renowned intellectual, educationalist, human rights activist and struggle hero.
When Menelik II was succeeded by Emperor Haile Selassie, conditions became even worse for the Oromo people and the other colonized nations and nationalities. It was under this regime that Oromos and others started to organize themselves clandestinely. The first Oromo civil organization called the Macha-Tullama Welfare Association was founded in 1960 by General Tadesse Biru and other Oromo nationals from a different part of the Oromia regions. The objective of the Macha-Tullama Welfare Association was to create awareness and lay the foundation for the Oromo liberation struggle. This civil organization was later banned by the regime of Hailie Selassie and General Tadesse Biru and others were jailed. Many members were killed and others forced to leave the country.
General Tadesse Biru was not only the founder of the Macha-Tullama Welfare Association but was also among the founding members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). When the late President Nelson Mandela arrived in Ethiopia in 1962, General Tadesse Biru personally trained him in guerilla warfare.
The death of Haile Selassie and the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam failed to bring about desired change, the change that the oppressed people had hoped for. Instead, the Soviet-backed group proved even worse, creating a one-party Communist state in 1975 under the name of Derg.Opposition political parties and civil organizations came under attack. The “red terror” under the Mengistu regime crushed all organizations and people who sought freedom, peace and democracy. Many people were treated in the barbaric and brutal manner (including the jailed General Tadesse Biru). Many Oromo sons and daughters were mercilessly murdered, their bodies tied to cars and dragged on the streets of Addis Ababa and other cities. Parents were forced to buy the bodies of their loved ones bodies in order to bury them.
Under the regime’s program of villagization, Oromo land was once again taken from them and given to settlers from the northern part of the Ethiopian empire, especially to the Amharas and Tigreans. The regime tried to stamp out the identity, language and culture of the Oromo people, replacing these, through a National Literacy Campaign, with the language and culture of the Habesha (the Amhara, Tigray and Gurage people).
After 17 years of iron-fist rule, the Derg regime was overthrown by three organizations namely the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERDF) and the Eritrean People Liberation Front (EPLF).The above mentioned three main organizations formed the Transitional Government of Ethiopia under a Transitional Charter.
There was great of hope for the people of Ethiopia in general and the Oromo nation and other colonized nationalities in particular. The oppressed people of the empire envisaged that they would soon enjoy full democracy and that all human rights would be safe-guarded in terms of the right to self-determination as recognized internationally and enshrined in the UN charter. Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution, adopted in 1991, clearly indicates the right of self-determination up to secession: “Every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia shall have the unrestricted right to self-determination up to secession.”
The EPRDF is presently in power and has enjoyed the support of the USA and western governments since the collapse Mengistu regime. The idea of democracy, the rule of law and constitutionalism never materialized as promised. The Article only worked for Eritreans and Oromo and others again subjected to the same inhuman treatment under this new Abyssinian ruler. The subjugation, marginalization and all kinds of oppression have been perpetuated systematically. The suffering of the oppressed people increased more than ever before. The non-functioning, ethnic-based federal system was instituted to deceive both international communities and people of the country. The EPRDF-TPLF, led by the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, dominated political and economic power in the empire. Eventually, the hopes of the oppressed people evaporated and peoples’ organizations like the OLF were forced to abandon their support for the Transitional Charter. With the support of western powers, the EPRDF cemented its domination. OLF members, sympathizers and Oromo people from all walks of life have been jailed, tortured, raped, dehumanized and killed. Even the lives of those who fled, seeking refuge in neighboring countries, were not spared. They have been hunted down by EPRDF agents with the co-operation of Ethiopian embassies in these territories. These embassies have played a huge role in assassinating Oromo refugees, as well as hijacking and secretly (or openly) taken back to Ethiopia. Those who were returned to Ethiopia in this way were either killed, are languishing in jail or have simply disappeared. This happened in Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia and especially Kenya. In Kenya, not only Oromo from Oromia were faced with cruelty but also, the indigenous Kenyan citizens of Oromo origin suffered equally. The co-operation between Ethiopian and Kenya security agencies has been very strong in destroying Oromo opposition and refugees. However, the above-mentioned inhumanities have never deterred the Oromo people from demanding their birth rights. On different occasions, the people have risen against the colonizers and have continued with their resistance.
Besides organized Oromo resistance and political activities among the Oromo in the diaspora, the people residing within the empire have risen against the brutal regime of Ethiopia since the 1995 election. The system imposed at that time was marred by irregularities and the people showed their dissatisfaction and disobedience to the TPLF regime. The Ethiopian security forces and the military responded with brutality in their attempts to crush these popular uprisings.
Elections in Ethiopia are not free and fair; they are held just for formality. Post-election, many have been killed, maimed and jailed. The irregularities of these so-called elections in the empire have raised concern inside and outside the country. Many human right organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have voiced their concern but these have only landed on deaf ears in the Ethiopian ruling party and among the international governments. Instead of pressuring the regime to desist from these irregularities, international donors have increased their material aid and support. Western funding has not been used for the purposes the donations were made. Instead of being used to support intended development programs, western aid has been used to crush opposition groups, inside the country and in the diaspora. Mostly, this external funding has been used to equip the regime’s security and military forces. The recent “election,” which reflected 100% support for the EPRDF, was another indication of dictatorship and undemocratic nature of TPLF regime. Currently, there is no one single elected opposition member of the Ethiopian Parliament. Surprisingly, this regime is enjoying legitimacy according to international countries and other African countries in general.
The most powerful tool that the EPRDF regime is using is self-crafted anti-terror law. This law overrides all laws in the country—including all human rights laws. The law is designed to silence all opposition parties, especially the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
Currently, the Ethiopian regime is busy changing its system of oppression. In the long and arduous struggle for freedom and democracy, Oromos and other colonized nations and nationalities have regained certain rights. These rights include the development of their culture and the right to use their languages, regaining of their geographical boundaries etc. When people try to hang on to the fragments of rights(which are the fruits of many sacrifices and struggling for more to the extent of self-determination), the EPRDF regime, on the contrary, is busy reversing these hard-won rights. This pull and push situation make Ethiopia hell on earth and the situation is worst of all in the Oromia region. Current action by the brutal EPRDF regime in the Oromia region includes:
From the period of Transition, Oromos have been locked out of any powerful political positions, including surrogate organizations like the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO). Under the EPRDF, no Oromo nationals are allowed to hold any important portfolio. All key political positions are deliberately reserved for members of the TPLF.
After war after devastating war with Mengistu H. Mariam, all regions ought to have experienced programs of rebuilding and development. However, development programs mainly focused on the Tigray region while other regions remained to suffer.
Business opportunities have been given 100% to Tigray nationals. Other businessmen and women were totally illegalized, and imports and exports were reserved to Tigray son and daughters at the expense of others.
The education system was modified to accommodate the children of the current regime, scholarships being based on proven loyalty to the regime. When it comes to job opportunities, getting a decent job is not done on merit but dependent on loyalty to the EPRDF. In order for one to get a job, he or she must be a member of the EPRDF. Oromo nationals must be members of the surrogate organization, the OPDO, to be considered for a position.
In addition, to the above-mentioned marginalization and exploitation, basic human rights—like freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression—of all the colonized peoples were nullified. The ruling regime will not tolerate any individual or group of individuals speaking out against the regime unless these individuals or organizations support the mighty EPRDF forces. The only speech allowed is praise of the ruling regime and of the individuals within these circles. Those fundamental freedoms put on paper only to deceive western donor countries and international communities.
Land-grabbing had its roots under Menelik II. The current regime is even more brutal. EPRDF is openly putting Oromo land on sale. Under the pretext of land for investors, land-grabbing reached an alarming level. Oromo farmers are losing their lands to the so-called investors, EPRDF officials are busy selling and sharing Oromo land. The farmers have not only lost their land but also their livelihood and have been reduced to begging on the streets of Addis Ababa.
As if the already existing marginalization and exploitation were not enough, the current Addis Ababa Master Plan was introduced to expropriate more Oromo land and, once and for all, to disintegrate Oromia regional boundaries. The intention was not to develop Addis Ababa but to break Oromo national unity and put down the claim of Oromo to Addis Ababa (Finfinne)—the cities surrounded by the Oromia Region—as their capital.
The current wave of Oromo resistance is to stop these unacceptable moves by Ethiopian colonizers which have targeted the very existence of the Oromo people and the Oromia Region. Many students (from primary school to university level), farmers and Oromo from all other walks of life in Oromia and in the diaspora have been openly objecting and demanding the cancelation of the Addis Ababa Master Plan. The ultimate goal is for the total freedom of Oromia from all kinds of subjugation. Oromos will continue to face unimaginable, inhumane, violent suppression and death at the hands of these colonizers unless some peace loving international communities act in time. Our nation is bleeding.
At this darkest moment, we humbly request you and your government to take timely action to save the Oromo nation and the other colonized nations and nationalities:
The Oromo people stood by the ANC and the people of South Africa during your long and difficult struggle against the illegal and unjust apartheid regime.
The Oromo people were part and parcel in fighting against the apartheid regime by giving material and technical support. In 1962, when Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela fled to Ethiopia, his personal trainer was patriot-martyr General Tadesse Biru. General Biru was the founding father of Oromo Liberation Front. While the late President Mandela lived to realize some of his dreams, General Tadesse was killed by the brutal Derg regime without seeing a free Oromia. Our humble request to you and your ANC-led government is to give attention to ending the suffering of the Oromo people.
The ANC and the South African government have significant power and influence on the African political economy. Utilizing these influences through an organization like the African Union (AU), you and your government can put pressure on the current Ethiopian regime to stop all the atrocities they are currently committing against the unarmed Oromo masses. For the sake of peace, the Article 2 of AU charter should be by-passed. According to this particular article another African country cannot interfere in another country internal matter. What is happening in Ethiopia transcends being simply an internal matter.
The current uprising of Oromo students is very similar to the 1976 Soweto Uprising. Unarmed Oromo students are falling like leaves by bullets fired by the EPRDF security forces. Primary school children as young as 8 years old have been killed. Mass arrest, torture, disappearance and rape have become daily occurrences. The current death toll has reached 178. This figure only indicates a smaller portion of the actual number of deaths. The number can be tripled but the absence of media freedom prevents such reporting. All educational institutions have become military camps and the teaching and learning process have been interrupted. While children of colonizers enjoy a normal learning environment, Oromo educational institutions have become a war front. We fear the Oromo people will be forced to produce an ignorant generation in the 21st Not only the Oromo people but the entire African continent cannot afford this. Your government can save us from this happening.
It seems the international communities have turned their backs on the African continent in generally, and on the Oromo nation in particular. The west acts according to their own interest and we have many instances indicating how their self-interest comes first rather than human suffering. Many civil wars result from neglect such as this. If the current situation Ethiopia is neglected it will lead to fully-fledged civil war which will not only destabilize the empire but the entire region as well. We have no doubt that you and your government have the power to stop this from happening.
You and the ANC-led government have experienced how failed governments eventually become the breeding ground for extremist groups and make life hell for all residents of that particular region. Refugees from these failed nations have fled as far as Europe and South Africa and have become a burden on the limited economic system. The stress on the economic system has brought about many xenophobic attacks. Solving the problem at source is preferable. This can only happen when a powerful government like South Africa can act.
There are, at long last, some signs that the international community is beginning to listen and is taking note of the ongoing human rights violations being perpetrated by the Ethiopian authorities. For example, the mainstream international media are beginning to report on the most recent uprisings starting in November in which at 178 Oromo people have been killed.
In addition, the US Department of State issued a statement on 14 January 2016 calling on the Ethiopian Government “to refrain from silencing dissent and to protect the constitutionally enshrined rights of all citizens, including the right to gather peacefully, to write, and to speak freely as voices of a diverse nation. We call for the release of those imprisoned for exercising their rights, such as political party leaders and journalists.”
And, as recently as21 January 2016, the European Parliament approved an Official Resolution of the EU on the Situation in Ethiopia which “Strongly condemns the recent use of excessive force by the security forces in Oromia and in all Ethiopian regions and the increased number of cases of human rights violations; expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and urges the immediate release of all those jailed for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression …The EU, as the single largest donor, should ensure that EU development assistance is not contributing to human rights violations in Ethiopia.”
We call on you, your South African government, African heads of states and the international community, local and international right organizations that can play positive roles to act before it is too late.
Thank you
Denge Garse (Oromo People Association)
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The missing Oromo protesters join a long list of disappearances
By Hassen Hussein*, OPride
(Opride.com): Last week, I read an angry, anguished and daringly eloquent letter from ijoollee Jalduu, a young Oromo from the flashpoint town of Gindo in southwest Shawa, the epicenter of the still-ongoing popular resistance against the Ethiopian state.
Addressed to his countrymen — at home and abroad — the 25-page chronicle captures the depth of grievance animating today’s Oromo youth to revolt.
To a large extent, the writer dwelled on the transformation of the quarter-a-century-long indirect Tigrean rule to the current military occupation and the accompanying injustices. He also drew parallels between today’s events and emperor Menelik’s foray into the heartland of Oromo territory in the 1880s and the Italian occupation of Abyssinia in the 1930s.
There are many ways in which armies of occupation leave behind indelible marks. One is by their routine practice of snatching away — at night or broad daylight — young able-bodied men and women, some unconnected with the conflict, from their families. The luckiest of these families find their loved ones in some dingy prison or detention center. They may not have them back home again. But they take solace in their ability, however limited, to at least visit them. And the chances to sue, entreat, or pray for their release. Hearing about them, even in the form of rumors and urban legends, is a boon.
The luckier accidentally stumble upon or be alerted by neighbors or passerby to the dead, charred, mangled, mutilated, disfigured or leftover pieces and bits of the once healthy and beautiful bodies of their loved ones in the adjoining or distant ditches, forests, ravine, creek or parts sticking out from a mass grave. Lucky, because at least they get to bury them and get some closure. This does not mean the loss is any less tragic and painful as a mother wailing for her young son killed by the security forces in Olankomi chillingly stated, “they did not kill him. They have killed me.”
The unluckiest are those forever left in the dark, those who have to carry the heavy weight of the missing’s uncertain fate; those who are left with the overwhelming voids that no anguished memory can fill. Haunted by the forever wandering souls of the disappeared, future generations experience the loss—whether the story is told or the window into them is slammed shut.
Like a broken piece of glass, stories of the missing lodge themselves into the psyche stoking our historical memory. With every movement, the piece of glass shifts as if to remind us its presence. The families hold no public memorials and nurse the wound privately, allowing a void to live within them and sometimes it feels as if we also live within it—especially in times of distress such as the one we currently inhabit.
The trauma is the greatest when the missing happens to be a female relation. Growing up, I kept hearing the story of a great aunt snatched away by an unknown soldier in the service of Menelik’s army as it was making its way possibly from Anole and Azule to Calanqo through my mother’s birth village. Such stories are never complete and neither is mine. For example, I do not even know her name—having not asked. However, their incompleteness does not make such stories any less potent.
“Was she a fighter?” we would ask. “No, she was a young girl herding cattle ” my mother intoned.
“Where was her father?” we would ask. “A warrior, he believed a warrior’s code disallowed harming or taking children after an active battle is over” she would say.
“Did he try to get her back?” He did but unsuccessfully.
“Why did her mother not plead with the captors?” My mother answered, “She did, to no avail. The captors did not speak her language and nor she theirs.”
“Where did they take her?” “Nobody knew.”
“Nothing heard from her or about her ever since?”
“You ask too many questions, none,” which signaled it was time to move on to a different story or household or outdoor chore.
Ijoollee Jalduu’s haunting story prompted me to share a poem I wrote at a writers’ retreat in the thick of Minnesota’s famed winter in 2013. It is an ode to this great aunt and to my mother, an angel of a woman whose protective shield wards off dangers and unconditional love sustains, nourishes and keeps me alive to this day, a mother who experienced her share of the tragedies afflicting all mothers in times of civil unrest.
Today’s Oromo youth have more guts in responding to the cries of their mothers who have to deal with such unexplained and unexplainable losses, mothers who would forever be torn between whether to tell the story of their disappeared loved ones to their younger children and grandchildren.
I share this poem now in an attempt to situate the gushing new wounds of the Oromo in the context of our tortured history. The river of innocent young productive men and women disappearing in the hands of armies sent to quell civilians opposing unjust rule and occupation stubbornly continues to flow unbroken. And if we are to talk of a common future, we need to break the silence and end this vicious cycle of violence.
The notorious Agazi special forces unit is wreaking havoc throughout Oromia turning happy and peaceful rural villages into ghost towns. In its footsteps, it is condemning many mothers to lives of eternal anguish by taking away their precious young men and women to unknown destinations never to be seen or heard from again. The brutality is such that no self-respecting Ethiopian of any ideological bent, political orientation or ethnic background can and should remain unmoved. No organized state army should be allowed to terrorize anyone, let alone a huge chunk of society at will and with impunity, and hope to rule the vanquished talking as if its divine right to rule is affronted by our mere show of dissent. Silence towards such doubly insulting injustice is morally indefensible.
This is a human story of conflict. Many Ethiopian mothers have suffered the same unwarranted grief decade after decade. Most often than not, the perpetrators and their victims spoke no one language, literally and figuratively. The stories are told and retold not to open new wounds but to keep the memory of the disappeared alive and for some closure, which had eluded many a grieving Ethiopian mother, Oromo or otherwise, for generations.
An Ode to my Great Aunt
You stole my great aunt, so I know her only in fragments
In late night stories from my mother
When you dragged her away, after pillaging the village
Was it for a wife?
Or a lifelong joy toy, eternal symbol for your oomph and triumph over my forebears
Tell me; did you sap her youth and ditch her on the road to Calanqo?
Or smother her in a fit of martial anger to avenge a buddy’s passage to the underworld
A fart boasting to hide his fortuitous escape from Lenjiso’s righteous wrath in Anole
Only to be sent over the hill standing on great grandpa’s cliff path
Before he abandoned her doomed rescue; tell me soldier, I am speaking to you.
Or was it to desecrate the sacred land that resented your booted feet?
Tell me, I need to understand,
Did you hurl her off as war booty to your homeland, I know not where?
Or did you hand her over along with the loot to your emperor?
Tell me, how long before her spirit ceased to kick and scream against your unrelenting clutch?
Before it too slid below your iron-fitted feet soothing her into becoming one of them creatures
Falling in love with their captors dying from within to stay alive from outside
Or dead defiant to the bitter end.
Tell me, did you make her one of your many concubines to nurse and cure your manly wounds?
Please do tell me, with no language shared, did you sign or gesture to make her forget her folks or accept her forlorn fate?
Do tell me, did she bear you children, nephews and nieces I had not known?
Please tell me, did you baptize her into your religion?
To be welcomed as your captive companion into heaven
I hope you flame in hell, forever forsaken.
Then again, the fruits of your aggression
Might have been my transgressed kin
The open wound in my mother’s heart that hurt to day’s end.
—-
* Hassen Hussein teaches Leadership and Management courses at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and can be reached at hxhuss10@smumn.edu
Tigrean elites in charge of the Ethiopian regime fear us because they cannot defeat us. In equal measure, they fear that foreign donors will withdraw the aid that makes up half the country’s budget and pays for the slow genocide that we suffer.
Genocide need not manifest only in the bloody rapid mass murders of civilians as was seen in Rwanda. Genocide scholars acknowledge that genocide might masquerade as a slow elimination of a group by attrition. One dictionary defines attrition as, “a gradual process of wearing down, weakening or destroying something.” That is what the TPLF elites are doing to us.
Although the TPLF elites would like to get rid of the Oromo and other peoples of the South, they cannot achieve that goal quickly without global awareness of the international crime of genocide, the certain embarrassment, and the ensuing possible punishment. Concealed genocide by attrition provides sufficient cover so that foreign donors need not act on their dislike of the regime’s savagery.
So governing Tigrean elites cleverly camouflage their intent to destroy us, a key element of genocide, and whitewash the destructive acts themselves to imitate the poverty we suffer. The attempted theft of Finfinee by the pretext of government policy is only one more example of the theft of our land, our food and our heritage, and with it comes the kind of poverty that is close to death.
We have been so deprived of the basic needs of life that we have become one with the soil that covers our ancestors. We touch their bones with our kisses and weep for our children. We are close to heaven and our souls burn with the touch of God.
We say to the world, “We are not the cause of our own poverty. Open your eyes to the truth. Please stop funding our genocide.”
That time may be soon to come. In 2013 economics Professor William Easterly charged that the US and the UK were sending aid for foreign policy reasons and that, “The aid donors had to respond to the public embarrassment of supporting a ruler who shot down demonstrators and jailed the opposition.”
And in December of 2015, the UK Guardian reported that peaceful demonstrations against the master plan are being met with “excessive force and live ammunition.”
But although we suffer oppression, we will no longer accept the murders of our children. We no longer accept the military occupation of Oromia by TPLF Ethiopia regime. We received a report by an anonymous Oromo who told us, “We are sorry about the recent deaths of Oromo children, but as a result we are seeing the birth of freedom. Bloodied towns in … are now liberated from the enemy. This is a proud moment in our struggle”
He continued, “In the town of … government cabinet offices were burned down by the people.” Our people were brave in the and the contact is brave in the communication. Our comrades, unarmed, untrained and with families nearby are uniting and fighting for the stolen Oromo lands and stolen Oromo lives.
Our hero finishes, “Please, if we die, don’t be sorry for us. At this time, everyone has accepted that there will be spilled blood and deaths among us so that future generations of us will live in freedom. Be in peace. Oromiyaa shall be free.”
These words demanding freedom echo through the centuries from the American Founding Fathers. Patrick Henry asked in 1775, “What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Almighty God, I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
But the British army sent by the King of England had a very long journey for supplies and soldiers who were needed win a rebellion of colonists who were armed. Our genocidaires are armed, well supplied and funded by their foreign friends.
It’s our job, we of the diaspora, to keep the plight of our people visible to the global public, and to fund the demonstrators. When asked, we must give more than we can afford. We should remember that although we may not be shedding our Oromo blood, we must support our hero kin with Oromo treasure. We must teach our children about those who have fallen and about the country about to be born.
The time is here to act. Our homeland is burning. Our people are perishing. We are all joined in the knowledge of our history. Few of us would have left Oromiyaa of our own desire and we should never forget those we left behind.
Having suffered as a Nation for so long, we have God weeping with us. We need not watch quietly as the regime continues to commit genocide on our people. . The time is now.
#OromoProtests: International Community Alarmed as Ethiopia Crisis Worsens
DW NEWS:NGO highlights plight of Oromo in Ethiopia
Human Rights Watch says security forces are continuing to persecute members of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo. Hundreds have allegedly been killed in recent protests over a government plan to expand the capital Addis Ababa into Oromo land.
The Oromo people see the government’s violence as part of a systematic attempt to oppress and marginalise them. As Amnesty International (AI) states in its report ‘Because I am Oromo’: “thousands of Oromo people have been subjected to unlawful killings, torture and enforced disappearance.” People without any political affiliation are arrested on suspicion that they do not support the government – “between 2011 and 2014, at least 5,000 Oromos have been arrested”. Amnesty asserts that recent regime violence was “the latest and bloodiest in a long pattern of suppression”. This description of government intimidation and brutality will sound familiar to most Ethiopians.’http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/19/ethiopia-unity-in-opposition/
ETHIOPIA: FURTHER INFORMATION: DETAINED OROMO PROTESTERS MUST BE RELEASED
By Amnesty International, 17 February 2016, Index number: AFR 25/3437/2016
The Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained a number of peaceful protesters including journalists and opposition party leaders in recent brutal crackdown on protesters in the Oromia Region. Those detained remain at risk of torture and other illtreatment and should immediately and unconditionally be released. Amnesty International considers the peaceful protesters arrested to be prisoners of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to peaceful assembly. They continue to be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Read more at:-https://oromianeconomist.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/ai-urgent-action-detained-oromo-protesters-must-be-released/
“Every social injustice is not only cruel, but causes economic waste and generational loss. Equality, free expression, justice, peace, and freedom are key for the generation’s continuation and for changing the world.”
n a letter written to the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry [equivalent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs], U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken (both from the State of Minnesota) requested Sec. Kerry for a full review of the situation in Ethiopia in order for the U.S. Congress to take “immediate actions” to protect innocent Oromo civilians in Ethiopia. The full 2-page letter is attached below.
News Fulton County (#OromoProtests Global Rally) : Oromians in SA protest in Pretoria over killings at home. Demonstrators say government scheme to expand capital Addis Ababa endangers farmers
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP)). European Union strongly condemns the mass killings in Oromia. January 19, 2016
Appeal of Oromo Student’s Union (OSU) to International Community
February 10, 2016, Finfinne (Addis Ababa), Ethiopia
To:
Multinational organizations (UN, EU, AU, and others)
Countries supporting the Ethiopian regime in the name of development, peace and security, education, science and technology (USA, European countries, Canada, Australia, and others)
Human rights organizations (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa, and others)
Oromo political organizations
Oromo studies Association (OSA)
Oromo community organizations all over the world and all other concerned bodies
We members of Oromo Student’s Union (OSU) appeal to the international community that we are currently living under difficult conditions. It is evident that the Ethiopian regime is committing genocidal crime on the Oromo people in general and the Oromo students in particular by deploying its military and police force and terrorizing us for peacefully protesting demanding our rights asking the legitimate and rightful questions of our people. Our questions are the questions of our people. Our demands are the demands of our people. Our demands can be divided into two major categories:
Basic human rights must be respected. While the Oromo constitute the majority of the Ethiopian population, Oromia constitute the largest territory, and the region is the economic backbone of Ethiopia, the Oromo people have been marginalized in every arena. Over the past 24 years the Oromo people do not have proportional power and economic share in the country and have been ruled under the EPRDF which in essence is maneuvered and completely controlled by the TPLF party. Since the mass base of the TPLF/EPRDF is the minority Tigrean population, it has been in constant conflict with the Oromo people in Oromia. The Oromo people are ruled under the barrel of the gun being constantly killed, arrested, tortured, students dismissed from schools, civilians kidnapped and disappeared, are forced to leave their country and become refugees in several countries around the globe. Therefore we demand that the basic human and democratic rights of the Oromo people be respected and a system based on equality, justice, democracy, and a government based on the needs of our people be established.
Master Plan must be stopped. Starting from 2014 we protested against the so called Master Plan of the TPLF/EPRDF regime, a plan which incorporates several Oromian towns into the capital Finfinne (Addis Ababa), evicts Oromo farmers from their ancestral land, eradicates Oromo culture, language and identity, planned to sell Oromo land and plunder Oromia’s natural resources, divide the map of Oromia into two, and causes pollution and environmental degradation. We presented our appeal in writing several times requesting that the Master plan be stopped. Instead of answering our request to stop the Master plan, the regime announced another plan to incorporate major Oromian towns which is another plan to incorporate the entire of Oromia under the jurisdiction of the federal government which on the other hand is controlled by the TPLF. When our requests fell into deaf ears we protested peacefully. The answer to our peaceful protest has been brutal killings, beatings, mass arrests, kidnappings and disappearances, inhuman torture by the regime’s so called Agazi troops. In addition to some 80+ people who were killed in 2014, more than 200 peaceful citizens, mostly students have been killed since November 2015. Thousands others have been wounded. Countless others have been jailed and are under severe torture. Read More:- Oromo Student Union appeal to International Community Feb 2016 (1)
UNDSS internal memo regarding the situation in West Arsi formerly known as East Shewa. 16 Feb. 2016
UNDSS: CLASHES IN EAST SHEWAS – WEST ARSI / OROMIYA
At least two protesters and five police officers were killed in the latest clashes in East Shewa, Oromiya.
First reports of protests date back from 8 February in the village of Amaro. Yesterday, a UN road mission was blocked by heavy clashes in Aje. In nearby Loke Kecha a bridge was destroyed and in Siraro a court office was damaged.
The town of Shashamane on the main road is tense and people fear violent protests could spread to their town.
The cancellation of the Addis Ababa Masterplan has not removed the underlying grievances that lead to the protests in Oromiya between November 2015 and Jan 2016. The volatility continues and one event or overreaction of police officers can trigger chains of retribution by angry protesters.
We currently recommend to avoid any private road travel any further south than Langano Lake. For official UN road missions please check situation with local counterparts. However, when planning road missions bear in mind that reliable real time situational information is not available. Police will usually block roads to protest sites and you should know the return time or nearest safe havens for your road trip when you are blocked from continuing your travel.
Oromo Protests have spread to southern Oromia since last week to “stop the leeching tycoon and monopolist Alamoudi,” according to the protesters. Al Amoudi is a famous monopolist of many businesses in Oromia – including gold mining, cement factory (Derba query), tanneries and farms. Al Amoudi is one of the richest persons in Africa and the world, according to the U.S.-based Forbes magazine.
Al Amoudi’s companies are criticized for failing to share profits with indigenous communities they work around (especially, in the gold mining in Guji Zone and the Derba cement query in Shawaa), and for failing to give back to the community in general; other business owners in Oromia, especially local small-business owners, also accuse Al Amoudi’s companies for receiving preferential treatments from the government and for engaging in predatory business practices to monopolize sectors of the economy. No where is this predatory practice evident than the dairy business; Oromo smallholding dairy farmers in Shawaa, especially those around Finfinne/Addis, were recently attacked in a vicious way by falsely propagating, through state-owned and government-affiliated media, that the milk from these smallholding dairy farmers causes cancer – this was done, in part, to promote Al Amoudi’s dairy company, Shola Milk, and also to drive the Oromo smallholding farmers out of their land through bankruptcy. Oromo Protesters say such abusive and predatory business practices must stop.
The government is also blamed for evicting thousands of Oromos, without compensations, to make land available to Al Amoudi’s companies whenever they request for it – especially in the gold mining region in Guji and the Derba query in Shawaa. In addition, Al Amoudi’s companies are said to have no regard for the environment; for instance, the leather/tannery and flower/horticulture companies in Oromia release toxic cancer-causing chemicals without any environmental treatment.
In many ways, Al Amoudi epitomizes what’s wrong with the current federal arrangement of Oromia in Ethipia, according to the Oromo Protesters; Al Amoudi is given the green light to “develop” in Oromia by the Federal Government in Addis Ababa – which itself is controlled by Tigrean elites of the TPLF/EPRDF ruling party; in many, if not all, cases, the business arrangements between the Tigrean-headed Federal Government and Al Amoudi are not transparent to the Federal Regional State authorities of Oromia.
The following is a report on the ongoing Oromo Protests against the “leeching tycoon and monopolist Alamoudi” in the gold-rich Guji Zone of Oromia; the protests have been staged since the mid of last week (starting around February 4, 2016, according to media reports). The government, as usual, relied on brute force to respond to the protests; the latest report says at least 1 Oromo person was killed, and 3 Oromo persons were critically wounded by the government’s special force, Agazi. Read more at:-
#OromoProtests: February 5, 2016 Oromo Protests continues in various districts of Guji Zone against Medroc Exploitation. Farmers from various villages march to the town chanting ” Okkote is our land, Al Amudin is our enemy”. Okkote is one of the mineral deposit sites that is to be given to Medroc/ Al Amudin.
Ummanni Godina Gujii mormii saamicha albuudaa jabeessee itti fufee jira. Kan agartan kun yeroo ummanni baadiyyaa dhaadannoodhaan gara magaalaa bayaa jiruudha.
Okkoteen lafa teenya Alaamuddin diina keenya
Lagi Dambi lafa teenya, Alamuddin diina keenya” jechaa deemaa jiran.
On February 5, 2016 fascist TPLF security forces and Agazi were terrorizing people of Ginici (Ginichi) town in fear of protests; every corners was under military siege.
Suuraan armaa gadii kun kan magaalaa Gincii kan Shawaa Lixaa keessatti argamu irraati . Guraandhala 5 bara 2016 humni waraanaa fi agaazii egumsaa cimaa magaalicha keessatti gochaaoole; humni dbalataas ergamee jira.
#OromoProtests in Girawaa (Doguu town), E. Hararghe, Oromia, 5 February 2016Oromoonni Harargee Bahaa, aanaa Gurawaa, magaalaa Doguu dabablloota OPDO qaanessan. Akka dabablleen OPDO olola jalqabdeen ummanni walgahii dhiitanii bahan; dargaggoo fi baratoota magaalaa wajjiin waliti makamuunis mormii qaban dhagesisan.Ummati Oromoo jajjaboo kunneen walgahii gaafa Guraandhala 4 bara 2016 DhDUOn waamte irratti diddaa fi mormii isaanii mul’isuun ololli fi sobni OPDO akka fashalu godhan.
#OromoProtests, (3 February 2016, Gujii, Oromia)
#OromoProtests in Sabbaa Boruu district of Guji zone, Oromia. In addition to the national agenda, protesters are marching exploitation of minerals by Al Amudin without no benefit to locals.
#OromoProtests ,Nuunnuu Qumba, Waamaa Adaree, East Wallaggaa, Oromia.
3rd February 2013
Last evening around 11 PM local time,Agazi soldiers raided a wedding in Adare town, Nunu Qumba District in East Wallaga and attacked youngsters who were partying during weeding. They told them not to sing particular song. Clash erupted Agazi soldirs shot one young man who is in critical condition and villagers destroyed vehicles that brought the Agazi’s. Tense situation remains in the town as farmers have closed all roads leading to the town.You might recall the news about Agazi raiding a wedding in Arjo Gudetu near Naqamte wounding three people one of whom died later. Similarly in Elu ababor, they shot Fitsum Abate on the eve of his wedding for playing music to entertian his groomsmen. Groom survived the headshot but reportedly blinded.
The person who was shot in Adare town, Nunu Qumba district of East Walaga has been identified as Desalegn Fikadu. Currently the Agazi is terrorizing people forcing residents to vacate the town seeking refuge in neighboring rural villages.
Amajii 27/2016
Arsii Bahaa magaala Asallaatti mootummaan wayyaanee Qeerroo dargaggoota lama ilmaan isaa ajajuun barattoota lama kana irratti gocha suukkanneessaa raawwatee kan jiru Qeerroon kan gabaaseedha.
Akka Qeerroon gabaasetti barattootni Yuunivarsitii Asallaa Amajji 21,2016 halkan 5:00tti barattoota lama: Isaanis
1.Kamaal Abubaker barataa saayinsii fayyaa waggaa3ffaa fi dhalataa harargee bahaa naannoo Dadarii kan tahee fi
2Tasfaayee Tashoomee barataa saayinsii fayyaa waggaa 1ffaa fi dhalataa Arsii Bahaa naannoo Boqojjii kan ta’an namoonni 4 ol tahan hucuu civil uffachuudhaan eeggatanii yeroo ijoolleen kun lamaan mana fincaanii seenan achi keessatti cuubeen waraananiinii gatanii erga deemanii booda barattoonni kun hospitaala seenuun yaalamaa jiru.
Wallaggaa lixaatti manneen barnoota sadarkaa 1ffaa irraa kaasee hanga qophaayinaatti cufamee jiraachuun Qeerroon gabaasee jira.
Maddeen oduu Qeerroo irraa akka hubannutti wallagga lixaa Aanaa Boojjii Birmajjii magaalaa Biilaa mana barumsaa sadarkaa lammaffaa Biilaatti barattoonni Amajji 22,2016 sa’a3 irratti Fincila Xumura Gabrummaa (FXG) kaasuun ni yaadatama. Yerooma sana irraa kaasuun wayyaaneen humna ishee gara barattootaatti ergiteen barattootni barumsa dhaabuun gabaafamee ture. Guyyaa kanaa kaasuun barattootni mana barumsaa akka hin deebine yoo tahu akka walii galaatti godinicha keessatti barattootni barumsa dhaabuu irratti argamu..
Magaalaa Najjootti barattoonni man barumsaa sad.2ffaa Amajji 25,2016 FXG haaressuuf gara mana barumsaatti wal gahanii turan, barattootni hunduu hirmaanna barumsaa dhaabuudhaan yaadaa fi ejjennoo tokkoon FXG itti fufna malee barumsa hin barannu jechunis barumsi hanga har’aa hin gaggeeffamin jira.
#OromoProtests 26 January 2016: Oromo political prisoners are on a hunger strike in Ma’ekelawi
According to media reports, Bekele Gerba, other imprisoned leaders of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), and other Oromo political prisoners are on a hunger strike in Ma’ekelawi, the notorious prison in Addis Ababa. The report said the political prisoners started their strike on Friday, January 22, 2016, and have vowed to continue the strike until their demands are met. Some of their demands, which they have communicated to the prison’s officials, include:
1) access to legal counsels and visitations by family as guaranteed by the Constitution and internationally accepted rights of prisoners;
2) cessation of torture of political prisoners in Ma’ekelawi;
3) access to proper medical care for all political prisoners.
It has not been possible to verify how many political prisoners are taking part in the strike. However, it has been confirmed that the following leaders of OFC are part of it: Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tafa, Desta Dinka, Addisu Bulala and others. Since November 2015, thousands of Oromos have been taken to Ma’ekelawi in connection with the ongoing Oromo Protests against the lack of adequate self-rule for Oromia (of which the Master Plan is an example), and the decades-old marginalization of the Oromo people in the political, economic, social, linguistic and cultural spheres in Ethiopia as a whole. In addition to those thousands arrested in prisons and concentration camps across Oromia and Ethiopia, more than 160 Oromo persons were killed, and thousands of Oromo persons have been wounded by the Ethiopian Federal armed forces – including tens of Oromo children.
It is to be remembered that the Ethiopian government brought Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tafa, Addisu Bulala and others to a federal court in central Addis Ababa on January 22, 2016 (listen to the report in Amharic below) – this date is the same date on which the hunger strike reportedly began; many human rights organizations, such as the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, accuse the Ethiopian government of using draconian laws to prosecute peaceful and legitimate political dissidents in biased courts to silence voices critical of the government’s violations of human rights and unjust policies.
#OromoProtests Support Group in Switzerland organized a successful rally at the UN Office in Geneva on January 25, 2016.
The rally was attended by Oromo peace activists in Switzerland as well as other Ethiopian Nationals concerned about the deteriorating human rights violations in Oromia and across Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government’s response to the peaceful Oromo Protests has so far been violent, which has negatively contributed to the increasingly unstable political and security conditions in Ethiopia in the fragile Horn of African region. In an attempt to calm the peaceful Oromo Protests through military means, the Ethiopian government has, over the last two months alone, gunned down more than 160 Oromo persons who took part or had been suspected of taking part in the Oromo Protests, which have been staged in Oromia since April 2014, and quite intensely since mid November 2015, against the lack of adequate self-rule for Oromia (of which the Master Plan is an example), and the decades-old marginalization of the Oromo people in the political, economic, social, linguistic and cultural spheres in Ethiopia as a whole. At least 17 of those killed and wounded are Oromo children.
The following are some photos from the Geneva solidarity rally (reported byOromiaTimes.org).
In East Walaga, Digga district, Arjo Gudetu village, Agazi soldiers have fired on protesters wounding the following people last night
1) Gamachu Alamu Tasama, shot on his back
2) Zerihun Jiregna Bayana, shot on his stomach
3) Birhanu Kebede Sando, shot on his leg
These victims are currently being treated at Naqamte Hospital. Two of them are in critical condition.
https://www.oromiamedia.org/2016/01/24/omn-gabaasa-oolmaa-oromiyaa-ama-23-2016/Oromo youth and families in Gincii (Ginchi) conveyed their remembrance to Aschalew Worku Bayi. #OromoProtests, 24 January 2016.A commemoration of Aschalew Worku Bayi who was killed in Ginchi on 13 December 2015 and his remembrance service took place on 24 January 2016 at the presence of tens of thousands of people near Cillimo.Amajii 24 bara 2016 ummanni Oromoo Aanaa Giincii yaadannoo sabboonaa Oromoo Aschaaloo Warquu Bayii geggeessan. Aschaaloon Mudde 13 bara 2015 humna Wayyaaneen Gincitti wareegame. Amajii 24 bara 2016 wayita siidaan yaadannoo isaaf dhaabbate eebbifametti ummati hedduun argamuun yaadannoo kana irratti mallattoo diddaa Oromoo agarsiisaa oolan.
The PAFD extends its most sincere gratitude to the EU Parliament in general and to those who were the sponsors of the Ethiopian resolution, including members from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and Greens/European Free Alliance (G/EFA) of the EU parliamentary groups in particular.
The resolution the European Parliament has adopted on 21 January 2016 offers great support to the millions oppressed in all parts of Ethiopia and gives them courage for a better democratic and just future.The multitude of committed genocides and unfolding atrocities in Oromia, Ogaden, Gambella, Sidama, Omo, Benishangul and other parts in Ethiopia will continue, unless the international community takes some urgent practical measures to stop them. The Ethiopian government has often ignored international calls for remedy of its human rights violations, knowing that there would be no follow up or significant repercussions. In 2007, for example, the UN called for an urgent investigation into the Ogaden war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the Ethiopian government embarked on an all-out campaign of extermination and collective punishment of civilians in the region and the international community looked the other way. Similarly, the killings in Gambella and Sidama, as well as those in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) were also condemned by the international community, while the regime shrugged its shoulders and continued its massacres and curtailment of all democratic rights, while being rewarded with more money under the pretext of development.
History has shown that development at the expenses of democratic rights has ended in disasters and grave consequences. The Ethiopian situation is much more complex than other areas which aggravates the matter further because of unresolved historical injustices.
The PAFD calls upon the UN, AU and EU to follow up to their own resolutions and send independent commissions of inquiry to look into the massive human rights allegations that have been and are being perpetrated by the Ethiopian government against the civilian population and take appropriate measures to stop any further acts. All types of Ethiopian security forces must immediately withdraw from Oromia, Ogaden, Gambela and other areas into their barracks.
The PAFD calls upon all peoples in Ethiopia to stand together and act in unison against the atrocities committed by the regime, in order to regain their denied rights to democracy and true self-determination.
Issued by The Peoples Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD)
January 23, 2016
OFFICE OF PRESIDIUM
Breaking news: there has been reports of heavy gun fire exchange in Waddessaa area near Ambo since yesterday
January 23, 2016
(Oromia Press) — There has been reports of heavy gunfire exchange in Waddessaa area near Ambo since yesterday. Particularly localities such as Haro-Xirro, Wadessa-Galan, Xulle are said to be like war zones. Civilians have been trying to escape the fighting. Residents in nearby districts confirm Agazi special forces have been moving into the area in tens of cars since the night before yesterday. It is not clear who they are fighting or firing at as network in the area is down. Source claim the clash might have been caused when the army tried to disarm local government militia suspected of being disloyal. The conflict is said to have been intensified today and heavy casualties are feared. The military has prevented ambulances that tried to reach the area from nearby towns.
Amajjii 19,2016 , Barattooti kun yeroo jalqabaaf 24 ka ta’an yoo ta’u,amma barattoota shan kan himataa jiru yeroo ta’u, adeemsi heeraa fi Seeraa kan hin eegamneefi maqaa Oromoo fi ABOtiin yakkamanii murna bicuu TPLF Tigiraayin humatamaa jiru. Barattooti kun amma mana yaalaa dhirkamuun,baay’ee kan miidhaman yoo ta’e illee haamileen oromummaa isaanii mana hidhaa maa’ikelaawwi fi Qilinxootiin utuu hin cabin mana Murtii Wayyaanee kanatti sodaa tokko malee uffata aadaa Oromoo uffatanii dhiyaatan
Himatamtoota Wayyaanee kana keessaa Barataa Magarsaa Warquu dhukkubaa fi dararaa irratti raawwatameen baay’ee hubamee kan jiru yeroo ta’u, Afaan Wayyaanee abbaa alangaa ka ifiin jettu himata irratti dhiyeessite gocha isaanii akka hin taane ibsaniiru.
Rage in Miesso following the killing of 6 peaceful protesters on 17 January 2016. has erupted in Asabot town West Hararge. #OromoProtests also in Asabot town West Hararge. Farmers from the region have moved to the city condemning the killing in neighboring Miesso town.
The 6 people killed in Miesso has been identified as:
1) Yasino Abdala Ali
2) Abdella Hassan
3) Mussa Hassan
4) Abdulhakiim
5) Ahmad
6) The six person has been badly disfigured as he was hit with grenade and hard to conclusively identify at this time.
The attack was perpetuated by TPLF’s mercenary in Somali region, the notorious Liyu Police. On Friday TPLF’s chief os intelligence for the Eastern region warned administrators of the two Hararge provinces that he will deploy Liyu police if they cannot stop the ongoing protest. As promised following yesterday’s march of farmers on Miesso town, 7 truck loads of Liyu police entered Western Hararge. This morning they invaded Miesso attacking peaceful protesters. You might recall that Liyu police attacked protesters last week in East Hararge as well.
The United States is increasingly concerned by the continued stifling of independent voices in Ethiopia, including the detention of Oromo political party leaders. These arrests have a chilling effect on much needed public consultations to resolve legitimate political grievances in Oromia.
We support the Government of Ethiopia’s December commitment to public consultation with affected communities. For these consultations to be meaningful, all interested parties must be able to express their views freely.
We reaffirm our call on the Ethiopian Government to refrain from silencing dissent and to protect the constitutionally enshrined rights of all citizens, including the right to gather peacefully, to write, and to speak freely as voices of a diverse nation. We call for the release of those imprisoned for exercising their rights, such as political party leaders and journalists.
#OromoProtests: Ethiopian Protesters Use Social Media to Bring Attention to Deadly Government Crackdown on Dissent – Atlanta Blackstar, 9 January 2016 https://shar.es/16IaqD
#OromoProtests January 10, 2016, Al Jazeera English: Holonkomi, Oromia (Ethiopia) – Security forces have killed at least 140 people during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Ethiopia in recent weeks, activists and rights groups say.
The merciless fascist TPLF forces destroyed students dormitories at Madda Walabu University 9 and 10 January 2016, in the night. Soldiers have also taken away hundreds of students on the night to unknown places.
EU called emergency meeting for Monday to discuss the unrest in Ethiopia & the dire case of the Oromo people
January 7, 2016
Breaking news! Sources from European External Action Service (EU Foreign and Security Policy Branch) has indicate that European Union will convene a meeting to discuss Ethiopia with regard to ongoing #OromoProtests on January 11 (Monday) 2016. Representatives from all 28 EU member countries will attend the meeting. Fascist TPLF juntas representatives have not been invited to the meeting.Gamtaan Awurooppaa(European Union) walgahii hatantamaa waa’ee dhimma Oromoo irratti guyyaa wiixataa, 01/11/2016 waamuu beeksise!Waa’ee Oromoo irratti walgahii akkasii waamuun yeroo jalqabaa ta’us, Gamtaan Awurooppaa gochaan duguuggaa sanyii mootummaan woyyaanee ummata oromoo irraatti gaggeessaaru akka daraan isaan yaaddesseefi falmitootni mirga dhala namaa kan Akka Amnesty International walgahicha irraa qooda akka fudhatan beekameera.INJIFANNOON UMMATA OROMOOF! Falmattu malee Adunyaan dantaa kee hin qabdu..
#OromoProtests, Participants of study seminar from USA and other Philipino friends show solidarity with Oromo Student protest going on in Ethiopia here in Manila. ‘Injustice any where is injustice every where.’ 7 January, 2016.
China Town Manila, Philippines. Credit: Asefa M.Wakjira, Green Movement through social network.
#OromoProtests, Asabot ( West Hararage) Jan 7, 2016.
A 4th year Food Science Oromo student at Wallaggaa University, Horaa Banti Irranaa, was arrested on Monday January 4, 2016 by Agazi from campus. His body was found in Hadiyya on January 6, 2016. He was taken to Nekemte hospital for autopsy then his body was sent to his birth place which is Gachi, near Baddalle in Ilu Abbaabooraa.
Maqaan isaa Horaa Bantii Irranaa Yunivarsitii Wallaggaatti barataa Food Science waggaa 4ffaa tureeyyuu. Gaafa Amajjii 4 bara 2016 mooraa irraa poolisootaan fuudhamee guyyaa Amajii 6 bara 2016 ajjeefamee laga keessatti reeffi isaa gatamee argame. Horaan dhaloonni isaa Godina Ilu Abbaa boor magaala Gachii ti.Reeffi isaas garas geeffamaa jira.
Daraje Tsegaye Kitaba, Oromo teenager, kidnapped by TPLF (Agazi) forces on 26 December 2015. His whereabout is unknown. He is from Central Oromia (Xiqur incinni).
Mucaan kun Muddee 26 bara 2015 agaaziin ukaafame hangaa har’aati gara inni jiru hin beekamu. Maqaan isaa Daraje Tsegaye kitaba jedhama. Lixa shawwaa, annaa xuqur incinnii irraati.
OromoProtests: 5 January 2016 in Awaday, E Hararge, Oromia students at all levels ( elementary to preparatory) have have walked out of school informing school administrators they will not return until the military leaves school compounds, arrested students are released, those who killed students brought to justice. Students who come out of town have returned to their villages.
Amajjii 5 Bara 2015, Awwadaayii, Hargee Bahaatti Barattoonni sadarkaa hundaatu ( elemantarii hamma piripaaratorii) barnoota dhaabuun gara maatii isaanii deemanii jiran. Hamma waraanni mooraa mannaan barnootaafi araddaalee keessa bahuu, gaafiin ummataa deebi’uu, warri hidhame hiikkamuufi warri nama ajjeese seeraan gaafatamuu hin dachaanu jechuun bulchiinsita manneen barnoota hubachiisaanii jiran.
#OromoProtests, Masalaa town, West Hararghe, Oromia. 5 January 2016.
#OromoProtests continues, on 3rd January 2016 at Ambo University Waliso Campus.
Barattoonni Amboo Universitii, Kampaasii Walisoo mormii fi gadda obboleewwan isaanii kan wayyaaneen dhumaniis nyaata lagachuun yaadatan.
#OromoProtests, students in Shashamene Say No to the Master Plan and the Mass Murder, 2nd January 2016
The main road connecting Finfinnee with Eastern Region ( Harar, Dire Dawa, Jigjiga) has been closed at various villages near Hirna. 2nd January 2016, #OromoProtests
Daandin Finfinnee irraa baha biyyatti geessuu naannawa Hirnaatti araddaalee hedduu keessatti bifa kanaan cufamee jira, Amajjii 2, bara 2016
OromoProtests 2nd round continues January 1, 2016: Fichee (Salaalee), Shambuu, Dire Dawa city (LegaHarre High school), Sibuu Siree, Rift Valley University Gulale Campus, Burka Dhimtu ( East Hararge), Gimbi
Hanna Doja, Oromo child, 7 years old, 1st grade student in Kombolcha town, Horroo Guduruu, Oromia. Attacked by fascist Ethiopian regime forces ((Agazi) on 31st December 2015.
The Agazi are armed recruits from rural Tigray, TPLF’s rocky homeland. The Agazi are uneducated fascist forces trained from young age to hate, attack and kill people of non Tigray nationalities
Read more on Reports on OromoProtests in Nov./Dec. 2015 at:-
About 200 members of Minnesota’s Oromo community rallied at the State Capitol on Monday to protest treatment at the hands of the Ethiopian government.
The protest was in response to a crackdown on Oromo protestors in Ethiopia, who have opposed government plans to evict farmers from their land to expand Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital city.
Hundreds of Oromo — the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia — have been killed by the Ethiopian government since last November, protestors say, and thousands more have been imprisoned for opposing the government.
More recently, march organizers said, the Oromian region of the East African nation has been under martial law.
To put pressure on the Ethiopian government, protestors called for the United States to withhold aid to the Ethiopian government until the violence stops.
“We’re frankly upset over our government not caring enough to stop this,” said Najat Hamza, a community activist and member of Oromo Womens Organization of Minnesota. “We always felt the United States stands for human rights and in this instance their not.”
This was the fourth time Minnesota’s Oromo community. Monday’s march coincided with others nationwide, said Urgo Shanka, one of the event’s organizers and a youth coordinator with the Oromo Womens Organization.
Aadland is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.
The resources are scarce in comparison to our never ending wants andEconomics is concerned with the ‘rational’ management of these resources that have alternate uses to maximise the gains at both micro-macro level.
There are several economic models that have been developed that have distinct characteristics and unique features. Adam Smith’s Capitalist model, the one where the market forces of demand and supply move freely to determine the Equilibrium level represents an ideal system of want origin and its satisfaction in the perfect sense. Any extension of demand will shift the Equilibrium price upwards and this in turn, will motivate the ‘rational’ producers to supply more to the market at the increased price to maximise their profits. This will eventually stabilise the price and eventually Equilibrium will be restored in the market. How simple is that! This model seems stable and logical in every sense, doesn’t it?
#Oromoprotests this mother is a 7 month pregnant and has 6 kids, lives in the West Arsi zone ofthe #Oromia state in #Ethiopia. When the Tigreans led security forces came to her home searching for her husband, she came out of her home and falled, kneeled down to his legs and begged him, not to kill her and her kids. Other militias went to her home to search for her husband and couldn’t find him. She kept begging them in #AfaanOromoo and #Sidamalanguages, as she doesn’t speak Amharic. The militias don’t speak either of these languages. Finally, they have mercilessly killed her firing five bullets to her. It is a very painfully to see such a tragedy, and her kids are now orphans. That’s how #democracy is being built in #Ethiopia by#TpLF. #ያማል
Ethiopia: Civil society calls upon Human Rights Council to investigate government crackdown on Oromo protest
Front Line Defenders, 24 February 2016
To Permanent Representatives of
Members and Observer States of the
UN Human Rights Council
Geneva, 24 February 2016
RE: Addressing restrictions on freedom of assembly and civil society in Ethiopia
Your Excellency,
The undersigned civil society organizations (CSOs) write to express our serious concerns about the Ethiopian Government’s grave restrictions on fundamental human rights, exemplified by the recent crackdown on largely peaceful protests in the Oromia region. As the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) prepares to release its landmark recommendations for the proper management of assemblies, we urge your delegation to address the rapidly deteriorating environment for independent dissent and violations of the right to freedom of assembly in Ethiopia at the upcoming 31st UN HRC Session.
Since December 2015, Ethiopian security forces have routinely used excessive and unnecessary lethal force to disperse and suppress peaceful protests in the Oromia region. The protesters, who have been advocating against the dispossession of land without adequate compensation under the government’s Integrated Development Master Plan, have been subjected to widespread rights violations. According to international and national human rights groups, at least 150 demonstrators, including scores of children and university students, have been killed during the protests. It is also widely reported that hundreds of people have suffered bullet wounds and beatings by the police and military.
The authorities have also arbitrarily arrested thousands of people throughout Oromia for participating in or supporting the protests. Many of those detained are being held without charge and without access to family members or legal representation. Numerous human rights activists, journalists and opposition political party leaders and supporters have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Oromia. Among those arrested and still in detention are Bekele Gerba (Deputy Chair, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)), Dejene Tufa (Deputy General Secretary, OFC), Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (a human rights defender) and Fikadu Mirkana (reporter with the state-owned Oromia Radio and TV).
The government also continues to misuse the abusive 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to silence independent reporting and support of the protest movement. Specifically, on January 22, 2016, opposition leader Bekele Gerba and 21 other individuals were arraigned at the Federal First Instance Court, Arada Branch, which granted the prosecutor’s request for 28 days remand to police custody under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
Moreover, weeks earlier, on December 15, 2015, the government publically described the protesters as “an organised and armed terrorist force” in a cynical and disturbing attempt to conflate their legitimate exercise of fundamental civil liberties with acts of terrorism. We remain deeply concerned that this description of the mostly peaceful protesters has also contributed to greater use of excessive force by security personnel.
Prominent human rights experts and groups, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have repeatedly condemned the deliberate misuse of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation’s overbroad and vague provisions to target journalists and activists. The law permits up to four months of pre-trial detention and prescribes draconian prison sentences for a wide range of activities protected under international human rights law. Dozens of human rights defenders as well as journalists, bloggers, peaceful demonstrators and opposition party members have been subjected to harassment and politically motivated prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, making Ethiopia one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world.
There are no effective avenues to pursue accountability for abuses given the lack of independence of the judiciary and legislative constraints. During the May 2015 General Elections, the ruling EPRDF party won all 547 seats in the Ethiopian Parliament. In addition, domestic civil society organizations are severely hindered by one of the most restrictive NGO laws in the world. Specifically, under the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation, the vast majority of Ethiopian organizations have been forced to stop working on human rights and governance issues, a matter of great concern that has been repeatedly raised including at Ethiopia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
This restrictive environment means that there are few avenues available for accountability and independent dissent in the country. It is essential that the UN Human Rights Council takes a strong position urging the Ethiopian Government to immediately end its systematic campaign to suppress peaceful protests and legitimate human rights activism.
Amid a growing chorus of concern, a number of intergovernmental bodies, including the European Parliament, have called on the Ethiopian government to immediately cease its political intimidation and persecution of peaceful protesters and human rights defenders. Recently, on 21 January, four UN Special Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances issued a joint statementcondemning the ongoing crackdown and further called on the Ethiopian Government to “immediately release protesters who seem to have been arrested for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, to reveal the whereabouts of those reportedly disappeared and to carry out an independent, transparent investigation into the security forces’ response to the protest.”
During the upcoming 31st session of the Human Rights Council, we urge your delegation to make joint or individual statements (for example during the high-level segment, in interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner, and under other relevant agenda items), reinforcing and building upon the concerns of these and other international bodies.
Specifically, we respectfully request your delegation to press Ethiopia to:
immediately cease the use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force by security forces against protesters in Oromia Region of Ethiopia and elsewhere in Ethiopia;
immediately and unconditionally release journalists, human rights defenders, political opposition leaders and members as well as protesters arbitrarily detained during and in the aftermath of the protests;
urgently establish a thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all of the deaths resulting from alleged excessive use of force by the security forces, and other violations of human rights in the context of the protests;
ensure that those responsible for human rights violations are prosecuted in proceedings which comply with international law and standards on fair trial and without resort to the death penalty;
and fully comply with its international legal obligations and commitments including under the, ICCPR, African Charter and its own Constitution.
Sincerely,
Article 19
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders
Defend Defenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Right Defenders Project)
Gurraandhala 23,2016 Ummati waanjoo gabrummaa baachuuf dhiitichaa abbaa irree damdamachuun nufisiisee lubbuusaa aarsaa gochuun diinasaa kan ta’e Shorokeessitoota Waayyaaneet bol’a qotuufsochii rog hundaan godhaa jiru jabeessuun har’a baha Wallaggaa bakkeewwaan hedduutti diinasaa hudhee kan dhaabe ta’uu bakkeewwan Leeqaa Dullachaa,Bonayyaa Boshee,Habashaa Sanbataa,Naqamte (Kibba Waachaa,Bordii,Dargee fi Mana barumsaa Qassoo) kan magaalaa Naqamteetti argaman keessatti mormiin dhiittaa namoomaa of irraa fonqolchuu ittu fifeera
Guyyaa Har’aa Amajjii 29,2016 Godina Wallaggaa aanaa Gidaamii fi Jimmaa Horroo akkasumas ganda Burii jedhamu keessatti FXH haala jabaa ta’een gaggeeffamaa oole,Warraanni Wayyaanee haala kanatti rifates jiraattotaa fi barattoota qabee hidhuu fi gidirsuu itti haa fufu malee uummanni naannichaa jabinaan loltoota Wayyaanee of irraa dhorkaa oolanii jiru jedha Qeerroon.
Barattotni magaalaa Naqaamteef jiraattonni magaalatti gabrummaa of irraa fonqolchuuf wayiita carraqanitti dhamsuuf humna waraanaa
Biraanee Fiqruu Mul’isaa jedhamti dhimma mormii MP fi FDG Oromiyaa keessattin deemamaa jiruun walqabatee godina kibba lixa Shaggar aanaa Daawootti mana hidhaa aanichatti dararamaa jirti.Kan hidhamte gaafa guyyaa 27,12,2015ti ture ergasi beellama si’aa 2irratti gaafatan yoo ta’u yeroo lachuu guyyaa 9 sagaal irratti gaafatani turan. Ammas hanga 28/1/2016tti tursisan kan akkas rawwachisa jiru immo bulchinsaa aanaa kan ta’e obboo Fayyisaa Dhaabaa jedhamu, wajjirri poolisii aanaa fi mannii murtii anichaas hojii seeraa dhisaani hojii siyaasa dalagaa jiran.
John Kirby
Dhumaa jaarraa 19ffaatti, yeroo gabrummaa Impaayera Ixoophiyaa jalatti kufe irraa eegalee,biyya abbaa isaa Oromiyaa irratti: bilisummaa,nagaa fi gammachuun jiraatuuf mirga seeraanis ta’e uumaan qabu sarbamee ummatni Oromoo inimmaan osoo irraa hin qoorre hanga har’aa jiraataa jira. Bara Minilik Oromiyaa weeraree ummata Oromoo miliyoona shan fixe; hedduu ammo harkaa fi harma muree fafeesse, Oromoon miliyoonni shan gadi hafee kanneen dhumaniif inimaan buusee kan dhiise qofa osoo hin taane, inimmaan isaa guyyaa tokko gabroomfataa dhiqee Oromiyaa keessaa akka baasu osuma inimmaan buusuu illee raagaa tureera. “Guyyaa itti diinni biyya keenya irraa buqqa’ee ilmaan keenya nagayaa fi gammachuun keessa jiraatan ni dhufa” jechuun kan Roobaa Bultum raage, Minilik ummata Oromoo miliyoona shanii, kan harki 70 dardaraa fi shamarrani eerga fixee booda. Kan yeroo san Roobaa Bultum raage, ummata Oromoo shanyi duguuginsa irraa hafaniif ;akeeka ittiin qajeelfaman, hawwii fi abdii bilisummaa ta’ee hanga har’aatti itti fufee jira.
Amajjii 13/2016 Warraasii FXG Gootota Qeerroo Barattoota Oromoo Yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa Haalaan Jabachuun Mooraa Main Campus keessatti haalaan itti fufe, Waraannii Wayyaanee Dhukaasaa guddaa barattoota Oromoo Yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa irratti Banuun Mooraa Yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa dirree Waraanaa fakkeesse jira,
Oromiyaa guututti FXG Amajii 1, 2016 irraa kaasee baadiyaa fi magaalaa, dhaabbata barnootaa fi amantaallee dabalachuun itti fufeera.
Dargaggoon Fiqaaduu Shuumataa Waaqtolaa baatii Sadaasa 2015 keessa FDG Wallagga magaalaa Madiitti gaggeeffame keessatti hirmaachuun dhadatnoo mirga namoomaa fi mirgoota saba Oromoo kaasu dhageessisuun barattootatti onnee horee nama turedha, dhadatnoo isaan booda suuraaleen inni gaafas ka’e marsaalee hedduu keessatti faca’uun Oromoota biyya alaa fi keessa jiran qalbii hortee akka ture beekama.
Oromian Economist 
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