Blocking Information Cannot Stop Us from Moving Forward – Commentary on the Jamming of OMN

By Tibebu Sime*

There is no doubt that all dictators are coward, but all of the dictators across the African continent, theWayyane of Tigray is the most coward regime ever lived on the inhabited Earth. Thanks to the Cold War opportunity – which was on their side, since they came to power in 1991 after the fall of the Communist government, they have never won a single face-to-face debate with the peoples in Ethiopia despite the fact that they have monopolized all the media outlets to block information from the public.

Let alone in this digital world, where people can get access to information all over the social media, they could not stop our people from demanding their inalienable rights way back in the dark days. If they think it is OMN or Oromo Voice which have mobilized the Oromo students to protest against their devilish conspiracy to annihilate the indigenous people of the land under the guise of the so called ‘Integrated Master Plan,’ then they are lost in the middle of wilderness because Oromo students have gone way far beyond their reach. We were born and grew up in this bitter struggle for self-determination.

Blocking websites, jamming radio & television stations, and stealing ballot box have never saved the brutal regime of the Wayyane of Tigray from shaking, and will never save them from their inevitable demise. From the day they had set their foot in Oromiyaa, they have tried their best to intimidate us by imprisoning and killing us en masse. But I am sure they’ve clearly seen it: our people’s struggle for freedom and democracy is growing more than ever. This regime has failed miserably. Its grip on power at the barrel of gun has already started disintegrating. The only thing they can do after all is to complicate the situation where no one will come to rescue them. Let me remind you some of the worst atrocities the militias and mercenaries of this regime have committed in the last two decades against nations and nationalities in Ethiopia:

1. OMN wasn’t on air when they gunned down dozens of Oromo students in schools across Oromiyaa, and dismissed over 400 students from Addis Ababa University for peacefully protesting against the decision to move the capital city of Oromiyaa Regional State from Finfinnee to Adama.

2. OMN wasn’t on air when they massacred thousands of Anuak civilians in December 2003 for no reasons.

3. OMN wasn’t on air when they massacred hundreds of Sidama civilians at Looqqe village on May 24, 2002 for demanding their constitutional rights to form their own Regional State.

4. OMN wasn’t on air when they murdered 300 peaceful demonstrators in Addis Ababa following the 2005 elections fraud.

5. OMN wasn’t on air when they wiped out a number of villages in Ogadenia in 2005/06/07/08 in the name of uprooting the Ogaden rebels.

Having committed these crimes for which they will be held accountable at a right time, did they stop people from resenting their inhuman reign? The obvious answer is ‘NO’. They have even exacerbated it.

My people, we have to say “enough is enough!” It is high time for us to get prepared to fight these freaky invading militias who are devoted to killing us mercilessly in a broad daylight. There is no other cruelty than shooting small kids of 8 years old on a street. I don’t think it’s necessary to tell you that – the only way out living with shame – is to be determined to make an indelible mark in the history of our nation by paying the ultimate sacrifices so that our next generations will live in peace and learn the value of dying with honor.

In the end, it’s the responsibility of the international community, particularly the West, which is channeling billions of dollars in aids, to put pressure on this regime to sit down with the real stakeholders to hand over the power to the people before it is too late.

Victory to the Oromo People!

* Tibebu Sime: qeerransoo@yahoo.com

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