Kaleessa WBO Hidhannoo Guutuu Waliin Hiriirsanii Karaa Baalee Ganan; Har’a Ammoo Suufii fi Saamsoonaayitaan Karaa Boolee Galan

Waraabessi Biyya Isa Hin beekne Dhaqee Kaldhoo Naa Afaa Jedhe’

(Argan Beeko)

Mammaaksi akka mata duree barruu kanaatti dhihaate kun dubbii warra ODF ibsuuf karaa gabaabsa. Murni namoota yeroo adda addaatti badii adda addaa raaw’atanii ABO keessaa ari’aman yookiis fottoqanii bahan irraa walitti dhufe kun, daandii faallaa fedhii ummata Oromoo irratti kan argamu tahuun isaa amma hundaafuu ifee jira. Namoonni baay’een dhalachuu murna kanaa waggaa tokko qofatti gabaabsanii hubachuu malu. Haa tahu malee murni kun akka murnaatti dhalachuuf kan karaa eegale waggaa jaha dura. ODF jechuun murna ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhamee bara 2008 keessa ABO irraa fottoqe irraa dhalate. Murna kana gochaa fi kaayyoo isaa irraa ka’uun namoonni baay’een ‘Micciirama’jedhuuni. Ani garuu barruun kun arrabsoo karaa irraa akka hin fakkaanneef jecha maquma isaan moggaafataniin ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhee waamuun filadhe.

Ofii ka’umsii fi seenaan gabaabaan murna kanaa maal fakkaata? Eessaa ka’ee eessatti deemaa jira? Gaaffiilee deebii kanaa gabaabsee ibsuufan tattaafadha. Mataan murna amma ODF jedhamuu kun, Obbo Leencoo Lataa, gaafa Jijjiiramni labsamu suduudaan harka keessaa qabaachuu haa mormatan malee, duubaan garuu mahaandisa fottoqiinsa gaafasii tahuun qooda hogganummaa akka bahachaa turan warra dhimma kanaaf keessummaa hin tahin biratti beekamaa dha. Itti aanaan ODF har’aa, Dr. Diimaa Nagawoo ammoo, gorsaa (advisor) murna Jijjiiramaa tahanii labsamuun ifaan ifatti (officially) hojjechaa turan. Maqaa ‘bu’uressitoota ABO’ fi ‘hogganoota gameeyyii’ jedhamutti dhimma bahuun jarri kun lamaan ummata Oromoo afaanfajjessuuf karaan deemaa turanii fi deemaa jiran gaddisiisaa qofa osoo hin taane qaanfachiisaa dha. Haasawa yeroo adda addaatti miidiyaalee diinaa kan akka ESAT irratti bahanii haasawaniin kabajaa ummatni Oromoo isaaniif qabaachaa ture of irraa mulqanii of salphisan. Gaaffii bilisummaa ummata Oromoo, kan qabsaayonni kuma kudhanootaan itti wareegaman salphisanii fi gara dabarsanii ‘gaaffii ambummaa’ (citizenship)tti gad xiqqeessan. Kana qofaanuu hin dhaabbanne. ‘Nuti takkaa bilisummaa Oromoo gaafannee hin beeknu, gaafa ABO bu’uressinus Oromiyaa bilisoomsuu waan jedhamu yaadnee hin beeknu’ jedhani. Kanaanis Habashoota waan gammachiisaniif ESAT irratti baay’ee harki rukutameef. Oromoon garuu bakka jiruu ‘Safuu!’ jedhee isaan taajjabe.

Jara kana lamaanii gaditti kan argaman Obbo Leencoo Baatii fi Obbo Hasan Huseen hoo eenyu? Jarri kun lamaan ammoo warra ifatti labsatee maqaa ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhuun bara 2008 irraa qabee ABO diiguu irratti bobba’e.  Warra ummata Oromoo fayyaaleyyii hedduu afaanfajjeessuun Menneapolis irratti harka rukuchiifatani. Jarri kun warra ifaan ifatti ‘’Shanee ABO gaafatama irraa ariinee jirra; Kana booda ABOn Shanee Gumiitiin hogganamtu hin jirtu’’ jedhee ummata Oromoo sobe. Yakka qabsoo Oromoo fi dhaaba kallacha qabsoo Oromoo, ABO irratti dalagan kana jalaa of baasuuf jechas murna fottoqxummaadhaan ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhanii jaarratan sana irratti Kamaal Galchuu akka hayyu-dureetti muudan. (Akka afaan isaanii gaafasiitti ‘dura deemaa’ jedhamaa akka ture hin dagatamu). Kamaal akka bolola aangoo qabu waan beekaniif badii ofii dalagan hunda namtichatti haqachuuf jecha gowwoomsanii maqaaf of dura kaa’ani. ‘Hoggansa Kamaal’ jalatti yakka dirree qabsoo fi hawaasa Oromoo biyya adda addaa keessatti raaw’atameefis nuti itti hin gaafatamnu, nuti keessaa hin qabnu jedhanii Kamaalii fi warra isa waliin turetti haqachuuf tattaafatan.

Kamaal Galchuu Hagayya bara 2006 keessa gaafa qaamaan ABOtti makamu nama nagaa qabu, kan Oromummaaf laalatu akka ture warri isatti dhihoo ture ragaa bahaaf. ABOnis murannoo Oromummaa isaa kana laalee akka qabsoo Oromoo furgaasuu keessatti qooda ogummaa waraanaa bahatu haala aanjessuufiif jecha gara miseensa Hogganummaa (Gumii Sabaatti) ol guddise. Tarkaanfiin toltuuf godhame kun garuu osoo oolee hin bulin hammeenyaaf gumaameche. Kamaal ABO seenee ji’oota muraasa keessa Obbo Hasan, Obbo Leencoo fi fakkaatota isaanii kanneen hoggas waliin shubbisaa turaniin micciiramee daandii haqaa kan irbuu itti seeneef irraa jal’ifame. Kamaal daldaltoota siyaasaa kana lamaaniin dogoggorfamee naamusa dhaabaatiin ala deemee yakkoota gurguddootti cuuphame. Qajeelfamaa fi barsiisa namoota maqaa dhawaman lamaanii fi fakkaatota isaanii jala deemuu filatee Hayyu Duree dhaabichaa tuffatee qajeelfamas irraa fudhachuu dide. Kana birayyuu dabree qabsaayota ABO gidduutti walitti bu’iinsi hamaan akka dhalatuu fi keessumattuu waraana gaafas ajaja isaa jala ture keessatti dhiigni ilmaan Oromoo tokkummaa qabsaayotaaf lallabaniidhaa akka bishaaniitti akka dhangala’u tarkaanfii fudhachiise. Yakka gaddisiisaa kana hunda duubaan kan ture ammoo warruma har’a ODF jedhee gilindisaa jiru kana akka ta’e yaadachiisuu feesisa.

Yakkoota waraanaa gaafas murna ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhamuun raaw’ataman keessaa kan akka malee hamaa fi yoomuu seenaan hin irraanfanne Zoonii Kibbaa keessatti ta’e. Ijoollee Oromoo bilisummaa Oromoof jecha irbuu waliin seentee, dhagaa waliin boraafattee, diina ishii irratti qiyyaafattee jirtu gosummaa fi ilaalchaan qoqqoodanii walitti diran. Ijoolleen Oromoo afaan qawwee ishii diina irraa buqqiftee walirratti akka deebiftu taasisan. Kanaanis qabsaayonni Oromoo diina ajjeessuuf manaa bahan wal galaatafanii irbaata allaatii wal taasisan. Yakki warri ‘Jijjiiramaa’ sun (Kan Leencoo Baatii fi Hasan Huseeniin hogganamu) zoonii sanatti raaw’achiise kana qofas miti. Itti Aanaa Dura Deemaa isaanii kan ture Lichoo Bukraa ilmaan Oromoo diina kuffisanii kufuuf irbuu seenanii dirree qabsoo irratti argaman dhibbootaan hiriirsee Wayyaaneetti galche. Qawwee qabsaayota Oromoo kan gumaata qaalii sabboontota Oromoo biyya alaa fi biyya keessaatiin horatamte walitti qabanii Wayyaaneef galii godhan. Kunis isaan hanqatee miidiyaa Wayyaanee irratti bahanii hanga dandeettii isaanii ABO ummata biratti jibbamsiisuuf xibaaran. Arraata Wayyaanee tahanii olola farra QBO oofani. Kanuma waliinis miseensotaa fi deeggartoota ABO cichoo tahan bakka addaa addaa irraa qabsiisanii hiisisani. Kanaanis Wayyaanee biraa fuula bitachuuf haa dhama’an malee Wayyaaneen garuu torbaan tokko lama eega dheebuu ololaa ittiin bahattee booda akka xaasaa cabaatti lafatti darbite. Amma wayta kana namni haaturuutii hantuutninuu bakka jiranitti isaan hin fuunfattu.

Yeroo kun hundi tahu ‘Jijjiiramni’ isaanii, kan hoggansa isaa jalatti yakki kun hundi qabsoo Oromoo irratti raaw’atame, guyyaa tokko illee gadi bahee ummata Oromoo dhiifama hin gaafanne.  Waraana Oromoo nama isaanii lammaffaa (Lichoo Bukraa)tiin dirqisiifamee Wayyaaneetti gane ilaalchisee ummata Oromoof ibsa kennan hin qabani. Oromoo tuffatan. Akkuma Adoolessa bara 2008 keessa qabsaayota fayyaaleyyii hanga tokko dogoggorsanii harka rukuchiifatan sanatti, baruma baraan Oromoo gowwoomsuutu danda’ama jedhanii saba guddaa kana tuffatani. Tarkaanfiin ganiinsaa taasifame sun qooda fudhannoo fi itti amantaa isaaniin alatti akka hin raaw’atamin kan ragaa bahu tokko isa kana. Yakki raaw’atame kun garaa ummata Oromoo akka laalesse wayta hubatan, Leencoo Baatii fi Hasan Huseen gaafatama kana jalaa of baasuuf jecha namicha akka afiishalootti of dura kaa’an (Kamaal Galchuu) qeequu fi hamachuu hojii godhatan. Kamaalis akkuma isaan isa barsiisanitti qajeelfama isaanii fudhachuu dide. Dabaree isaa miseensummaa fi hogganummaa ‘Jijjiiramaa’ keessaa isaan ari’eyyu. Nama akka meeshaatti itti dhimma bahuuf moggaafatanii turantu fuula itti naanneffatee isaan salphise.

Qaanyii isaanii kana garuu ifatti baasanii dubbachuu mannaa, faana dabarsuuf jecha falaasama bishaan hin fuuneen Oromoo gowwoomsuuf tattaafatan. Maqaa ‘araara’ jedhuun ammas ABO gowwoomsanii harkatti galfachuudhaan kaayyoo dhaaba kana hiikkachiisanii Wayyaaneetti galchuuf qaban dhugoomfachuuf hojjechuu faashina haaraa godhatan. Sana duras taanaan ABO irraa fottoqanii murna ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhamu bixxiluuf wanni isaan dirqes, akka ofii barbaadanitti dhaabicha dhunfatanii diinatti oofuuf hiree dhowwatamuu isaanii ture. Projektiin maqaa ‘Jijjiirama’ jedhuun ABO dhabamsiisuuf eegalame yoo milkaawuu didu, warri fedhii kanaan wal fakkaatu wal suufanii projektii isaanii kan namni irraa bitu dhabame haaromfachuuf ammas arreedan. Warri hogganummaa ‘Jijjiiramaa’tiin yakka gurguddaa qabsoo Oromoo irratti raaw’ate sun, karaa maraan kasaaraa mudatan. Miseensota ABO fi sabboontonni Oromoo fayyaaleyyiin kan gaafas jaraan afaafajjeeffamanii turan osoo hin turin dhugaa fi soba adda baafatanii isaan ganani.  Bakki itti dahatan tokkichi bobaa Obbo Leencoo Lataa tahe. ‘’Wal fakkaattiin wal barbaaddi’’ jedha mitii ree Oromoon?

Obbo Leencoo Lataa fi Dr. Diimaa Nagawoo ABO harkatti galfatanii akka fedha isaaniitti dhaabicha hiikkachiisanii harka wayyaaneetti galchuuf jecha eega hojjechuu eegalanii waggaa 15 caalee jira. Sun milkaawuufii dinnaan maqaa ‘’Manguddummaa Araaraa’’ jedhuun akka ofii barbaadanitti jara reefuu maqaa dhoofne kana mataa ABO irratti irroomsuuf ijibbaatan. Kunis cichoomina hogganoota haqaatiin harkatti fashale. Akkasitti ABO irraa gaafa abdii muratan yakkamtoonni kaleessaa fi har’aa bakka jiranii wal barbaadanii maqaa ODF jedhuun of labsan. ‘Jijjiirama’ kaleessa gatatetu ‘ODF’ jedhamee booda keessa as bahe. ‘Jijjiirama’ Kamaal Galchuu kaleessa akkuma dhalateen gatate sanaa fi ‘Jijjiirama/ODF’ jara Leencoo har’aa kana wanni adda taasisu waanuma tokko qofa. ‘Jijjiiramni’ Kamaal Nafxanyoota kan waaqeffatu (Amhara-worship) yoo tahu, ‘Jijjiiramni/ODF’ jara Leencoo ammoo Wayyaanee-TPLFiin kan waaqeffatu (Tigray-worship) tahuu isaa ti. Lamaanuu Oromoon akka saba guddaatti miila lamaan of danda’ee dhaabbachuun egeree mataa isaa akka tolfatuuf osoo hin taane, maxxantuu fi ergamtuu Habashootaa tahee akka jiraatu hawwu.

Murni Kamaal hangamuu Habashoota gammachiisee harka haa rukuchiifatu malee Oromoo biraa guutummaatti waan tufameef battalumatti seenaa tahee darbame. Kan jara amma shubbisaa jiruus hiree Kamaal faa mudatan irraa adda hin jiru. Obbo Leencoo Lataa gaaffii fi deebii miidiyaa Oromoo tokko waliin amma dura geggeessan keessatti “Gaafa Amaarri yookiis Tigireen na faarsuu baay’isan rakkoo wayiitu jira jechuu dha.” jedhanii turan. Egaa har’a kunoo Oromoo osoo hin taane Amaaraa fi Tigireetu adeemsa ODF faarsaa jira. ‘Oromiyaa gananii Itoophiyummaa fudhataniiru’ jechuun lamaanuu gammadanii dabaree dabaree harka dhawaafii jirani. ‘Qubee fi alaabaa ABO sanas of irraa dhiisaatii sirriitti nu fakkaadhaa’ jedhaniis warri Amaaraa dhaamsa itti ergataa bahani. Tigiroonni aangoo irra jiran ammoo lammummaa biyya lamaatiin isin hin simannu, passport keessan isin irraa guurree isin simanna, jedhanii waadaa naqsiifataniin. Kunis harka kennannaa haal-duree tokko malee (unconditional surrender) tahuu isaa ti.

Yeroo dhihootii as waa’ee adeemsa ODF irratti odeessi haaraan bal’inaan kan gabaafamaa jirus marsaalee Oromoo irratti osoo hin taane marsaalee Habashaa kan akka Zehabesha.com, Ethiomedia.com, Ethiopianreview.com faa irratti. Kun kan agarsiisu yaaddoon Obbo Leencoo dhugoomaa jiraachuu isaa ti. Akkuma jedhanitti yoo isaanii galeef, jara (ODF)fi ummata Oromoo gidduu rakkoon guddaan akka jiru mul’isaa jira. Ammatti Habashaa Amaariffa dubbatuu mannaa Habashaa Tigiriffa dubbatu filachuun homaa garaagarummaa hin qabu. Habashaan Habashaadhuma. Oromoon ammoo Habashaa lamaan keessaa kamiinuu waliin firoomas tahee hariiroo qabsoo hin qabu. Haleellaa jarri lamaan isarraan gahaa jiran wal tahee of irraa qolachaa jira sabni Oromoo. Keessumattuu dargaggoon Oromoo eenyummaa saba isaa fi sadarkaa qabsoon isaa irra gahe sirriitti wayta diinatti agarsiisuu danda’e keessatti argamna. Oromoon akka Oromootti irree tokko tahee biyya isaa Oromiyaa irratti abbaa tahuu fedha malee, Amaara filatee Tigiree kan balaaleffatu yookiis, Tigiree firoomfatee Amaara kan jibbu akka hin taane diinota isaatti himaa jira!

Ofii warri ODF Wayyaaneetti galuuf sababni keeyyatan maal faa dha? Dhuguma akka afaaniin himatanitti ‘karaa nagaan qabsaayanii Wayyaanee kuffisanii Oromoo bilisoomsuu’ dha moo kaayyoo dhokataa biraa qabu? Yoo karaa nagaan Wayyaanee irratti qabsaayuuf kan garaa irraa yaadan taheef maaliif waggaa 23 booda har’a reef murtee kana irra gahani? Hireen isaanii hoo maal tahuuf deema? Kutaan lammaffaan barruu kanaa torbaan dhufu dhihaatu gaaffiilee kanaa fi kana fakkaataniif deebii gahaa qabaata.

Injifannoo Ummata Oromoof!

Argan Beeko

=>ayyaantuu

Prezidaantiin Itiyoophiyaa Duraanii Lammata Paartii Polotikaatti Hin Seenu, jedhu

Namoo Daandii



Prezidaantiin Itiyoophiyaa duraanii fi boodas, Paartii  Tokkummaa Dimookiraasii fi Haqaaf jedhamuuf dura-taa’aa ka turan – Dr. Nagaasoo Gidaadaa paarticha mormituu sana keessaa ba’uu isaanii beeksisanii jira. Inumaa, ammaa booda paartii polotikaatti akka hin seenne ka dubbatan Dr. Nagaasoon, “kana murteessuu koof sababaa xixiqqaa lamaa fi sababaa guddaa tokkon qaba” – jedhu.
 
Kan isaan akka sabbaalee xiqqaatti himatan waa’ee fayyaa isaanii fi waa’ee umurii isaanii ti. Sababaa guddaa dha, jechuun kan isaan himatan garuu, paartii hoogganaa turan keessa hoogganoota fi miseensota jiran waliin dhimmoota biyyattii ijoo ta’an irratti walii-galtee dhabuu isaanii fi walumaa-galatti paartii kanaa fi ka biroo gidduutti wal-amantaan dhabamuu isaa dubbatu.
 
Paartiileen mormitootaa Itiyoophiyaa bakka lamatti qoodamaa deemuu kan eeran – Dr. Nagaasoon, “ tokko kanneen sabboonummaa biyyoolessaa oofanii fi mirga sabaa fi sab-lammootaa gonkumaa fudhachuu hin feene yoo ta’an kaan immoo kanneen mirga sabaa fi sab-lammotaatti  amanan – sab-boontota sabaa sirna federaalummaa saba-hedduutti amanani” – jedhu. More atvoafaanoromoo

Mandela's Long Walk to Ethiopia

 BY JOSEPH HAMMOND


As a founder of the ANC's armed wing, Mandela was deeply drawn to Ethiopia. His time there tells us a lot about the young leader.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

The death of Nelson Mandela last month elicited tributesfrom around the globe as the life of the man who negotiated with South Africa’s apartheid rulers to bring about majority rule. But despite the commemorations focusing on his capacity for forgiveness in the 1990s, and his ability to make peace with the regime that had imprisoned him, the Mandela of the early 1960s was a very different man. He was a guerrilla, not a peacemaker, and in 1961 had co-founded the armed-wing of the African National Congress (ANC), the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) or 'Spear of the Nation'.

To truly understand Mandela, we must understand this earlier part of his life. And to understand this earlier part of his life, we must examine his attraction to Ethiopia where he spent time as a revolutionary. Numerous references to Ethiopia appear in his various memoirs, and a new film will be based around his time there.

Since Mandela's passing, a degree of controversy around his time in Ethiopia has also emerged, coming from an unlikely source. Shortly after his death, a story in the Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported that Israel’s secret intelligence agency Mossad had clandestinely trained Mandela. As evidence, Haaretz quoted part of a letter by a member of Israeli embassy staff that describes Mandela. “He greeted our men with 'Shalom', was familiar with the problems of Jewry and of Israel and gave the impression of being an intellectual. The staff tried to make him into a Zionist,” it reads.

While the Nelson Mandela Foundation has questioned the authenticity of the letter, there is no doubt Mandela was indeed familiar with Jewish and Israeli issues. In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela wrote that he “read The Revolt by Menachem Begin and was encouraged by the fact that the Israeli leader had led a guerrilla force in a country with neither mountains nor forests, a situation similar to our own.”

However, while the exact role of Israel and Mossad in Mandela’s life remains under scrutiny, there is no doubt that Ethiopia − the African kingdom that successfully resisted colonialism, save for a brief Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941 − held a particular allure for Nelson Mandela and many African nationalists of the period. Until he was eclipsed by Mandela, it could be argued that Emperor Haile Selassie was Africa’s most famous politician of the 20th century. Even in the US, African American publications frequently covered Haile Selassie, and he later became the living god of the Rastafarian religion, though history has not been kind to the emperor, partly thanks to Ryszard Kapuściński's famous The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat, with many now remembering him as the ruler who spent his time feeding the pride of lions he kept in his palace, indifferent to domestic affairs.

Meeting the Ras

Nevertheless it should not be forgotten the Selassie of the 1960s was an ardent Pan-Africanist, and it was in Addis Ababa that the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa (PAFMECSA) was hosted in 1962. PAFMECSA was the forerunner of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was in turn the forerunner of today’s African Union.

In Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela recalls his excitement on visiting Ethiopia. He notes that the prospect of seeing Ethiopia always intrigued him more than visiting Europe or America, writing that “Ethiopia has always held a special place in my own imagination…I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African.”

Mandela, 43 at the time, experienced a cultural shock when he boarded the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Khartoum to Addis Ababa to find an Ethiopian pilot at the controls. “How could a black man fly an airplane? But a moment later I caught myself: I had fallen into the apartheid mind-set, thinking Africans were inferior and that flying was a white man’s job. I sat back in my seat, and chided myself for such thoughts. Once we were in the air, I lost my nervousness and studied the geography of Ethiopia, thinking how guerrilla forces hid in these very forests to fight the Italian imperialists.”

Entering Addis Ababa, which he calls the Imperial City, in February 1962, Mandela’s vision of Ethiopia was, for the moment, shattered: “a few tarred streets, and more goats and sheep than cars. Apart from the Imperial Palace, the university, and the Ras Hotel, where we stayed, there were few structures that could compare with even the least impressive buildings of Johannesburg,” he writes.

Today, most roads are paved and covered in cars, especially the city's ubiquitous shared taxis, though the city’s skyline is still somewhat spartan when compared to the skyscrapers of Johannesburg. Time though has been less kind to the Ras Hotel: in one corner stands a haggard stuffed lion while women of the night cast around the lobby for potential customers. Outside, the revolving door, touts and beggars wait to pounce on tourists under a portico next to the neighbouring book-vendor selling Amharic and a few English books including a knockoff copy of Kapuściński’s The Emperor. The Ethiopian 'national cuisine' served in the downstairs restaurant is, however, as good as any in the city.

Another change from when Mandela first visited the city is that a room on the Third Floor has since been turned into a veritable shrine to the man himself, albeit one that is available for hire, while the third floor is now The Mandela Floor. A larger than life image of a grey-haired Mandela greets visitors from the top of the stairs followed by a photo of Robben Island on the door to the Mandela room. The three-chambered suite is modest by today’s standards but would have seemed lavish in the early 1960s, the heyday of the hotel when it was graced by many notables.

Mandela met many of these at the 1962 PAFMECSA conference, but it was Emperor Selassie − whom Mandela asked for help raising funds, a crucial part of the ANC's revolutionary cause − who made one of the biggest impressions. As he later recalled in Conversations with Myself: “That was an impressive fellow, man, very impressive. It was my first time to watch…a head of state going through the formalities… the motions of formality. This chap came wearing a uniform and he then came and bowed. But it was a bow which was not a bow – he stood erect, you see, but just brought down his head.”

He later observed Selassie at a military parade. At the time, Ethiopia was a US ally, and US military advisors at the occasion paid their respects to the emperor, leading Mandela to note: “to see whites going to a black monarch emperor and bowing was also very interesting.” The US was one of just six countries to never recognise the Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the two states were enjoying warm relations at the time of Mandela’s visit. In 1957, then US Vice President Richard Nixon visited Ethiopia and hailed the kingdom as "one of the United States' most stalwart and consistent allies.”

Arming up

After the conference, Mandela left Ethiopia to continue his wide-ranging fundraising tour, visiting Egypt, Mali, Tunisia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and the UK. Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia was a particularly strong supporter, donating £5,000 (which is around $150,000 in today's money) to Umkhonto we Sizwe for arms. En route, Mandela also received some training in guerrilla warfare from Algerian rebels in Morocco.

However, as agreed, Mandela soon returned to Ethiopia for military training. The ANC had offices in Cairo and Accra, but neither Nasser’s Egypt nor Nkrumah’s Ghana had a military versed in guerrilla warfare. However, in deciding to train in Ethiopia rather than a Warsaw Pact country or China, Mandela was openly branding the armed portion of the ANC struggle as African and moving the ANC’s position away from the Soviet Union, a policy that might have influenced him to meet with the Israelis.

Ethiopia, whose military had multiple veterans of the guerrilla war against the Italian occupation, also possibly presented Mandela with the best opportunity to learn the military skills necessary to lead Umkhonto we Sizwe. He planned to spend half a year receiving training on weaponry, tactics and leadership. ANC’s armed wing had already launched a series of sabotage attacks in South Africa so instruction on mines, sabotage and explosives was also given. Mandela’s training included live fire exercises with both Eastern bloc and American made weapons. And Mandela’s instructors were Colonel Biru Tadesse, Colonel G.E. Bekele and Lieutenant Befikadu Wondomu; Wondomu, a former fighter, led the physical training while Tadesse lectured Mandela in the philosophy of guerrilla warfare. The recently-emerged Israeli government letter implies Mandela was trained by someone referred to as “the Ethiopian”, which could mean some of Mandela's instructors were linked to the Israelis.

Indeed, Israel was keen to cultivate good relations with the non-Arab countries in Africa at the time, though later, as African liberation movements came to be dominated by communist elements, this policy shifted slowly to an awkward security relationship with the apartheid South African government.

Biniyam Mengistu, a tour guide and local historian in the southern Ethiopian city of Harrar, believes Mandela received some of his instruction in Harrar. If this is true, it was perhaps Tadesse who invited him to visit this important city in Ethiopia east. The region's main inhabitants, the Oromo people, are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, and Tadesse eventually launched his own guerrilla war against the state four years later in the name of Oromo nationalism. In 1975, he was executed having been arrested by the Derg government.

To this day, the time Tadesse spent with Mandela is source of pride for Oromo nationalists. A grainy photo of him in uniform standing next to Mandela can be found on many Oromo nationalist websites and the Oromo National Congress (now the Oromo Federalist Congress) originally named itself after Mandela’s African National Congress.

The way of the gun

In the end, Mandela’s time in Ethiopia only lasted a few short weeks before it was decided that he was needed in South Africa. On the orders of Haile Selassie, Tadesse gave Mandela a Bulgarian-made Makarov pistol and 200 rounds of ammunition before his trip home. He was also issued an Ethiopian passport under the name David Motsamay (“the walker”).

After arrival in South Africa, Mandela was smuggled to the Liliesleaf Farm in north Johannesburg, an important ANC safe house. But as the noose around the fugitive tightened, he decided to burythe pistol. Digging a 1.5 metre pit not far from the farm’s kitchen, he wrapped the weapon and its ammunition in foil and placed the stash, along with his military uniform, under a tin plate. Arrested days later, he never returned for the weapon.

However, Mandela did return to Ethiopia decades later in 1990 to address the OAU in Addis Ababa. This meant meeting Mariam Mengistu, Ethiopia’s brutal dictator who had ruled Ethiopia directly or indirectly since 1974. During Mengistu's rule, more than 2 million Ethiopians were murdered or died of starvation, and with the Soviet Union on the verge of collapse, Mengistu beseeched Mandela to visit and provide him with a small propaganda victory.

Perhaps reluctantly, Mandela agreed to the short visit whilst already on a trip to Tanzania. Coarsefootage from the period shows the veteran Mengistu beaming as he honours Mandela, yet it is Mandela who appears the statelier figure. When Mengistu was overthrown the next year, he fled to Zimbabwe and even briefly visited South Africa in 1999 to receive medical treatment. Mandela’s government flirted with turning him over to international authorities but Mengistu soon returned toZimbabwe where he has kept a low profile ever since.

Old friends

Mandela’s time in Ethiopia provides insight into the man and helps place the ANC struggle in its broader African context. It further illuminates his commitment to armed struggle, making his later role as peacemaker all the more revealing. In recognition of the importance of this period in Mandela’s life, a new major film slated for release this year will focus on his African travels and guerrilla training in Ethiopia. Directed by John Irvin, the film, called Mandela's Gun, will see Tumisho Masha play Mandela − making him the first South African to play Mandela in a major film.

Ethiopia has never forgotten its links to Nelson Mandela, and in 2011, for example, 2,300 trees were planted around Addis Ababa in his honour on the Second Annual International Nelson Mandela Day. The pistol that Mandela received in Ethiopia meanwhile has never been found. Mandela provided further information about its probable location on a visit to the farm in 2003, and in 2011 excavations began on the site to locate the lost pistol, but it has remained elusive.

Think Africa Press welcomes inquiries regarding the republication of its articles. If you would like to republish this or any other article for re-print, syndication or educational purposes, please contact:editor@thinkafricapress.com.

thinkafricapress

The marks of Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo/Calanqoo cannot be erased from the memory of Oromo generations

By Leenjiso Horo

The marks of Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo Cannot be erased from the memory of successive Oromo generations and from the history of the Oromo people. These marks are incorporated into our collective memory. For this, centuries may pass, generations may come and go but the crimes of Abyssinia-the mutilation of breasts of women and girls and of the right hands of men and boys at Aannolee and the mass massacres at Azulee and Chalanqoo will not be erased, will never be diminished, and never be forgotten.

Menelik II’s mutilation of breasts of women and girls and of hands of men and boys is the first one in warfare throughout written history-from antiquity to modern times, unless proven to the contray. Those who support Menelik’s genocide at Aannolee, Azulee, and Calanqoo as a “holy war” or as a war of “reunification of Ethiopia” should hold full entitlement to it.

During the campaign of colonization of the south in the late nineteenth-century king Menelik II of Abyssinia exterminated the Oromo population by 50%, Kaficho by 75%, Gimira by 80% and Madii by over 90% (Radio Simbirtu interview with Prof. Mekuria Bulcha, 19 December 2013, part 2). These are genocides of highest proportion. The basic argument of the Abyssinian genocide denials has, however, remained the same as always—it never happened, the term “genocide” does not apply-it is a “reunification of Ethiopia.”  Recently, the tactics of denial of genocide has been shifted from “reunification of Ethiopia” to “holy war.”

Abyssinians always avoid public discourse of the genocide at Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo believing that sooner or later in the course of time that generation would pass from the scene and their children would become acculturated and assimilated in the Abyssinian way of life and Abyssinian political thought and then the issue of genocide dies out and will be forgotten. However, what the Abyssinians forgot or failed to understand is that the genocide at Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo shapes not only the outlook of the immediate victims of the generation of the time but also of subsequent generations of the future. It is very important for the descendents of the perpetrators- the deniers of Oromo genocide to engage introspection to face and learn from their own history. It is time for the Nafxanyaas-the deniers of genocide to ask themselves question as to how that gross mass genocide could have occurred, instead of denying it and trying to maintain a false righteous self-image.

The Abyssinians are unable or unwilling to deal with the truth.  They have always refused to recognize the crimes committed against the peoples of the south, Oromo included as genocide.  Instead they elevated it to the level of a “holy war/qidus xorrinnat”; then took pride in it; identified with it, enthusiastically embraced it, glorified and glamorized it. This campaign is in support of their political and religious elites, scholars, governments, institutions, and individuals those who have been preaching genocide committed against Oromo and the south as a “reunification of Ethiopia.”

The Oromo Genocide and Tigrayans’ attempt to deny it

Today, the Tigrayan regime is behind the discussion of the past genocide to divert attention from itself, while it is committing genocide itself more dangerous than that of the past ones.  It has undertaken open and total war campaign against the Oromo people. It is vitally important, therefore, that we should focus our attention on current genocide the Tigrayan regime is committing, while at the same time reminding ourselves the genocide that the Amhara regime of Menelik II committed a century ago. The Amharas have been denying the genocide against the Oromo and other southern peoples that their regime of Menelik II committed and now the Tigrayans are also denying the genocide that their regime is committing.

The Amharas are simply dancing and singing to the ghost of Menelik II but they do not possess the means and capabilities to commit anther genocide. Today, it is the Tigrayan regime led by TPLF that is committing genocidal mass murder against the Oromo people; it is this regime that possesses the means and capabilities to commit genocide.  Its means are the army, paramilitary unit, the police force, special police or Liyyuu police, secret state agents, Death Squads, the bureaucratic and judicial system. All of these are already fully utilized for this purpose.

The sudden descend of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) upon Oromiyaa in 1991, set in a rapid motion a process to eliminate any opposition to its rule that culminate in the arrests, tortures and killings. Then since 1992, it has been carrying out a systematic, methodical, pre-planned, and centrally-organized genocidal mass murder against the Oromo people. Meles Zenawi was the notorious architect and organizer of policy of the Oromo genocide with his culprits and other thousands of perpetrators of genocide who are still implementing his policy after his death. His brutality against Oromo people has surpassed that of all his predecessors combined. His regime has erected concentration camps across Oromiyaa, camps such as Hursoo, Bilaattee, Dhidheessaa, Zuwaay, and Qalittii are the well known ones. But numerous other clandestine prison cells where the victims are eliminated have been established across the empire. The regime has openly undertaken a major Oromiyaa-wide persecution of Oromo. Hence Ordinary people, for the first time, being rounded up and sent to these clandestine centers for interrogation through torture. In the torture, few survived and many perished.

The pattern of destruction has been repeated over and over in different parts of Oromiyaa. Many of these repetitive destructions are far from the major cities; such repetition are a centrally design one. Further, reward structure set in place.  That reward is geared towards those who implement the policy. The regional governors and officials who refuses to carry out orders to annihilate the Oromo are summarily replaced as disloyal and OLF agent. Community leaders are arrested and persecuted. Many of women, children, and elderly run into forests and deserts to escape slaughter. Today, the Oromo people are in violent historical moment. They are the target of Tigrayan regime for physical extermination and forcible removal from their lands.  Hundreds of thousands have been killed; millions have been forced out from their lands and their lands haven been sold or leased to local and multination land-grabbers.

The Tigrayan regime has fully undertaken the implementation of the policy of Oromo extermination since 1992. The Amhara genocidal denialists are fully subscribed to this policy.  In the Tigrayan regime’s jails millions of Oromo perished as the result of starvation, disease, the harsh environment, and physical extermination.

We are the nation of heroes, heroines and victims. We were the victims of genocide yesterday and we are the victims of genocide today.  Yesterday, we were victims of genocide under Amhara successive regimes and today, we are victims of genocide under the Tigrayan regime. Indeed, we are a wounded and bled nation in our country by another nation- the Abyssinian nation.

We oftentimes say, never again to genocide in Oromiyaa. We say, the seeds of Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo must not be allowed to sprout again in Oromiyaa. And yet it has already sprout; violence is again around us; violence of genocide is still consuming our people. Menelik’s genocide at Aannolee, Azulee and Chalanqoo is reconstructed and renewed by Meles Zenawi and implemented Oromiyaa wide. Hence, the past genocide has now become the present new genocide. Hence, the dead Oromo are still dead; more are still dying; expropriated Oromoland is still expropriated; The pillaging of Oromiyaa is at its height and the colonized Oromiyaa is still colonized.

The way forward

The way forward is Oromo nationalists’ unity and the fight against occupation. For this, it is important to rebuild the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) as superior mighty force both in quantity and quality to protect the population and secure liberation. This enables the nation to drive out the Tigrayan regime and establish independent Democratic Republic of Oromiyaa. Again, it is vitally important to remove Menelik’s statue from Oromiyaa; establish National Genocide Memorial Day for the victims of Aannolee, Azulee and Chalanqoo.  This Oromo Genocide Memorial Day should be established and observed annually while we are still fighting for independence. The date and the month must be different from Oromo Martyrs Day/Guyyaa Gootoota Oromoo.

No one escapes from the history of one’s people. For this, we should and must not allow the past to rest and to be forgotten.  Every generation must teach the succeeding generation about the past history, their heroes and heroines.  The past, the present as well as the future belong to the succeeding generations. Each new generation hold the entitlement of the past and the present. For this, the establishment of the Oromo Genocide Memorial Day is the order of the day that the marks of Aannolee, Azulee, and Chalanqoo Cannot be erased from the memory of successive Oromo generations.

Oromiyaa Shall Be Free!

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopia changes its tune in Somalia

Simon allison

Last year, Ethiopia wanted to get out of Somalia as quickly as possible. It didn’t. This year, it has renewed its commitment to the beleaguered country – although, as usual, Ethiopia has its own interests at heart. By SIMON ALLISON.

In April last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was unequivocal in his intentions when it came to Somalia. Speaking to his parliament in Addis Ababa, he complained that Ethiopian troops had spent long enough across the border, and that it was time for them to come home. “The main issue now is to accelerate our complete withdrawal towards our border. This is what we are fulfilling,” he said.
This was more than just talk. In March, frustrated that no one was relieving them of their duties, the Ethiopian army withdrew from the town of Hudur, which it had captured from Al Shabaab just a few weeks before. Mere hours after the Ethiopian withdrawal, Al Shabaab were back in charge in Hudur.

The withdrawal was the geopolitical equivalent of going on strike: a pointed warning that Ethiopia’s contributions in Somalia could not be taken for granted.

Despite all this, Ethiopia did not withdraw from other parts of Somalia under its control, and, as the year progressed, Desalegn’s administration began to change its tune. By June, foreign minister Tedros Adhanom was saying that there was no need for a full withdrawal; by November, Desalegn himself was promising to increase Ethiopia’s involvement.

This position is now official: Ethiopia’s 4,395-strong contingent has been formally absorbed into the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). For the first time in Ethiopia’s many years of meddling in the internal affairs of its neighbor, Ethiopian soldiers will be in Somalia with an internationally-recognised mandate.

Naturally, Amisom – always crunched for resources – is delighted. “It is obvious if we have more troops and especially the Ethiopians are a bit familiar with the region, we will be moving forward easily and our priorities will be getting more areas and liberating more towns,” said Amisom spokesman Colonel Ali Aden Humad. According to reports, the Ethiopian soldiers will be used to secure existing Amisom positions, freeing up other soldiers to launch another ‘big push’ against Islamist militant group Al Shabaab.

“The Ethiopians will be based in Baidoa, about half way between Mogadishu and the Ethiopian border. It has been heavily defended since being taken over a year ago by Ugandan troops in the Amisom force. Al-Shabab has significant positions in the area and attacks Amisom garrisons almost every day,” reported the BBC’s Mark Doyle. “Amisom intends to reshuffle its forces now the reinforcements have arrived. There has long been talk of a big Amisom offensive.”

It’s less certain that Somalis themselves will be particularly thrilled that Ethiopia is staying put. Although the transitional government welcomes the arrangement, it has no choice but to: Amisom is the only thing keeping it in power. Elsewhere in Somalia, Ethiopia is viewed with inherent suspicion, and there is a danger that an increased Ethiopian presence could increase public support for Al Shabaab. This has happened before.

“…by joining AMISOM, this I think is going to revive the Ethiopian intervention more broadly in Somalia that they engaged in from the very beginning of 2007 through January of 2009, particularly their engagement in Mogadishu. And that did not end well,” observed David Shinn, former US ambassador to Ethiopia, speaking to VOA.

That’s an understatement. Ethiopia’s last major intervention in 2007 ended catastrophically. It was designed to rid Somalia of fundamental Islam by removing the Islamic Courts Union from power. Instead, the US-backed invasion merely empowered the more radical elements of the group, which reconstituted as Al Shabaab, and sidelined the moderates who had held sway (and had provided one of Somalia’s few periods of relative stability in the last few decades).

Al Shabaab, as the only resistance to Ethiopia’s foreign invasion, was able to recruit with ease, and went from strength to strength – eventually overthrowing the Ethiopian-backed government in Mogadishu with ease. Amisom, of course, was formed to then overthrow Al Shabaab – a vicious circle of violence from which Somalia has yet to escape.

In this context, Ethiopia is merely trying to finish the war it started in 2007. But again, its motives must be questioned: why is it staying put in Somalia, after saying last year it wanted out?

There are two main theories. The first is that Ethiopia never had any intention of completely withdrawing from Somalia, but was fed up that it was receiving no international support for its commitment. As part of Amisom, the costs of Ugandan and Burundian troops are sponsored by the international community; likewise Kenya receives financial aid for its presence. Ethiopia, acting outside the Amisom mandate, received nothing. Its threats to withdraw may have been a form of gentle diplomatic blackmail, designed to force the international community to foot at least some of the bill. Although nothing has been released publicly, it is highly likely that Ethiopia’s acceptance into Amisom comes with some kind of financial strings.

The second theory is that the fight against Al Shabaab did not go quite according to plan in 2013. In 2012, Al Shabaab was pushed out of many of its major strongholds, including its de facto capital Kismayo. The idea was that by the end of 2013, it would be a defeated force, and Somalia’s transitional government would be in control. This has not happened. Amisom found it difficult to consolidate its gains, and Al Shabaab remains popular in some areas – of all Somalia’s various political groupings, it still has the best record when it comes to the delivery of services such as healthcare and education (rudimentary as these may be). For the Ethiopian government – which views the rise of fundamentalist Islam in Somalia as a direct threat, weary of it spreading to its own large Muslim population – this is perhaps sufficient rationale to stay involved. They want to make sure the job is done before retreating.

Whatever the reason, Ethiopia is all set to stay put in Somalia for the forseeable future. DM


=>dailymaverick

Obbo Lenco Lata’s party is registered for 2015 election

Rundassa Asheetee

There is no doubt that CIA is crowing victory by obbo Lenco Lata’s party returning to Finfinnee.  Mean time, the TPLF bosses too will be satisfied by the pleasure they harvest from Lenco Lata’s return to Finfinnee.  For the CIA, it is a matter of botching an unprecedented opportunity to control the horn of Africa, and for the TPLF, the return of Lenco Lata’s party is a matter of gaining more legitimacy that it is a democratic government with an Oromo president and a Walayita prime minister.  Obviously no other governments of empire Ethiopia had ever installed two fake men in power, one from the marginalized majority Oromo, and the other from the most demeaned and looked down upon small tribe known as Walayita. 

Certainly, the TPLF will win the election and declare that every thing is working as planed, while  it’s victory would give all those who are robing the country a new chance of five more years of profit making venture.  Yet, no body would be more glad than abba Biyyaa and Dima Nogo, men who have worked hard for this day to come. On the other hand, the OPDO will not be pleased to see Lenco  returning home, of course unless Lenco’s return wold zero-out the influence of the Blue and Madirek parties propaganda, provided an agreement is reached that the ODF would be OPDO’s Trojan Horse.  What is sure however is that all nations who bought lands and business in Oromia will back the TPLF and continue to fund it’s military and spying networks.

What about Eritrea and the oppositions supported by it?

Lenco’s returning to Finfinnee will not leave the Eritrea based opposition groups in the cold because now they understand that procrastinating the liberation process will only hurt them as the ODF destruction grow and as challenges become colossal.  Nevertheless, ODF’s influence is not going to be enormous as it may have been hopped to be, especially if it’s ineffective movement gradually dies off following the process that suffocated those of the likes of Licho Bukura, who became the Tigre regime’s shoe shine boys. Over whole, obbo Lenco’s party participation in the TPLF election changes nothing for Dr. Marara since his party has already been dead.

Interestingly, the TPLF regime will ratcheting up it’s violence against the Oromo people as the OLF intensifies it’s military operation and accomplish two tasks at one time, i.e undermining the ODF in the process of renewing effective military operation against the OLF.

As to the CIA and the west, they will step up their assistance to the the TPLF as long as the Tigreans are willing to enjoy power and wealth creation for themselves quietly, still allowing fake president and prime ministers.

The good thing is that the OLF and other armed groups stationed in Eritrea will no longer live in an illusion if their objective remains to fulfill what they’ve promised their respective ethnic groups.  Most likely, they will sign agreements to help each other out against the distraction of the TPLF. The Ginbot 7, the Arbanyoch Ginbar and the Tigre opposition groups may want more from the OLF and from Ogadenia liberation fronts, however, they have no choice but accept these two fronts demands of accepting Oromia and Ogadenia as semi independent states.  Without this, there will be little prospect for any of them to win against the TPLF on their own.

If the ODF happen to gain popularity and wins a respectable seat in the Tigreans parliament, the slave-minded OPDO will be pushed to the sidelines as it’s prominent leaders retire with large sum of money in their pockets. Basically, like those Tigre generals, few OPDO generals too will  become business men who would supply money and information to the younger TPLF bosses and protect their businesses interests.  The question here will be, would the OLF get well organized this time around  or it will remain to be a loosely organized entity.  Perhaps the most promising  step that the OLF can take is take new organizational rapprochement and transition itself real quickly if it wants to become an effective organization. Otherwise, obbo Lenco will succeed.

Rundassa Asheetee

=>ayyaantuu