የኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር በኦሮሚያም ሆነ በሌሎች የሃገሪቱ ክልሎች ለተፈጠረው የሕዝብ ቅሬታ ኃላፊነት እንደሚወስዱ አስታወቁ

ፋይል ፎቶ - የኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ

(VOAamharicnews) በኦሮሚያም ሆነ በሌሎች የሃገሪቱ ክልልች ለተፈጠረው የሕዝብ ቅሬታ፥ መንግሥታቸውና ፓርቲያቸው ሙሉ ኃላፊነት እንደሚወስዱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ አስታወቁ።

አዲስ አበባ — 

በኦሮሚያም ሆነ በሌሎች የሃገሪቱ ክልልች ለተፈጠረው የሕዝብ ቅሬታ፥ መንግሥታቸውና ፓርቲያቸው ሙሉኃላፊነት እንደሚወስዱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ አስታወቁ።

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ዛሬ ለፓርላማ በሰጡት ማብራሪያ፥ ሌላ አካል ላይ ጣታቸውን እንደማይቀስሩ ተናግረዋል። ለጥያቄዎች ፈጥነን ምላሽ መስጠት ባለመቻላችን ከሕዝቡ ጋር ቅራኔ ውስጥ እየገባን መጥተናል ነው ያሉት።

እስክንድር ፍሬው ከአዲስ አበባ ተከታዩን ዘገባ ልኳል።

To listen click here

Surviving the Second Conquest: Emperor Menelik and Industrial Plantations in Ethiopia's Omo Valley

Will Hurd

Susan Hurd

A Mursi girl and young man, photographed in 2008.

(Thesolutionsjournal) The many times I arrived at Bole airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, there was always a sign that said "Welcome Home." Its meaning never registered until an official from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said it reminds all visitors that their ancestors were originally Ethiopian. Not only have fossils of our pre-human ancestors Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis, and Ardi, Ardipithecus ramidus, been found in Ethiopia, but so have the oldest known fossils ofHomo sapiens. These come from an area near the Omo River, now home to a small indigenous group, the Mursi. This area was designated the 'Lower Valley of the Omo World Heritage Site' in 1980 because of "its fundamental importance to the study of human evolution."¹ One theory has it that humans may have first settled on the shoreline of Lake Turkana 200,000 years ago when the lake was about 60 miles north of where it is today.^2,3 Lake Turkana was once so large that it connected to the Nile River, with which it still shares the same species of fish. Turkana is the world's largest desert lake. It has no outlet and counter-balances the inflow of the Omo River, from where it receives 90 percent of its water, by evaporation.⁴

The Omo Valley is currently home to a great diversity of ethnic groups: the Bodi, Mursi, Kwegu, Nyangatom, Kara, and Dassanech, who still live along the Omo River today, and the Suri, Hamar, Dime, and Dizi, who live in the higher, mountainous regions surrounding the valley. Lake Turkana is home to about 300,000 people,⁵ including the Turkana, Dassanech, Samburu, El Molo, Gabra, and Rendille groups.

The Omo Valley and Lake Turkana have long been an arena of conquest. In 1896, the Italians tried to seize Ethiopia, but were swiftly defeated by Emperor Menelik's armies at Adwa.⁶ Shortly afterwards, Menelik sent a party of 30,000 Ethiopian warriors to take control of Southwest Ethiopia—which was formerly an area of independent groups and small states—to keep it out of the hands of European powers. Taking a page out of the Berlin Conference rulebook on how Europeans were to colonize Africa, Menelik occupied the southwest and planted flags at the north end of Lake Turkana.⁷

Colonizing forces set off waves of ecological consequences. The Italians unwittingly imported rinderpest via Indian cattle brought through the port of Massawa, Eritrea in 1887. Rinderpest subsequently spread through Ethiopia and all of Africa, killing 90 percent of its cattle. A third of Ethiopia's population died from the resulting hunger, forcing many pastoralists to turn to agriculture. In stories the Mursi tell of their distant past, they used to nonchalantly plant sorghum seeds in the dung build-up of old cattle kraals and come back months later to harvest the grain. In the meantime, they looked after their first love, cattle.⁸ It seems likely that the rinderpest epidemic was instrumental in the Mursi becoming dependent, as they are today, on agriculture. Although many groups in the lower Omo have cattle-based cultures, they rely mostly on agriculture for their daily sustenance. The Tishana-Me'en, for example, have very few cattle, but still have a cattle-based culture. They use cattle in weddings, funerals, and in every other important ritual.⁹

Because of the loss of cattle and the reduction in grazing, the rinderpest epidemic likely led to the growth of woody thickets and a greater infestation of tsetse flies. Tsetse flies caused the epidemics of sleeping sickness that hit the area, killing humans and even more cattle. We know this scenario played out in nearby Uganda.¹⁰ Menelik's troops, along with sleeping sickness and rinderpest, exterminated some ethnic groups, such as the Murtu and Gumba.¹¹

Around this time, a British Consul was established on a cold mountain, in a tiny town, on the Ethiopian frontier. Its job was to stop Ethiopians from slave raiding in the British colonies of Kenya and Sudan.¹² Slaves went to the Arab peninsula or domestic Ethiopian markets, and the incursion of the Amhara highlanders into the region dramatically increased slave-taking. Between 50,000 and 100,000 Dizi people in the mountains around the Omo Valley were reduced to 20,000.¹³The worst hit were settled farmers in mountainous areas. Pastoralists gathered up their cattle and ran, sometimes into the Sudan,¹⁴ or they hid in the malarial lowlands around the Omo River, which highland Amhara were afraid of on account of "the fever."¹⁵

Will Hurd

The Tama Plains, found between the Omo River and the Mago Park, in the land of the Bodi and Mursi.

Slave-taking led to a curious phenomenon where peripheral pastoralists gained territory from settled farmers. As Italy again attempted to colonize the area in 1936, Amhara highlanders were forced to retreat.¹⁶ The Italians poured chemical weapons from airplanes onto Ethiopians on horseback, in contravention of international agreements.¹⁷ The Ethiopian defeat ended the slave trade, and with the Amhara gone, pastoralists took over lands denuded of farmers. The old Dizi terraces I saw while trekking in the pastoral Suri highlands were an eerie reminder of the slave trade.

For the next half century, the people of the Omo Valley were once again left mostly to their own devices. But in 1996, the Ethiopian government secretively commissioned the Omo-Gibe Basin Masterplan. The plan recommended that a large dam be built on the Omo River, accompanied by irrigated agriculture downstream.¹⁸ In 2006, rafters reported seeing major construction on the Omo.¹⁹ This was the first the world knew of the dam, which now reaches nearly 800 feet in height. As a result, the annual floods of the Omo have stopped, and so has much of its flow. Irrigated sugarcane plantations have been established in the northern areas of the Lower Omo Valley and are moving southward, carving large chunks out of the territories of local people, as well as the Omo and Mago National Parks.²⁰ As of now, there seems little hope of the local ethnic groups recovering from this second conquest of the Omo Valley, as they did from Menelik's conquest of 100 years ago.

The government's plan is to force cattle-herders to give up their cattle and settle parcels of land too small for self-sufficient food production. This will exacerbate food insecurity in the area. Already, extreme hunger is being reported in the Omo Valley as the Gibe III reservoir holds back the Omo River's annual flood.²¹ Abstraction of Omo water for plantations is projected to cause Lake Turkana's water level to drop up to 65 feet.²² Fish stocks will plummet, and the lake's already brackish water will become too salty to drink. Violence is inevitable, both around Lake Turkana and in the Omo Valley, as people will fight over ever-dwindling resources.²³

The conflicts between irrigation and herding go well beyond the Omo Valley. For example, Karrayyu and Afar pastoralists were never compensated for the loss of land resulting from sugarcane plantations created in Ethiopia's Awash Valley in the 1950s. They were denied access to the Awash River and were forced to drink from ponds of factory waste with high pesticide and fertilizer content. In 2010, food insecurity affected 93 percent of Karrayyu households.^24,25 In the Malkaa Dakaa irrigation scheme in Kenya, destitute pastoralists were settled by a donor-supported, government project. When the donors left, the farm equipment fell into disrepair, production was much lower than expected, and the pastoralist that remained subsisted mainly from food aid.²⁶

Will Hurd

Mursi Community Conservancy scouts look at satellite imagery of their territory in 2009.

Solutions to the Omo problem are not going to be easy. According to the anthropologist David Turton, who has more than 45 years' experience in the area, the resettlement project is woefully inadequate in following good development practice. Additional investigations suggested by independent reviewers need to be completed. The impact assessment of the Kuraz Sugar Development Project should be made public. The "three Cs: communication, consultation and compensation" have not been up to standard or have simply been ignored. Instituting "transparent communication," "meaningful consultation with those to be displaced," and "detailed and adequately-funded compensation and benefit-sharing strategies," would go a long way to ensuring this becomes a true development opportunity for local people. A well-funded program of "livelihood reconstruction" needs to be put in place. This should focus on integrating existing livestock herding with the irrigated agricultural land the people have been promised.²⁷ The peoples of the Omo Valley must be allowed to keep their cattle, a current point of contention. The vital protein that the milk provides wards off stunting that affects 40 percent of Ethiopia's children.²⁸ Cattle are also sold in markets to buy grain in times of hunger, thereby constituting a kind of famine insurance. The size of the irrigated plots given to the people should be increased.

The land area to be devoted to plantations needs to be scaled-back drastically from current plans. This would lessen the threat to Lake Turkana and leave more vital land for local people, while scaling back the number of highland migrant workers to the area, now estimated at 500,000.²⁹ Migrants threaten to take large sections of local land and increase HIV rates. A global glut in the sugar market makes the idea of exporting sugar less feasible, and scaled-back plantations would fill domestic need. The technical demands of sugarcane cultivation in this remote region presents challenges to profitability.

Dr. Turton also rightly points out the need for local people to lead in the development process: "Above all, and given the knowledge, experience, and expertise of the affected people, they should be the ones to take the lead in arriving at the most effective solutions, and in planning specific strategies, with the government and NGOs playing a supportive and facilitating role."³⁰

Thankfully, groundwork towards these recommendations has already been laid. Local people have been developing a Community Conservation Area (CCA) and tourism project since 2008. It started when the Mursi visited CCAs in Kenya and Namibia. Kenya's Il Ngwesi is run by the Maasai. They graze their cattle on the CCA and tourist revenue goes to send Maasai children to school and to other development projects. In Namibia, an impressive 17 percent of the country's land area is now CCAs. After seeing these, the Mursi decided to form their own CCA and convinced the Bodi to join them. They instituted a community-wide hunting ban. Local scouts were hired through their Indigenous Community Association. Records showed a rise in wildlife populations. By managing the already high tourist volume, the Mursi raised USD$10,000 in the first six weeks—a large amount for Ethiopia at that time.³¹ Despite its promise, however, the CCA could not get government recognition and was stopped.

This remains an exciting possibility that can fulfill some of the good development practice guidelines of livelihood reconstruction, community-driven development, and integration of cattle-herding. A lodge and campsites, owned and run by the people with managerial assistance from NGOs and the government, could boost the local people's revenue. Tourism to the area is criticized by the government and draws the ire of anthropologists (it is not a pretty sight in its current form). However, the Mursi and other local groups like it for one reason: it brings in money. At high season, droves of Landrovers flock to the Mursi, who currently only get a few dollars posing for photographs. Giving the Mursi more control over tourism would enable them to increase their income by, for example, offering wildlife tours and accommodation.

The CCA would work in conjunction with the Mago and Omo Parks for a greater combined area of wildlife protection. When the warden of Mago Park heard Mursi guards were guarding local game he exclaimed: "Half of our problem of wildlife protection is solved!" A long corridor left free of plantations on the Omo River would allow the Mursi and their cattle access to the Omo River, while wildlife would have a corridor to move between the Omo and Mago Parks. The Mursi-Bodi CCA plan is already supported, in some form, by the southern regional Culture and Tourism Bureau. Of particular interest is the Tama Plains between the Omo River and the Mago Park, which is the land of the Bodi and Mursi. It is of little value to the plantations, as it is too elevated to irrigate, but is suited to grazing cattle alongside wildlife. Local cattle raising can feed the demand for meat that will come with an influx of workers.

Will Hurd

A Mursi wearing the peritoneum of a sacrificed ox that declared the beginning of the Mursi-Bodi CCA in 2009.

This project holds promise, if only it could get government approval. Hundreds of negative articles decrying the treatment of the ethnic groups and worrying about their future have appeared in the press, and local officials complain that this has affected the image of their region. After 50 years of literature on the adverse impacts of development projects,³² Ethiopia could be lauded as one of the countries to finally do development well—a feather in their cap to add to their impressive economic growth. But, if they continue on the path toward the disaster looming on the horizon, they will instead be known for committing one of the world's worst environmental and developmental disasters.

References

1. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Lower Valley of the Omo. UNESCO World Heritage Centre [online] (2015)http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/17.
2. David Tuton, personal communication.
3. Butzer, K. Recent History of an Ethiopian Delta (The University of Chicago Printing Department, Chicago, 1971).
4. Avery, ST. Lake Turkana and the Lower Omo: Hydrological Impacts of the Gibe III & Lower Omo Irrigation Development, Vol. 1 (University of Oxford, Oxford, 2012).
5. Lake Turkana Under Threat. International Rivers [online] (2015) https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/lake-turkana-under-threat-....
6. Pankhurst, R. The Ethiopians (Blackwell, Oxford, 1998).
7. Bulatovich, A. Ethiopia through Russian Eyes: Country in Transition 1896-1898 (The Red Sea Press, Lawrenceville NJ, 2000).
8. David Turton, personal communication.
9. Abbink, J. Funeral as ritual: an analysis of Me'en mortuary rites (southwest Ethiopia). Africa 47, no.2 (1992).
10. Connah, G. African Civilizations an Archaeology Perspective (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001).
11. Tornay, S. The Omo Murle Enigma in Peoples and Cultures of the Ethio-Sudan Borderlands (ed. Bender, ML) (Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1981).
12. Salvadori, C. Slaves and Ivory Continued: Letters of R.C.R. Whalley, British Consul, Maji, SW Ethiopia 1930-1935(Shama Books, Addis Ababa, 2010).
13. Haberland, E. An Amharic Manuscript on the Mythical History of the Adi Kyaz (Dizi, South-West Ethiopia). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 46, no. 2 (1983).
14. Abbink, J. Email correspondence with author, October 21, 2014.
15. Hodson, AW. Where Lion Reign; an Account of Lion Hunting & Exploration in S.W. Abyssinia (Skeffington & Son, London, 1929).
16. Todd, D. War and Peace between the Bodi and Dime of Southwestern Ethiopia in Warfare among East African Herders (eds. Fukui, K & Turton, D) (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 1979).
17. Shillington, K. History of Africa, 3rd ed. (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2012).
18. Avery, ST. Lake Turkana and the Lower Omo: Hydrological Impacts of the Gibe III & Lower Omo Irrigation Development, Vol. 1 (University of Oxford, Oxford, 2012).
19. Terri Hathaway, formerly of International Rivers, phone call.
20. Avery, ST. Lake Turkana and the Lower Omo: Hydrological Impacts of the Gibe III & Lower Omo Irrigation Development, Vol. 1 (University of Oxford, Oxford, 2012).
21. Postel, S. Dam on Ethiopia's Omo River Causing Hunger and Conflict. National Geographic [online] (December 2, 2015) http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/02/dam-on-ethiopias-omo-riv....
22. Avery, S. What Future for Lake Turkana? (University of Oxford, African Studies Centre, Oxford, 2013).
23. Carr, C. Humanitarian Catastrophe and Regional Armed Conflict Brewing in the Transborder Region of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan: The Proposed Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia (Africa Resources Working Group, Berkeley, CA, 2012).
24. Elias, E. and F. Abdi. Putting pastoralists on the policy agenda: Land alienation in southern Ethiopia (Gatekeeper Series, IIED, 2010).
25. Kloos, H. et al. Problems for Pastoralists in the Lowlands: River Basin Development in the Awash and Omo Valleys inWater Resource Management in Ethiopia: Implications for the Nile Basin (eds. Kloos, H & Legesse, W) (Cambria Press, New York, 2010).
26. Hogg, R. Irrigation agriculture and pastoral development: a lesson from Kenya. Development and Change 14, no. 4 (1983).
27. Turton, D. Hydro-power and irrigation development in Ethiopia's Omo Valley: Development for Whom? Draft of speech given to Anglo-Ethiopian Society School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, September 17, 2014.
28. African Union Commission, World Food Programme, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The Cost of Hunger in Ethiopia [online] (2013) http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications....
29. Vidal, J. EU diplomats reveal devastating impact of Ethiopia dam project on remote tribes. The Guardian [online] (September 3, 2015) http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/03/eu-diplomats-reveal-d....
30. Turton, D. Hydro-power and irrigation development in Ethiopia's Omo Valley: Development for Whom? Transcript of speech given at the International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Warsaw, August 24-28, 2015.
31. Hurd, W., O. Olibui, and G. Bennett. Proposed Management Plan for Mursi Community Conservation Area. Unpublished document, 2010.
32. Turton, D. Hydro-power and irrigation development in Ethiopia's Omo Valley: Development for Whom? Transcript of speech given at the International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Warsaw, August 24-28, 2015.

Opinion: Dismantling Ethiopia (HAN)

NAIROBI (HAN) March 13. 2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. By Berhane Woldu. To build a Nation State in Africa has done little advancement. The continuum has been endless conflict, bloodshed and the misery that it has brought on the innocent population. This is true in today’s Ethiopia. Abyssinians with expansion subjugated the indigenous population making them subject of the empire. Empire building in Ethiopia started with Emperor Tewodros of Gonder who ended the Ages of princes and ruled from 1855 to 1868 succeeded by Emperor Yohannes IV of Tigraye; followed by Menelik of Shoa who started the invasion to the south specifically the Oromo.

According to Bahru Zewde Economic origins of the state of Ethiopia; King of Shoa Menelik in 1886 conquered the western section from Blue Nile River to Illubabor crossed over the Awash River and invaded the southern plateau of Arsi Oromo and the city of Harar. Abyssinian expansion was interrupted by the Italian invasion in 1895. Menelik supported by peasant army and three Oromo contingents defeated the Italians in 1896. The expansion resumed furiously and the subjugation of Oromo was completed with Kaffa falling in 1897. Abyssinians moved to the lowlands and advanced to the west Beni Shangul Gumuz Southwest to Gambella and northern shore of Lake Turkana South Boranaland and then annexed the Ogaden in the southeast securing the boundary Ethiopia has today. The Ethiopian colonial expansion resulted in mass killings, destruction, looting, enslavement and genocide. Menelik died in 1913 leaving one daughter who later became Queen Zewditu. Her son Lij –Yasue who was heir to the throne son of King Mikael of the Wollo Oromo never succeeded to the throne due to his Oromo ancestry. Ras Tafari Makonnen who had hatched a conspiracy to deprive Lij Yasue became King of Kings Imperial ruler of Ethiopia in 1930 taking the throne name Haile Selassie. King Haile Selassie with European advisors was able to some extent to modernize Ethiopia. After the Italians were ousted in 1943 the Amhara regime was challenged by their Abyssinian brothers. Tigray nobles’ waged fierce battles lasting several months with heavy casualties adding Tigray resentment against the Amhara regime. Ethiopia was rearranged geographically into thirteen provinces Arsi, Bale, Begemdior, Gojjam, Gemu Gofa, Hararge, Illubabor, Kaffa, Shoa, Sidamo, Tigray, Wallega and Wollo.

Spencer: Ethiopia at bay states; In 1943 Emperor Haile Selassie centralizing his power formed Councils of Ministers who were people from Shoa as advisors to the Throne. Laws and practice were influenced by the Orthodox Christian Churches of Abyssinia hence the Muslim Community which constitutes 50 % of the population were never mentioned, Penal Code, Courts Proclamation of 1962 and Procedural Code of 1965 actually nullified Muslim customary laws. In 1955 the Constitution was revised giving Emperor Haile Selassie the “Sovereignty of the Empire’. Emperor Haile Selassie feared ethnic and cultural diversity of the periphery subject of the Empire. The Emperor imposed homogenization cultural and linguistic unification. To ascertain National Integration Amharigna the dominant language was used and the indigenous to become Amhara. Amharigna “a written language, Amhara a superior religion and superior customs” rejected the other languages and culture as undignified. The peripheries were governed by the “neftegna-gabbar” system; supervised by “balabbat” and resources were extracted from the periphery to the Abyssinians. Abyssinian Center-periphery dynamics remained stable. Haile Selassie modernized the state structure making it an apparatus for peripheries control and resource extraction promoting socio-economic changes bringing highland periphery into integration. The center domination and forced cultural assimilation was resented and become a reason for forceful opposition leading to reminiscent revolution.

The 1974 Revolution dismayed the country and swept away the material and social foundation of the Emperor’s regime replacing it with a socialist ideology. Ethiopian nationalism equality among all nationalities and land to the teller was the revolution’s driving force with mottoes of “Unity and Ethiopia First”. The Military leaders “Derge” restoring control over the periphery was a priority in re-building the Nation State. Ethiopia Tikdem meant to modernize the imperial provinces by replacing imperial officialdom by new blood educated Veterans of the Student Movement later to be replaced by political cadres who reached deeper into the rural society creating the Kebele as State administration. The new classes of state administrators were heterogeneous; Abyssinian’s remained dominant, supplemented by recruitment from the highland and lowland periphery and with the beginnings of Muslim participation. Regional autonomy for nationalities “sprit of Socialism” was promises made by the Derge; the Amharistaion of the peripheries was not opposed. Military service, the state education system urban growth and economic activity strengthened “Amharigna as a lingua franca” supported by internal migration demographic change and villagisation scheme brought some integration. Nevertheless no concessions were made to the “Nationality question” instead the Derge saw centralized state as the guarantor of sovereignty. Which gave way to insurgent movements Tigraye (TPLF), Oromo, (OLF,SALF), Sidama (SLM), Afar (ALF) Somalia (ONLF,WSLF, SALF) as a Nationalist movements which brought about rupture and the end of the Marxist Military rule.

The TPLF after converting its military prisoners of different nationalities into Nationalist movement formed the EPRDF which gave it legitimacy as the redeemer of Ethiopia. The EPRDF marched deep into Oromo territory denying the OLF any territorial gain and marched into Addis Ababa invited all nationalities to a conference it was then agreed that Ethiopia will be governed as a Federal State where by nationalities will administer their own affair within their defined border. Political mobilization and reconstruction was underway to replace the Derge remnants and secure control. Prisoners of war who were recruited and trained as EPRDF cadre returned to their ancestral home set up ethnic political affiliates and become the administrators. Redesigning the Nation administration based on nationality Regional Self-Government divided into ethnic units The EPRDF encouraged ethnic fission. Basing language, identity and a common psychological make –up EPRDF divided Ethiopia into fourteen regions. Putting Amharigna speaking into one region, Oromo, Afar, and Somali each have their own region. None Oromo in the south were divided into five different regions. The Gambella and Beni-Shangul district upgraded as regions with no official regional map issued. A large number of Amhara, Oromo and Gurage people displaced now live out of their region. Even though the regions were supposedly granted full measure of self-government region balance did not change. The center was dominant. The Central government took in 84% of all domestic revenue and 91% aggregate revenue and foreign aid. The regions are deficit-redden and with no hope of self-sufficiency or development. To make things worse the EPRDF government stared to lease low-land peripheries for cheap at $200.00/per hectare, free ground water, cheap labour, duty free export and other incentives displacing population and land being managed by the Center. EPRDF controlled conglomerates became biggest investors in the country, amassing manufacturing assets, urban construction sector, financial and service enterprises dominate the economy. The EPRDF army became the national defense force and key TPLF figures became the power holders of the upper echelon of the military and security posts. TPLF was the undisputed first among equals holder of key posts in the party and the state under Federalism. The Abyssinian Tigray elite continue to rule giving the administrative job to the elite in the periphery with no political integration. Ethiopian Nationalist opposed to Federalism became force of opposition creating split in the Abyssinians and the political process negated the promise of equitable center/periphery power sharing exposing the true colure of EPRDF. EPRDF is not ready to accept equitable power sharing with the periphery and to equitably distribute national resources. The process of integration in the Lowland peripheries lags many years behind and exploration of indigenous resources is a destabilizing factor especially in Somali.

Federalism was the savior to the widespread prolonged and violent political conflict that had brought Ethiopia to disintegrate and crumple. To the contrary EPRDF’s federalism; its land policy has preserved the supremacy of the center with the same arrangement “corps of center and peripheral elite.” Denial of political integration has become the cause of mushrooming Nationalist movements. The EPRDF’s policy of land confiscation of “highland periphery” awarding to the land starved Abyssinian is the major cause of the present upheavals in the Oromo region. EPRDF Abyssinians have not departed from the past like their fathers they are the Imperial rulers subjugating the Highland and lowland peripheries the end result being the third rapture that will disintegrate Ethiopia.

Lasting Peace Can Only Be Attained When People’s Rights Are Respected

(OLF press Release)

(Ayyaantuu) The Oromo people‟s protest to end the military occupation of Oromia and to demand their natural and internationally recognized rights has been going on without interruption for the last four months. During this time, our people and members of the revolutionary youth have conducted themselves with unparalleled discipline by respecting the rights and properties of other nationals living among them and those of its neighbors. The high level determination and discipline the Oromo mass in general the Oromo youth in particular have exhibited during these difficult times have very few parallels. The discipline earned them admiration and sympathy from many in the region and from the rest of the world and propelled them into making headlines in the international news media.

Contrary to reality, the enemy of the peoples of Ethiopia, the present regime, has tried to defame the peaceful struggle of the Oromo people as anti- religion and anti-people. The Oromo people follow the two world religions and its own traditional religion. The Oromo follow Islam, Christianity and Waaqeffannaa and the people have lived in peace and harmony as a united nation for ages. In the Oromo society, there are cases where the three religions are followed in the same family. To incite inter-religious and inter-ethnic violence, TPLF regime’s security agents burned churches and mosques on several occasions and have attempted to blame their own criminal acts on the OLF and others. When ongoing Oromo protests started about four months ago, the regime’s security agents attacked Muslim worshipers with hand grenades in the capital city and tried to blame the act on what they call “anti-peace forces” in their propaganda. The public knows very well the vain attempt of the regime to defame the OLF. However, in an unexpected reversal of months of denial and mischaracterization of the Oromo movement, the regime’s Prime Minster declared that the demands of the Oromo people are right and legitimate and admitted the atrocities perpetrated by the regime are the regime’s own faults.

In his recent declaration, the PM has attempted to put to work his government’s divide-and-rule policy by agitating and frightening the peoples living among the Oromo population by claiming that Oromo revolutionaries have attacked them. All these attempts of the regime have been rejected by the Oromo people and others living in Oromia. Members of the neighboring peoples have been living among Oromo people peacefully for centuries.

The present regime has been able to stay in power by using divide-and-rule tactics. It continues to incite inter-ethnic conflicts at all levels among population groups who have a long history of co-existing peacefully and in harmony. Today the Oromo people and others have become conscious of the regime’s evil acts and have risen up to struggle for their legitimate political and social rights. Refusing to be indefinitely deceived by massive propaganda, peoples have risen up demanding their rights.

In his speech to the federal parliament on March 10, 2016, the PM of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn admitted that it is the government and the ruling party that are responsible for the problems that the country is facing today. He further acknowledged that it is the government and the party that didn’t properly respond to the demands of the people. He attested that the people are more conscious than the clique that is ruling it and indicated that the group cannot continue to rule the way they used to do in the past and now. He pinpointed the problem to be governance.

It is surprising that the PM only now came to realize, if in fact he did, that the Ethiopian peoples are conscious and know what is in their best interest. In fact, it is known that peoples of Ethiopia had rejected this government in a number of the fake elections held under very difficult situations. In these elections, the regime falsely declared itself the sole winner, sometime with 100% election victory. Among the citizens, those who dared to tell the truth were mercilessly massacred. It is through such brutal actions that the regime kept itself in power. Starting from the time this regime grabbed power some 25 years ago, the Oromo people have continuously exposed its mischiefs and opposed the regime for its undemocratic and cruel governance.

The regime has violently suppressed the peaceful demands of the Oromo people for their rights. It has used all means in its power to suppress the Oromo people’s peaceful movement including killing, torture, imprisonment, exiling, disappearances, etc. These cruel actions of the regime never made the Oromo people to halt its struggle for liberation, democracy and peace. Labeling the people as terrorists to justify violence never stopped the people from its just and rightful struggle. The regime is using the anti-terrorism slogan to attract the attention of the West and to earn military training and hardware as well as financial and diplomatic supports.

The regime’s attempt to drive wedge between the Oromo people and the OLF has completely failed. In the ongoing people’s movement, the people have established the fact that the Oromo people and the OLF are one and the same and won’t be alienated. During the protests the population has continued to use OLF symbols, slogans and nationalist songs. Thus further establishing that the OLF is not a terrorist organization, but a genuine organization leading the struggle for the liberation of the Oromo people.

Today Oromo protesters are being hunted down for peacefully demanding their rights to be respected in accordance to the constitution of the country and international laws. They are being hunted like wild animals and shot or arrested in mass and moved to concentration camps. These destinations of arrested individuals are unknown to relatives. There is conspiracy being cooked up to massively exile them to USA through third country to distance many of them from the people they are struggling for. Again, the only crime these Oromo individuals, which is not a crime at all, can be said to have committed is to ask peacefully for their rights to be respected and to be the masters of their own destiny following the provisions in the country’s constitution. The root of Ethiopia’s problem is this undemocratic and brutal regime and system TPLF created to rule the people. It’s undemocratic, dictatorial and fascistic rule by the core group called TPLF from Tigray. The people of Ethiopia have repeatedly told them “we don’t want you.”  The Oromo people have on several occasions clearly indicated that they don’t want to be ruled by the stooge organization, the OPDO. The so called OPDO is not a genuine Oromo organization and cannot serve the Oromo people since it was created in Tigray to serve the interest of the regime in power (TPLF). But the regime continues to refuse to listen to the people. It is now very clear that the regime cannot find a solution to Oromo and other peoples’ questions on its own.

It is also clear that whatever solution the regime comes up with will only worsen the situation of our people. For instance, the government that claims to be democratic, a few days ago has put Oromia under military rule. Under the scheme, Oromia is divided into 8 regions and put under military rule headed by General Samora Younus from the Ministry of Defense. It is very clear to us that this will only worsen the situation. The killings, imprisonment, exiling and harassment will continue unabated.

On March 4, 2016 the government created a Military Council composed of some military personnel under the command of General Samora Younus. There is not a single Oromo, even from their loyal, among the members of the council. The council is overwhelmingly composed of general of ethnic Tigire origin. The list of the Council members, their original responsibilities and their origin include:

1	General Samora Younus	Overall Commander – Tigrean
2	Leut. General Yohannis G/Maskal	Operations – Tigirean
3	Major General Ibrahim Abduljalil	Logistics – Tigirean
4	Leut. General Sahare Mekonin	Training – Tigirean
5	Major General Mahar Zewude	Administration and Politics -Tigrean
6	Major General Gabre Adhanom	Intelligence – Tigirean
7	Major General Abraha W. Mariam	Commander of North-East (Harar)-Tigrean
8	Major General Fiseha Kidanu	Commander of South-West – Tigirean
9	Major General Yohannes G. Mikael	Commander of Central Zone – Tigirean
10	MG Adam Mohammed	Commander of Air Force – Amhara
11	MG Gabret Ayale	Commander of Northern Zone – Agew

In fact, Oromia has been under military rule from the time the Oromo protest for peace, democracy and the right for self-determination started by Qeerro (youth from schools and universities and other sectors) about four months ago. The March 4, 2016 internal declaration has only formalized the military rule down to village level to further aggravate the already tense situation. The decision of putting Oromia under military rule clearly indicates that the regime is unwilling to solve the Oromo people’s demands peacefully. In a double talk, the PM – admitted to have committed mistakes in handling the situation on the one hand he threatens” we will take decisive action, ‟on the other hand. The government has already openly declared war on the Oromo calling them “terrorists”, “anti-peace forces” and “devils”.

Everything said, the Oromo people and the OLF will continue the struggle until the Oromo people regain peace and their right to self-determination is fully respected.

Victory to the Oromo People!

Oromo Liberation Front

March 12, 2016

Group: Ethiopia Forces Kill, Rape in Clashes With Protesters

(abcnews) 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.