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The beloved and one of the greatest Oromo musicians, actors and poets, Dabalaa Damee died on 29 October 2016. He was highly talented and gifted artist and selfless. He dedicated all his life to develop the suppressed Oromo art music and culture. He was very incredible. He lived a life as an artist, activist and selfless human being. he was advocating for equality, peace, justice and freedom for Oromo people and all oppressed people.
Remembering his wonderful and gentle soul will forever remain in our hearts. May he rest in peace!
Artist Dabalaa Damee Onkoloolessa 29 bara 2016 du’aan addunyaa kana irraa Boqote.
Dabalaa Damee nama walleef artii Afaan Oromoo keessatti bakka guddaa qabudha.
Jireenya isaa guutuu artii saba kanaaf hanga dhumaatti nama cichaa turedha. Kuusaa artii Oromoo nama jabaa tokko dhabneerra har’a. Biyyoon isatti haa salphatu. Maatii saaf Oromo maraaf immoo rabbi jajjabina haa kennu.
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
While journalists and bloggers remain the primary targets of state repression in Ethiopia, musicians that don’t jive with state propaganda also take the heat.
Hawi Tezera, an ethnic Oromo singer, was reportedly beaten, arrested, released and then rearrested in the space of just seven days by government security forces in connection with her song about ongoing protests in Oromia, a southern administrative region that is Ethiopia’s largest.
Two other Oromo singers, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told this author over Facebook chat that they have been under intense surveillance since anti-government protests began in the region in November.
According to some estimates, over a hundred demonstrators have died in unrest that began after the government made plans for the expansion of the capital Addis Ababa into land inhabited by the Oromo ethnic group, which accounts for almost a third of Ethiopia’s population.
In the last two decades, Oromo singers who gravitate towards political and social activism have been subjected to intimidation, abductions and torture.
There are also more musicians-in-exiles among the culturally distinct Oromo group than any of Ethiopia’s other major groups.
One of the most recognisable victims of this slow purge was iconoclastic Oromo singer, Ebisa Adugna, who civic activists believe was killed by Ethiopian government forces in 1996.
Dawite Mekonen, widely known for streamlining Oromo traditional music with more contemporary styles in the 1990s, went into exile after refusing to perform for soldiers at war front during Ethio-Eritrean war in 1998.
Elefenesh Keno, arguably the most important female vocalist of Oromo language of all time was forced into exile in Norway around the same time, while vocalist Hirpa Ganfure also releases songs from the Scandanavian country having been forced to leave Ethiopia the same year as Dawite.
These are just few of the better-known examples of Ethiopia’s repression of Oromo musicians.
New wave of censorship?
Musicians of all backgrounds that go against the government line find it difficult to get a gig or airtime on Ethiopia’s radio stations.
One example of this trend is the last-minute cancellation last year of two concerts featuring Teddy Afro, a prominent Amharic singer and song writer.Teddy has a great popular appeal and is widely known as the most successful musician in Ethiopia.
Teddy, who was released from imprisonment on hit and run charges he always denied in 2009, said his team was refused permission to hold the concerts scheduled for last September, without speculating as to why.
It seems most likely the cancellations are part of a continuing government campaign against the musician since his release of songs critical of the regime in 2005, three years before he was imprisoned.
However, censorship is noticeably harsher as regards the Oromo, Ethiopia’s single largest ethnic group, which is viewed as a threat by a government packed with politicians from the northern Tigray minority.
According to reports at least 17 Oromo singers whose lyrics show “nationalistic tendencies” were banned from air waves in December 2015 by the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority.
Oromo singers often produce music that articulates strong pride in their national and cultural heritage, whether through lyrics or the incorporation of traditional instruments and melodies.
The latest ban has encompassed songs that appear to be far from overtly nationalistic, including the songs of the two musicians the author interviewed for this piece.
This signifies a clampdown on even moderate forms of cultural self-expression.
A counterproductive policy
According to academic Michael Shawn Mollenhauer, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the topic of censorship of Oromo culture in Ethiopia, the current government uses Oromo musicians to present a facade of cultural diversity while systematically imprisoning and intimidating independent singers.
Hawi Tezera’s story is an indicator that the state’s grip on any form of freedom of expression is getting ever-tighter, with controls over music reaching a new low.
However, the crackdown is not having the desired effect.
In fact, Oromo songs with political undertones are actually seeing a resurgence, with this author tallying over 300+ songs on YouTube and Facebook alone since 2014, as the Internet provides an alternative space for musicians to defy the blanket of state censorship.
If anything, music censorship has helped strengthen Oromo nationalism.
The overwhelming majority of Oromos already felt that their identity was being attacked unjustly, and the intensification of state harassment against a background of growing political unrest is tipping them over the edge.
This story was commissioned by Freemuse, the leading defender of musicians worldwide, and Global Voices for Artsfreedom.org. The article may be republished by non-commercial media, crediting the author Endalk, Freemuse and Global Voices and linking to the origin
Famous Oromo female singer Hawi Tezera feared to be under another torture, activists say
(December 23, 2015, Finfinne Tribune, Gadaa.com ): According to a media report, the famous Oromo female singer Hawi Tezera was detained and tortured last week by the Ethiopian Federal police after releasing an Afan Oromo single music that’s critical of the Ethiopian government’s affairs, i.e. the Master Plan and the killings following the protests against the Master Plan, in the Federal State of Oromia. The single, which was released on December 15, 2015, was produced using the traditional Oromo protest genre called Geerarsa. Photos of the singer’s tortured body, showing the bruised and swollen areas, are shown here.Report shows Hawi Tezera’s bruised and swollen body from last week’s torture; activists fear she could be tortured again.
Upon the intervention of the Oromian State police, the report adds, Hawi was released from her ordeal only to be imprisoned again over the last few days. Activists fear that she could be tortured again; the Ethiopian government has a record of detaining and torturing dissidents(prisoners of conscience) who oppose its policies using peaceful and Constitutional means.
In addition to Hawi, thousands of Oromos, including a journalist, have been imprisoned across Oromia and Ethiopia over the last week – accused of expressing protests against the Addis Ababa Master Plan. According to the protesters, who are using peaceful (nonviolent) means to demonstrate their opposition, millions of Oromo farmers will be evicted from their homesteads, and thousands have already been evicted and have become homeless, through the government’s large-scale land-grab project called the Addis Ababa Master Plan. During the recent wave of arrests, the government has especially targeted Oromo singers and their families/relatives for imprisonment and harassment. It is to be remembered that Oromo male singers Jireenyaa Shifarraa and Bilisummaa Dinquu were reportedly abducted last week by the government forces – after being accused of releasing music that’s critical of the government’s policy in Oromia; photos of Jireenyaa Shifarraa in handcuffs were circulating on social media last week. Read more at:-
Saartuu, the daughter of the late Oromo artist Usmayyoo Muussaa in her debut music song ‘Abbaa koo’.
Selfless Oromo Artist Usmayyoo Muussaa was in jail for 8 years in a harsh Woyyaane prison. He sustained severe torture and contracted all deadly diseases in jail. He was released from prison only when the regime was sure that he won’t survive. Usmayyoo died on November 18, 2006 in Ciro town and his funeral took place on November 19, 2006 in Ciro with a large crowd with Oromo tradition.
Though an Oromo nationalist and artist Usmaayyoo Muusaa is rest in peace, his legacy is beyond his grave and he passed on the torch of freedom to be pursued by millions of Oromo, including his children.
Like Usmayo Oromo citizens have fallen as the result of victim of torture of TPLF; many are fallen silent in the hands of this murderer’s government agents.
Usmayo’s daughter, Artist Saartuu Usmayoo, has release the first song dedicated to her father, “Abaa Koo”.
The views expressed in this post (blog) are those of the author/authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OromianEconomist. Posting does not imply endorsement of views by the author/ authors.
In addition to the lyrical and melodic richness of the recently released Haacaaluu Hundessaa’s “Maalan Jira …?” Oromo music video, imagery has also played a powerful role in making the music video become an instant hit. The following are the cinematographically rich 30 still frames (screen captures) from the music video by Director/Editor Amansiisaa Ifaa and Cinematographer Tasfaayee Afuwarq.
![Ayyaanoo Bariisoo (Jiillicha), Odaa Roobaa [New Oromo Music – Oct. 2015]](https://oromianeconomist.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/ayyaanoo-bariisoo-jiillicha-odaa-roobaa-new-oromo-music-e28093-oct-2015.png)
Oromoo Aadaa naannoolee Oromiyaa kaabaa hanga kibbaa tti, bahaa hanga lixaa tti, wal-simachiisanii dagaagsan, walaleessanii weellisan, geerrarsaan kan rafe dadammaqsanii sabboonummaa dagaagsan, faarsanii maqaa goototaa ol-kaasan, Qabsoo Oromoo daangaa hanga daangaa tti sosochoosanii harka duwwaa rasaasa dura dhaabbatan. Oromummaaf jecha mana hidhaa tti dararaman, kaan lubbuun wareegaman, kaanis lubbuu oolfachuuf biyyaa baqatan. Waggoottan 23 darbaniif dararaan Artistoota Oromoo’rra gahaa jiru hagana jedhamee waan akka laayyoo tti ibsamu miti. Artsitoota Oromoo Eebbisaa Addunyaa, Usmaayyoo Muusaa, Yooseef Gammachuu, Maaramee Harqaasaa fi kabiroo miidhaa diinaa tiin hardha lubbuun uf cinaa isaan dhabnu’llee dalagaan isaanii Utubaa seenaa ta’ee ilmaan Oromoo waliin jiraata. Dararamnii fi miidhaan heddummatu’llee Artistoonni Oromoo kaleessas, hardhas gocha diinaa tiif hin jilbeeffanne, borus hin jilbeefatan!
Oromian Economist 
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