Waaqayyo/God Does not Teach Oromo People to Give up Their Father’s Land

By Wake Jio Garbi*

Wake Jio Garbi

Preliminary Remark

In this article I will reflect on the Biblical teachings in relation to the current Oromo people peaceful protest against the so called ‘Addis Ababa Integrated Master plan’. It attempts to justify the need of more actions to stop the human rights violations, extra judicial killings, and torturing engineered by the TPLF dictatorial government. Further, it urges the entire Oromo people to be more united than ever in order to enhance the revolutionary movements.

1. Perspectives from the Bible - Old Testament

In the Old Testament, the book of 1Kings 21, Naboth refused to give up his vineyard, the land that he inherited from his father and was murdered for his refusal. “…there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it worth. But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbids that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” (1Kings 21:1-3). The account ‘give me your vineyard’ seemed to be started as a simple real estate transaction. The vineyard was near to the royal house of Ahab that he was willing to trade it or to pay for it in order to have it for luxury or superfluity. However, for Naboth this vineyard was his everything: food, water, shelter, history, and identity that he can’t trade it for anything. Therefore, Naboth’s response ‘The Lord forbids that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers’ is tantamount to saying ‘no’. The answer of Naboth to the king reflects the history of land during his time. In Israel, land was believed to be inheritance from Yahweh/Waaqayyo, parceled out to individual tribes and families according to the will of God (Leviticus 25:15, 23, 25; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46: 18).

In Oromo culture too, land is given by God (Waaqayyoo) to a mankind. Thus it is deeply rooted in our belief that Waaqayyo gave us the land on which we reproduce and populate. As such we ought to stand for the birthplace right and that this is the will of Waaqayyoo. He gave the land to our ancestors and we inherited it from them, and this continues and the inheritance goes to the future generation. Otherwise it would mean disgracing the will of Waaqayyoo and His gift according to the Bible teaching I cited above. Giving up our own land, there is no way we can claim others land.

Coming back to the Bible teaching, Ahab brooded or sulked and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came and asked him why he was so sullen and didn’t eat. The King answered her that Naboth refused to give him his vineyard which is near the palace. Jezebel promised Ahab that she will do whatever it takes to get him the vineyard of Naboth and encouraged the king to eat (1king 21:4-7). Thus subtly Jezebel prepared a means to murder Naboth just because he refused to give up his father’s land. She wrote letter in Ahab’s name, sealed and sent them to the elders and nobles dwelling in the city. In the letter she urged the elders to proclaim fasting, to gather people and to make Naboth sit in front of the people while two men give false witness against him (Naboth) saying “You have blasphemed against God and the King”. Then they take him out to stone him to death. The inhabitants of the city did as Jezebel ordered them to do and reported that Naboth had been stoned and died. Obviously, Ahab agreed with his wife to write and seal the letters in his name. It was a traitorous plan that the collaborative classes of Ahab in Jezreel set Naboth in a high place of decency and honor which was actually untrue and stoned him and killed him with lies from mouths of two men (1King 21:8-14).

In like manner Oromo individuals, social group leaders, supporters and members of political organizations are accused based on false allegations, tortured to death and imprisonments. In other words the Oromo nationalists who stand against the TPLF’s exploitations natural resources experience similar history of Naboth as briefly narrated above. TPLF politicizes and accuses the Oromo who speak against the exploitations and dominations by the TPLF-led dictators as narrow nationalists, anti-peace, and anti-development elements. The current peaceful protest in Oromia against the so called ‘Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan’ is comparable to the response of Naboth to Ahab who planned to evict him from his heritage above. Of course, there have been some prodigals (the lost Oromo who implement the colonial agendas of TPLF) blindly accuse Oromo national struggles.

God shapes, rebukes, and corrects political leaders through his servants (2 Chronicles 16:9). Christians challenge tyrannical governments in order to fulfill their Waaqayyo given roles (Psalms 127: 1). Spiritual leaders in Oromia should take courage to say ‘yes’ when ‘yes’ is needed and to say ‘no’ when ‘no’ is needed to TPLF tyrannical government. As spiritual leaders and as theologians we have to be voice for the voiceless; we have to encourage and educate our people to reject slavery and to defend their Waaqayyo given right peacefully ensuring that everybody has equal dignity before Waaqayyo. It is not surprising that TPLF always labels any Oromo who say ‘no’ to the government’s systematic exploitation as member of the Oromo liberation Front/OLF and punish them. As we know, the TPLF has imprisoned over 40,000 Oromo nationalists, and has been torturing and killing thousands of Oromo with false accusation. However, this strategy of TPLF works no more, for the more this dictator government pushed down the struggle of Oromo, the more Oromo raise up. The sudden occurrences of waves of protests by the Oromo all over the World and in Oromia are indicative of the fact that there is no way to give up the land of their fathers and forefathers to any robber or conqueror.

When Ahab strived to possess the land, Waaqayyoo has sent Elijah the prophet to the king and rebuked him that he killed the innocent man (Naboth), made blood of Naboth licked by dogs and possessed his land. The prophet explicitly speaks what the king does is injustice and Waaqayyoo does not tolerate it. Thus Waaqayyoo warned the king to reexamine his deed and repent, but he was not willing to listen to the prophet. Rather Ahab attempted to attack Elijah saying that ‘you are my enemy’. In fact he continued to do evils after evils. But these evils led to the failure of his kingdom and to his own death. Not only this, his son and wife Jezebel paid for the wrongdoings of Ahab in life. Interesting enough, after Naboth died his land was not owned by Ahab or by the royal family, but it was given to heirs of Naboth (1King 21:29; 2King 9: 24-26).

For the believers, the narrative about Naboth and Ahab above warn that liars like the heavy-handed TPLF-led government to take-off their merciless yoke of exploitations and dominations from the Oromo people. The Bible warns them saying; do not evict poor farmers from their century- old places of birth and heritages; otherwise the rages of Waaqayyoo that came upon Ahab will also find you!

TPLF never hear the opposition parties and human rights activists who have been pressing the government to stop human rights violation in the Ethiopian Empire. The government showed zero tolerance to opposition parties’ leaders and their members, journalists who actually expose the injustice and freedom fighters, and continued killings after killings, cheatings after cheatings and whatever one calls crime against humanity. It is part of our spiritual call to denounce such acts in any society and to stand with the victims. Thus we cannot sit and see TPLF evict our people from their land without their willingness and exploit our resources while thousands of our people are stricken by hunger, and while this dictator kill our fathers, mothers and children, and persecute Oromo human rights activists. The word of Waaqayyo encourages us to stand with our people and struggle to promote justice, peace, democracy and freedom (Jer 22: 3, Proverb 31:9).

Moses chose to suffer with his own people rather than enjoying pleasures of sin. He couldn’t deny the problem of his people and cooperate with the Pharaoh who enslaved Israelites to whom he belongs (Exodus 5: 1ff). The book of Hebrew 11:25 tells us that Moses chose to suffer with and for his people rather than cooperating with those who intimidate, discriminate, and kill his people. For Moses, there was no popularity and privilege than liberating his people from bondage of slavery in Egypt. What about us today? The more Moses pressed Pharaoh to let Israelites free and the more his people(Israelites) got awareness to resist slavery, the more Pharaoh expressed his disapproval even with further maliciousness and tranny (Exodus 5:5-19). Moses continued to mobilize the people to promote civil disobedience by leading them. Lastly, they managed to break through the colonial yoke of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6ff). Israel moved out of Egypt seeking their liberty. In like manner Oromo have no choices left to them, but seek liberty peacefully which they attempted to but denied by the oppressors who wish to control Oromia in a round about ways, like by redrawing parts of Oromia towns and farm lands under the Municipality of Finfinnee.

There was time when the people of Israel accused Moses whom God sent for them to set them free slavery in Egypt (Number 25: 5). No less than this that we also accuse our earlier political leaders saying that they are the causes for the stagnation of the struggle for freedom of Oromo. The reality is that they did the best they could. Of course as human being it may be true that they have weakness; but they still deserve our appreciations for they have brought the struggle to this level. More importantly this is not the time to go back and search for weaknesses defiling and humiliating each other. Rather it is the time for us to come together and plan the way ahead of us. It is time to put our human and natural resources together in order to achieve justice and true democracy in Oromia.

2. Perspectives from the Bible- New Testament

Jesus had great charisma of leadership, unspeakable potential of argumentations. As such the authorities of the time could have given Him high positions as well as respect in the Roman Empire of Jerusalem. Instead He identified himself with the oppressed, the poor, and the marginalized section of the society. He spoke on their behalf. He proclaimed that He came to set the oppressed free (Luke 4: 15-18). There was large number of Jewish who opposed the Roman Empire’s ruling system and were persecuted, burned alive, and killed. Jesus boldly proclaimed that He came to set these oppressed people free. His proclamations have theological and political implications. Theologically, Jesus came to this Word to free people from Demonic power and to win them for eternal life. Politically, He taught them freedom to those under oppression by tyrannical governments. It is obvious that this teaching has political implication in our current context. Waaqayyo created Oromo people free and wants us live in freedom. This should not be taken as going out of the Christian teaching. This is about understanding the fundamentals the teaching and fulfilling what it requires of us the believer.

The authorities in the Roman Empire during Jesus time were attempted to persuade Jesus not to expose their cruelty over the people under their leadership in public sphere. The Roman rulers who had been ruling over people of Israel judged Jesus on false accusation that Jesus blasphemed God and the king, Caesar. They sentenced him to death penalty though He was blameless and liberator.

Enemies of our freedom use different strategies to keep us under their rules. For instance, misusing religious philosophies, they have derailed our uninformed Oromo brothers and sisters from the path of seeking freedom. These are persons who are not cleaver enough to mark the boundaries between religion and standing against unjust treatments in the hands of the dictators (Joshua 5:13).

The Bible teaches Christians to obey the rulers as long as the governments obey the will of Waaqayyo (Rom 13:1-3). If the rulers are cruel and attempt to abandon truth and justice, Christians ought to obey Waaqayyo than rulers (Acts 5:29). For instance, Herod ordered the wise men- the Magi- to return with information regarding the whereabouts of the baby Jesus so that he can easily get where Jesus was and kill him, but they disobeyed the king Herod and returned to their country by another route (Math 2:1-12). When the government attempts to kill those who struggle to free the oppressed, it takes people to break the law made by oppressors. TPLF, on the one hand, is sending its merciless federal police and armies to occupy almost every city, school and university in Oromia; the armies and federal police have been hunting down barehanded peaceful protesters since April 26, 2014. On the other hand, it (TPLF) is sending its cabinets all over Oromia to deceive Oromo by the name of forgiveness, reconciliation, peace and unity. Oromo people should know that such false propaganda of unity, reconciliation, peace and forgiveness has nothing to do with our legitimate question of freedom from TPLF oppression. The armies of this dictator government should take off their fingers from their weapons and stop killing our people inhumanly, and then we will sit for reconciliation. On top of that, the reconciliation, unity, and forgiveness TPLF and some prodigal Oromo are trying to persuade Oromo people have nothing to do with truth and justice. Because reconciliation, forgiveness, peace and unity can be practiced only after truth is established. Oromo people have been protesting peacefully to establish such truth, yet the TPLF has been answering by killing, torturing, and putting thousands of them in jail.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The article explored that the Bible never teaches Oromo people to give up their land to oppressors. I have three points to make as a conclusion to my article:

1. The Church in Oromia and around the world should declare ‘spiritual boycotting’ against TPLF regime. What I mean by ‘spiritual boycotting’ is that the church should stop praying for the strength and success of the TPLF regime who is conducting crime against humanity by killing barehanded peaceful protesters, torturing innocent people, and imprisoning thousands by false allegation. The church should rather pray to Waaqayyo so that He would give wisdom and strength for the oppressed to cope with the catastrophic situation in Oromia and to continue peaceful protest in order to free themselves from colonial yoke of TPLF. Additionally, the church should stand with the voiceless and denounce that the regime is committing crime against human dignity which is unacceptable in the sight of Waaqayyo.
2. Call upon Oromo all over the World to hold hand in hand and continue peaceful protest and civil disobedience until we end the injustice that reigned in Oromia. We have obligations to air our voices non-stop to the international communities that TPLF-led dictatorial regime in Ethiopia has continued torturing, imprisoning, jailing and killing peaceful Oromo protester and not to implement the so called ‘Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan’ aimed at dismantling Oromo from his ancestral land in disguises.
3. All Oromo political parties should come to the table and discuss how to form a united front to make an end to the TPLF’s colonial rule in Oromia, etc. Let me finish with the Oromo saying: “Nutu kan waliiti”. “Harreen wal dhiitti malee ilkaan wal irraa hin fixuu”

                                        Truth prevails!

Waaqayyo bless Oromia!!!

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* The author is currently studying a dual masters degree program in Theology (MA) and in Society and Global Issues at the Norwegian School of Theology and can be reached at waktheophilaw@gmail.com.


=>maddawalaabuupress

Waamicha Wolgayii — Dr. Mararaa Gudiinaa

Waamicha Wolgayii — Dr. Mararaa Gudiinaa

Hogganaa Kongirasii Federaalistii Oromoo fi hayyuun siyaasaa Dr. Mararaa Guddinnaa haala yeroo fi Sochii barattoota/dargaggoota Oromoo irratti ibsaa fi marii ballaa hawaasa Oromoo Minessotaa waliin taasisuuf gaafa Waxabajjii/June 15 saatii 3-6 galma hawaasa Oromootti walgayii waamaniiru.

Koottaa hirmaadhaa, mari’adhaa. Akkaataa qabsoon Oromoo furgaasuu dandeenyurratti yaada keessan kennadhaa!

=>gadaa

Miseensa Parlamaa Sirna Fashisitii Wayyaanee EPRDF fi Paresedantii Yuuniversitoota Oromiyaa Kanneen Ta’an Lammiileen Oromoo Gochaa Sukkanneessaa Wayyaaneen Oromoo Irratti Raawwatu Keessaa Akka Harka Isaanii Fudhaniif Qeerroon Bilisummaa Oromoo Kallattiin Dhaamsa Dabarse.

Caamsaa 22,2014 Finfinnee

Paarlaamaan EPRDF (Etoophiyaa) Angoo kan hin qabane,Uummata Oromoo fi lammiilee biyyatti bakka bu’uu kan hin dandeenye ta’uu Qeerroon Ibsa gababaa haala paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF  fi gaaffii karaa nagaa FDG Uummata Oromoo gaafachaa jiruuf deebii kennama jiru irratti hundaa’uun mirkaneessee jira.

Dargaggootni barattootni Oromoo dhaabbilee barnoota olaanoo Yuunivarsiitoota, Kolleejjotaa fi manneen barnoota sadarkaa 2ffaa fi 1ffaa keessatti uummata waliin gamtaan hiriiruun gaaffii mirgaa fi dimookiraasii karaa nagaa gaafataniif Mootummaan waraanaa fi qawween reebuun deebii kennee jira. Oromiyaa keessatti Presidenttootni dhaabbilee barnoota ol-aanoo Yuunivarsiitii miseensa Paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF ta’uun  abbaa irrummaa fi Faashistummaa uumata irratti deemsisaa jiru. Miseensotni kun itti gaafatama seenaa fi seeraa jala ba’uu hin danda’an.

Haala Yeroo ammaa  sochii warraaqsa dargaggoota barattoota Oromoo dhaabbilee barnoota  olaanoo Yuunibarsiitii  keessatti qabateef  miseensotni Parlaamaa presidentooni Oromoo mooraa Yuunivarsiisii, dhaabbilee barnoota irraa gaaffii Uummataa karaa nagaa fi dimookiraasii  dhiyaateef   deebisuu irra Uummata nagaa gaaffii mirgaa gaafate irratti humna waraanaa bobbaasuun yeroo ammaa kanatti mooraan Yuunivarsiitota akka Jimmaa, Wallaggaa, Amboo, Mattuu, Adaamaa, Finfinnee, Harammayyaa, fi   Maddaa Walaabuu fa’aa  keessatti barattootni Oromoo Jumlaan hidhatti guuraman, humna Waraanaan reebaman, humna waraanaa fi tikaa Wayyaaneen ajjeefaman, humnoota Mootumma kanaan gara dabarfaman.

Yeroo gochaan suukkaneessa fi gara jabinaa kun barattoota Oromoo  dabtaraa fi isrsaasa(pencil)  malee meeshaa tokko of harkaa hin qabne irratti rawwatamaa jirutti  maqaa Presideentota Yuunivarsiitii Oromiyaa fi bakka bu’ummaa miseensa Parlamaa EPRDF qabatanii barattoota lammii isaanii ta’an Oromoota irratti daba kana fakkaatu warri raawwattan martinuu gaafatama seenaa bara baraa jalaa akka hin bane Qeerroon Bilisummaa bakka jiranitti xalayaa Waajjira Parezedantoota armaa gadiitti kenneen beeksisee jira.

1. President Yuunibarsiitii Wallaggaa fi miseensa paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF
2. President Yuunibarsiitii Amboo fi Miseensa Paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF.
3. Presidenti Yuunibarsiitii Jimmaa fi miseensa Paarlaamaa fi Detaa Ministera Barnoota,
4. President Yuunibarsiitii Mattuu fi miseensa Paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF.
5. President Yuunibarsiitii Maddaa Walaabuu fi miseensa Paarlaamaa sirna EPRDF.
6. President Yuunibarsiitii Harommayyaa fi miseensa Prarlaamaa sirna EPRDF.

Kanneen kunis ta’e warri hafan kaan aangoo fi sadaqaa mootummaan Wayyaanee itti kennuun dabarsanii ilmaan Oromoo akka hin kenninee fi daba gita hin qabne uumata Oromoo irratti raawachuu akka dhaaban Qeerroon Bilisummaa ifatti isaan beeksisee jira.

=>qeerroo

SHOULD LANGUAGE DISQUALIFY MY OROMO IDENTITY?

(OPride) -- My grandfather Ayana Debosie Halo had a habit of making the entire family tune into his favorite radio station: The Voice of Oromo Liberation (better known by its Oromo acronym SBO).

Began in late 1980s, SBO is a shortwave radio run by the Oromo Liberation Front, a political organization that struggles for the advancement of Oromo rights in Ethiopia. SBO broadcasts to Ethiopia daily in Afan Oromo and Amharic, two of Ethiopia's main languages.

One night some 15 years ago, when I was still in Oromia, Ethiopia's Oromo region, as he always did, grandpa turned on the SBO program and cranked up the volume to get everyone's attention. Typically, no one in the house paid much attention. My aunt asked him to turn the volume down while my uncle increased the volume on his TV set to tune out the “unusual” voice coming through grandpa’s beat up stereo tape.

 Meanwhile, my Amhara grandmother, who's gotten accustomed to this chaotic scene over time, grinned in amusement. Despite grandpa’s subtle and vocal encouragement, I always preferred watching TV to hearing a“foreign” language over the radio. In short, except grandpa, no one in the family had appetite for what the OLF (or ONEG as we call it in Amharic) had to say. Besides, growing up in Finfinne -- as Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa is known in Oromo -- even if we wanted to listen to SBO, we couldn't tune in because we did not understand or speak Afan Oromo. That was grandpa's genius: Despite living in Finfinne most of his life, he never lost touch with his Oromo heritage and was fluent in his native Oromo language.

 Later, grandpa told us we could listen to SBO's Amharic broadcasts, which at the time we didn't know it even existed. But he wanted his grandchildren to learn Afan Oromo. In fact, he had previously bought several Amharic-to-Oromo dictionaries for us. Some of these books got lost while others simply gathered dust on our shelves.

 My grandfather was a proud Oromo from western Oromia, and he went to the Mekane Yesus protestant church. His church was the only legally recognized protestant congregation during the communist Derg regime. In those days, his children, including my father, aunts and uncles, alternated between their parents churches every Sunday. They would attend their mother (my grandma's) Orthodox church one week and grandpas protestant church the week after. They did so to make grandpa happy, but I later learned that they preferred going to the Orthodox church. This tolerance for each other's beliefs and efforts at accommodating the "other" helped keep our family's the social equilibrium.

 Growing up, I did not care much about religion so I followed the crowd. After all, the majority of my schoolmates and friends in Finfinne were Muslims -- ethnic Gurage, Adare, Silte, Oromo and others. But I was always curious about politics. My uncle once told me why he hates the OLF -- a group that he believed wants to "divide mixed families like us." He seemed adamant that the ONEG people even sought to separate his parents. He told me that this "evil" group would kill grandma and the rest of our family for not speaking Afan Oromo. I remember the lecture but I was too young to grasp the gist of his fear mongering at the time.

 Over the years, I heard the worst of rumors about ONEG's bad deeds. One day, I asked grandpa what would happen to our family, friends and neighbors if the people he listens to on the radio ruled Ethiopia. He did not mince words: ONEG is a peaceful organization that struggles for justice and equality. His response left me even more confused but I took his words for it, not least because I trusted grandpa more anyone in the family.

 As my family prepared to leave for United States, grandpa made extra efforts to teach me Afan Oromo. He lamented how he did not want English to be my second language (Amharic being the first). He did not want me to lose my Oromo heritage. But learning Oromo was hard because Amharic was spoken at home, school and everywhere else I went in Finfinne.

 After living in the U.S., I realized grandpa's fears were coming true -- I was beginning to forget everything. My parents struggled financially and adjusting to a new life and learning a new language was not always easy. I had no time or incentives to learn Afan Oromo. In fact, I did not even have much use for Amharic. Many years later, I phoned grandpa in Oromia: His voice changed a little but his message was the same. He wasted no time to remind me not to forget my Oromo roots. A few years later, my aging grandfather sent me a new trilingual Amharic-Oromo-English dictionary. By then an adult, I realized the only way to learn Afan Oromo was to find Oromo speakers in the states.

 I found and contacted the New York-based Oromo Diaspora Association (ODA). I went to a couple of their meetings but I always struggled because I did not speak the language. Some ODA members knew Amharic but it was clear they did not want to use it to conduct their business or even to help me understand what was being discussed. My efforts to learn Afan Oromo on my own ended in vain. Soon, I cut contacts with ODA members and found another "Ethiopian" group. Despite its Ethiopia label, I was surprised to find that many of the group's members had mixed Oromo ancestry. But like me, most of them did not speak Afan Oromo. We mostly spoke in English as even Amharic was proving difficult to carry a decent conversation.

 My grandfather passed away two years ago. We had previously missed grandma's funeral because of financial problems. But, we saved enough money to fly to Finfinne for his funeral. As per his dying wishes, the biblical writings on his tombstone was done in Afan Oromo. Trying to read Qubee, the Latin alphabet used for writing Oromo, was a harsh reminder that I let grandpa down. I am sure we all did.

 Since his death, my whole family has made some efforts to learn Oromo and inherit our Oromo culture. My younger aunt even gave her newborn an Oromo name. For the first time, we started listening to Oromo music. Now, most of us occasionally tune into SBO’s Amharic broadcasts online. Also, for the first time, we began to understand that unlike our parents happy marriage, the marriage of the Oromo nation with Ethiopia was done by force. We began to sympathize with the Oromo cause despite uneasiness over ONEG's "secessionist" ideology, which we still felt was a direct attack on our mixed identity and heritage. Even my one-time fearful uncle went to his district office in Finfinne and requested the officials to change his ethnic identification on local ID card from "Amhara" to "Ethiopian" -- in honor of his mixed identity, though it was in vain.

 When I returned to the U.S. after grandpa’s funeral, I began giving donations to the Oromo Studies Association (OSA) and followed Oromo current events in North America. But the struggle to fit-in has been an uphill battle because there is even more ethnic division in the diaspora now compared to a few years ago. Unfortunately, those of us with mixed identities who do not speak Afan Oromo don't get much help from the Oromo diaspora communities.

 As grandpa so eloquently professed long ago, it is now clear to me that learning the Oromo language is key. My uncle once told me that many Tigrean businessmen (especially the ruling TPLF party associates) are learning Afan Oromo so that they can easily exploit Oromia's resources. This revelation raised a lot questions for me: Does not speaking the language discount my Oromo identity? Is speaking the language what makes one a "real Oromo?" What would that make Oromo speaking Tigrean or Amhara businessmen? Would mixed Oromos, who don't speak the language, be accepted in “free” Oromia? Is it blood, language or something else that forms the basis of Oromo identity?

 There are more that 5 million mixed Ethiopians, including Oromo, who would agree that language or blood alone should not determine a person's identity. I don't think language deficiency should disqualify my Oromoness. Intolerance for those with mixed heritage is found among all ethnic communities in Ethiopia, especially the Oromo. There needs to be more acceptance for people with multiple ethnic ancestry.

 I hope a time will come when Ethiopians with multi-ethnic identities can be equally proud of all their heritage. Perhaps then we can bridge the growing ethnic divide in Ethiopia. When that time comes, we will all get along and embrace our diverse identities just as grandpa hoped to see in his own life.

 I am Oromo and I am proud of it. Rest in Peace Grandpa!

 --*The writer, Daniel T. Ayana, is an accountant based in New York City.

=>opride

Ethiopia's independent publishers may face another hurdle

By A CPJ Guest Blogger

Newspapers are significant in Ethiopia because there are no other independent media sources in the country. (Ethiopia Forums)

In what appears to be one of a collection of measures to silence the press ahead of 2015 elections, Ethiopian authorities in the Communications Ministry are preparing a new system to control the distribution of print media. Privately owned newspapers and magazines, possibly the only remaining independent news sources in the country, would face more state control if the proposal is set into motion. 

Originally proposed in February, the new measures are still at a draft stage. They aim to ensure that private newspapers and magazines are distributed through one company with links to the ruling party, according to local journalists.

The proposal, entitled "A Draft Document for Making the Print Media Accessible," claims that supporters of the opposition are mainly in control of the current newsprint distribution system, according to the draft proposal in my possession.

Members of the media and some observers have sharply criticized the government's move to hand over circulation to a single company. The step comes after the anti-terrorist law of 2009, which criminalized reporting on opposition groups and has intimidated many journalists into self-censorship. Since 2011, 11 journalists have been given harsh prison terms under Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law, and five are currently serving sentences under this legislation.

While the reach of independent newspapers is negligible, with roughly 90,000 copies a week circulating in a population of 90 million, the papers are significant because there are no other independent media sources in Ethiopia. The state controls the only television station, and out of five privately-operated radio stations, three are wholly pro-government while the rest toe the state line.

"I am suspicious of this move," said freelance journalist Betre Yacob. "These enterprises are created by the government to push their own political agendas and interests.  I am sure this particular case will be similar--where the distribution company is used to ensure only positive government news is distributed." Betre is president of the independent Ethiopian Journalists Forum, a contributor to several Ethiopian news sites, and a former political columnist for the now-defunct local magazine Ebony.

Currently, publishers of newspapers and magazines either distribute directly to retailers across the country, or contract trusted private distributors to do so for them. Under the new proposal, a company with direct government links would take copies from the printers and control distribution. Local journalists fear that the new company would block distribution if the government deems a publication too critical.

According to the draft proposal, print media suffers from the lack of a legal framework governing the current distribution system. The proposal claims most distributors do not have designated areas in which to circulate or proper identification. It also suggests that giving the distribution work to a company with some information about the media will help the industry as well as create jobs for youth.

However, independent journalists argue that the biggest challenge for Ethiopia's media industry is not the print distribution system but government intervention and suppression of the flow of free information. "The government should take its hands off the media. Giving the distribution of newspapers and magazines to a politically motivated enterprise does not solve the problem," Betre said. "Instead it just adds fuel to a fire." 

Another bad sign for publishers is a study conducted this year by the pro-government Ethiopian Press Agency, a state-controlled news wire, analyzing the editorial content of certain magazines. Published in February, the study claimed that seven magazines were responsible for inciting violence and terrorist acts and upholding opposition viewpoints, according to local news reports.

Local journalists working for these publications fear that the study will be used as a pretext to censor them. "Magazines are some of the few independent publications left in circulation here," said one local journalist based in the capital, Addis Ababa, who did not wish to be identified for safety reasons. Betre concurs, saying, "The release of this research could indicate that the government is preparing to silence these magazines."

The prohibitive cost of printing in Ethiopia also serves as a barrier to media freedom. Because of a fear of censorship from the state printer, independent publications prefer to use private printers, even though they often lack the capacity to produce sufficient copies. At times, security agents infiltrate these private printing companies, local journalists said. "It is very challenging to find a printing house willing to publish independent publications," Betre said. "Sometimes agents warn printing houses not to print a particular publication and so they fear any association with the private press." 

These challenges, along with high taxation, are already having a detrimental effect on independent publications. While newspapers pay a reasonable publishing tax of two percent of their sales after printing each edition, annual taxes can sometimes equal a months' total sales revenue, if not more. After six years in circulation, the local Ebony magazine closed in April due to the high annual income tax and printing costs, according to a local news report. Authorities recently demanded business income tax of 143,000 birr (US$7,300) from the independent newspaper Ethio-Midhar, an amount equivalent to their annual gross revenue, the same report said.

Unlike overt political interference such as the recent jailing of nine journalists, which has drawn a local and international outcry, these economic measures have the potential to undermine an alternative Ethiopian narrative without drawing public attention. If adopted, the new distribution system would subtly but effectively silence any critical publication ahead of May 2015 elections.

The author is an Ethiopian journalist in exile. He chooses not to be identified for his security

=>cpj

Defeating TPLF Abroad and at Home

By H.Goche | May 22, 2014

The past three Abyssinian regimes, namely Menilik, Haile Selassie, and the Military Junta came from the Amharic speaking Abyssinian elites, who protected and promoted the dominance of anything and everything Abyssinian from cultural, linguistic, economic, and political power. These Amharic speaking rulers enforced and promoted their barbaric and backward laws and culture using garrison towns that were established on hill-tops across Oromia and the South.

The other common traits of the three Amharic speaking Abyssinian rulers were deploying a blend of both the French and the British colonial system, the former being assimilative, where the political structure in the colonies were established on a highly centralized administrative system based on their national tradition of extreme administrative centralism. The French colonial ideology explicitly claimed that they were on a “civilising mission” to lift the unenlightened natives out of backwardness to the new status of civilised French Africans. To achieve this, the French used the policy of assimilation, whereby through cultural change and education and the fulfilment of some formal conditions, some natives would become evolved and civilized French citizens. In practice, due to the stringent conditions set for citizenship, it was virtually impossible for most colonial subjects to become French citizens. This was exactly what the Amharic speaking Abyssinian colonial rulers in Oromia and the South followed and practiced. In order to become an “Ethiopian” citizen, one has to dress Abyssinian cloth made of cotton, speak the Amharic language, practice Orthodox Christianity, even forced to marry an Abyssinian, so that his/ her offspring’s lose their father or mother identity and grow up as an Abyssinian or “Ethiopian”.

On the other hand, the British colonial system was an ideology based on indirect rule, where the new acquired colonies were organized at the central, provincial, and regional and district levels. There was a governor or governor –general in the colonial capital who governed along with an appointed executive council and a legislative council of appointed and selected local and foreign members. The governor was responsible to the colonial office and the colonial secretary back in London, from whom laws, policies, and directives were received and implemented by provincial, regional and district officials. Laws and policies on taxation, public works, forced labour, mining, and agricultural production and other matters are made in London and then passed down to the lower administrative levels for enforcement.

The current TPLF colonial regime is following and implementing a carbon-copy of the British indirect colonial rule in Oromia and the South, a system by which TPLF officials decide who will serve them best in the new colonies of Oromia and the South. For the last 23 years of TPLF rule in Oromia and the South, and to some degree in Amhara region, all regional, sun-regional and local levels officials are appointed (of course, there is fake periodic elections, where the out-come of the election was pre-determined by the TPLF officials, including the administrators). On top of that, at regional, sub-regional and local levels, a Tigrian is assigned to each local official office across the colonies to enforce laws and directives that are designed by the TPLF junta both from Mekele and the Menilik palace, both the command centre of TPLF rulers.

Both the Amhara speaking colonial rulers and the current TPLF regimes in the Ethiopian Empire have something in common, particularly in their foreign relations to the outside world. All of them have projected a false image of the empire as peaceful within itself by promiscuously adopting the dominant world ideology of the day to cover-up their abuse and ill-treatment of the Oromos and the Southern people from the outside world. Not only, they managed to cover-up the heinous crimes they perpetrated in Oromia and the South, they persuaded either the West or the East blocks and managed to receive billions of dollars in aid-money and military hard-ware, which they used on innocent Oromos and other colonial subjects without any regard to human lives. The genocide committed by Menilik, the use of war planes and cluster bombs on Bale Oromo uprising by Haile Selassie, and the extra-judicial killings the TPLF junta has been carrying-out for the last twenty odd years, and the recent and ongoing killings of peaceful Oromo students are few glaring examples of cruel, barbaric nature of all Abyssinian regimes. The killings, imprisonment, resource exploitation and the abuses on the Oromo and the South by Abyssinian colonialist regimes can only stopped by a war of anti-colonial struggle by the Oromos and the Southern Nations.

TPLF Colonial Rule must be the last Abyssinian regime in Oromia and the South

There are still many who think the TPLF can be reformed and implement a genuine federal system prescribed on its constitution so that the empire could be saved from collapse. Those who entertain this dead and buried philosophy must be either have not read or seen the progress of human history and the formation of Nation States or at best stuck in a state of denial and at worst delusional in their grasp and knowledge of how Empires are formed and disintegrated when the subject people rose and liberated themselves. We have witnessed the collapse of the British, Spanish, Portuguese, and French Empires in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America. The fate of Ethiopian Empire must be the same as other Empires in human history because Ethiopian Empire is built on and sustained by degrading her subject peoples, as well as by abusing and plundering their resources.

The following factors aided a minority Tigirian colonialist regime to replace a century old Amhara led colonialist regime in the empire; 1/ the decadence of the empire system due to corruption, 2/ the coup d’état by the imperial army of the 1960s, 3/ the students uprising of the 1974 that ultimately brought down the the imperial regime, 4/ the military junta’s determination to hang on to power by wiping –out all its opponents who wanted to bring genuine change in the empire, 5/ the 1980s famine in Tigre country, which brought lots of aid money and resources that was later capitalised on by the much weaker TPLF movement, and the last but not least the brutal war campaign by the military empire in Eretria that consumed un-precented human and resources all contributed for the TPLF to liberate Tigre areas from Amhara rule as they claim it. However, after observing the disarray in the Military Junta’s military and with the help and encouragement of the Eritrean liberation leaders, the TPLF changed course and managed to fulfil Aste Yohanes dream of replacing Amhara hegemony over the empire by Tigre hegemony. For their new ambitions, the Eritrean Liberation (EPLF), not only directly participated in TPLF’s march towards Finfine but also advised TPLF new elites to form satellite organizations for the Oromos and the Amharas from the Derg soldiers they captured as prisoners of wars (POWS).

The war with Eretria and TPLF’s false attempt to mix and claim both Tigrian nationalism and Ethiopian Nationalism.

The Badme war of the years 1998-2000 between TPLF and EPLF was not the result of mere accident but a calculated move on the part of TPLF rulers to gain the trust of the Amharas who were bitter after their loss of power and the accusation and labelling of TPLF as proxy organization to dismantle the Ethiopian empire supported by the EPLF. The other factor in going to war using Badme as a pre-text was that to give-in to the demands of the hard-core ultra- orthodox TPLF leaders such as Seye Abraha and Gebru Asrat, who resented the inclusion of Assab Port to the new Eritrean state because the loss of the Port of Assab will make a future Tigrian republic a landlocked that cannot sustain itself with its limited human and natural resources. But the dream of re-claiming the Port of Assab by the ultra-orthodox TPLF leaders was dashed when the pro-Eritrean group headed by Meles won the internal battle and defeated the Seye Abrah led group and purged them from the party.

History and the Truth are on our side but they can only be a means to an end if and only if exercised with determination and carefully prosecuted.

Over the last three weeks, we have witnessed how the giant Oromo People have risen in unison to uproot a century old Abyssinian colonization over Oromia and the South once and for all. Also, over the last three weeks, we, the current generations of Oromos and the Southern Nations have witnessed the barbaric and in-humane and violent culture of Abyssinian colonialism like our fore-fathers before us, who suffered and humiliated in the hands of Aste Menilik’ Abyssinian militia that committed genocide that on a scale that a Hitler led Nazi Germany committed on a Jewish population in Europe during the Second World War. The physical genocide committed by the then Menilik’s Abyssinian militia on the Oromos and the Southern nations, particularly on the Nations of Walaita and Sidama was followed by cultural, historical, economic, political, social, environmental and linguistic genocides that lasted the past one hundred years and continued under successive Abyssinian regimes, including the current brutal, fascist and minority TPLF regime.

The past three weeks also showed us the enemy we faced is as brutal and determined to hold onto the empire by killing as many Oromos they could. On the other hand, this in-humane and brutal tactics of our enemy taught all Oromos around the globe to close their ranks and rally in support of their compatriot who stood up to the enemy fire power. This is a massive attempt and shook the TPLF regime to its core. TPLF’s clearly understood its regime is rotten and on its last leg in Oromia and the South but there are already signs that TPLF is trying a last attempt to give-in to the demands of some groups organized under the banner of “Ethiopian unity” but when un-masked Amhara nationalist parties to survive few years so that it can plunder Oromos resources for the development of future Greater Tigray Republic.

The confrontation between the Oromo University students across Oromia and the TPLF and its Janjaweed militia called Agazi army sent shock waves among the Tigrian and some Amhara Organizations determined to see Oromia under their Abyssinian rule to make an urgent call to cooperate in the name of defending the territorial integrity of the nation. To prove this, some Amhara websites and their social media and chat rooms loudly congratulated the TPLF Janjaweed militia’s indiscriminate killings of Oromo children. This solidarity of the Abyssinian’s clearly shows the long standing principles of the two that they are interested in exploiting Oromia’s resources at cost and keep up their marginalisation of the Oromo’s from economic and political aspects in their country. There is also a sign among the TPLF supporters that they should get rid-off the current fake federal structure and article 39 of the constitution that has been demanded by the Amahara elites.

So far, I have made an attempt to show the nature of our enemy and the colonial rule they employed over the past one hundred years in their grip over Oromia’s struggle for liberation and independence.
All past and current experiences tell us one and only one thing, that is Empire rulers will never ever give up and free their subjects without a fight. For example, in the Algerian war of independence, the French colonial army killed millions of Algerians but that event did not stop the Algerians to defeat the French. At the same time, even when the Algerian independent army had liberated nearly ninety per cent of Algeria, there were few Algerian who sided and fought their compatriots with the French colonial army until the French were defeated. This example above shows us that the cooperation of few criminal OPDO leaders in the killings, arrest and harassing of our people back home.

Defeating TPLF abroad and in Oromia

The TPLF in-humane and barbaric rule over Oromia and the South managed to survive due to the following factors: 1/ our lack or failure to rise up as one and waste of energy and resources on our minor and avoidable differences, which the enemy exploited it to the maximum; 2/ The event of September 11, 2001 and its ramifications on genuine liberation struggle across the world, and the maximum exploitation of this event by TPLF to its own advantage to crash Oromo liberation struggle for freedom; 3/ The diplomatic, military support and the billions of aid money TPLF managed to garner from the West. All these three major factors indicated above and may be more cemented TPLF’s grip on Oromia by killing innocent Oromos at will and plundering Oromia’s resources with no challenge. Our differences in tactics and strategies of the struggle should not have been greater than our nation Oromia as the nation is bigger than the collections of its citizens. Oromia is so big leave alone its citizens but has been feeding and supporting aliens and the Ethiopian empire state for over one hundred years. There are plenty of more rooms not only for Oromos but for others to live in Oromia in peace in a future independent, a democratic system based on our Gada System. As one famous Oromo revolutionary singer puts it, peace and tranquillity will reign in a free Oromia and Oromos will gather under the Odaa Tree to formulate laws and by-laws that will govern everything on the land, including their differences like our fore-fathers did in the past.

As I indicated above somewhere in this article, TPLF can be defeated abroad by the diaspora community by lobbying and continuous protest and social action that must be must be used employed in Western capitals and lobbying their MP’s, Congressmen/women, senators. The following are the three major financial and military supporters of the TPLF regime. These countries include, The USA, the British, Germany and Norway. These four countries pay for the TPLF Janjaweed Agazi militia, the civil service salary and other expenses that the TPLF uses to abuse our people. Other major Institutions that also finance TPLF military campaign in Oromia are; The European Union, IMF and the World Bank. These countries and Institutions are not aware of their tax payers money is used in abusing, displacing and dispossessing the indigenous populations. They only believe the concocted development statistics by the regime and few of the new high-rise buildings and some roads that the regime shows them. Some of them decided to look the other way because we were not able to present the glaring facts in a united, coordinated and sustained front. We have to change this course and make a planned, coordinated and sustained campaign in the capital cities of these countries and institutions. The recent victory by the Minnesota Oromo diaspora at the State level is a good example of what a coordinated and sustained lobbying and campaign can achieve. TPLF spends millions of aid dollar on lobbyist in Washington, London and other European cities. We have to take the fight to TPLF in these cities and stop the tax payer’s money that flows to TPLF coffers to abuse and dispossess our compatriot at home. These actions must be financed and coordinated by the global Oromo diaspora. Each and every one of us in the diaspora is a representative or diplomats for our people back home around the globe.

In conclusion, our road ahead will be up and down and full of obstacles but if we persevere and stand firm with our people back home, the victory is ours and in-sight because history and the truth is on our side. If we fail to stand up to TPLF and confront it now, TPLF is determined to slice and sell Oromia and make us a minority in our own back yard like what the Chinese did to the Tibetans and the Uighurs by settling the Han Chinese in Tibetans and Uighurs land. It is an urgent call and duty of each and every Oromo to close ranks and counted on to save Oromia now or accept defeat and live with shame and humiliation. History and future generations of Oromos will judge us on the actions we take now. There is a loud call of duty to all of us from mother Oromia to save her now. Let’s us be the generation that shall make an end to the Abyssinian colonization in Oromia and build a vibrant, peaceful independent Oromo republic, where all her inhabitants will be governed in her Gada democratic principles.

Victory to the Oromo and the Southern People.

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopia crackdown on student protests taints higher education success

Western backers of the Ethiopian education system should not ignore reports of violent clashes on university campuses

Oromia, Ethiopia, where at least three dozen people were reportedly shot dead by security forces during student protests

Over the past 15 years, Ethiopia has become home to one of the world's fastest-growing higher education systems. Increasing the number of graduates in the country is a key component of the government's industrialisation strategy and part of its ambitious plan to become a middle-income country by 2025. Since the 1990s, when there were just two public universities, almost 30 new institutions have sprung up.

On the face of it, this is good news for ordinary Ethiopians. But dig a little deeper and tales abound of students required to join one of the three government parties, with reports of restricted curricula, classroom spies and crackdowns on student protests commonplace at universities.

Nowhere has this been more evident than in Ambo in Oromia state. On 25 April, protests against government plans to bring parts the town under the administrative jurisdiction of the capital, Addis Ababa, began at Ambo University. By the following Tuesday, as protests spread to the town and other areas of Oromia, dozens of demonstrators had been killed in clashes with government forces, according to witnesses.

As Ethiopia experiences rapid economic expansion, its government plans to grow the capital out rather than up, and this involves annexing parts of the surrounding Oromia state. An official communique from the government absolved it of all responsibility for the clashes, claiming that just eight people had been killed and alleging that the violence had been coordinated by a few rogue anti-peace forces. The government maintains that it is attempting to extend Addis Ababa's services to Oromia through its expansion of the city limits.

However, Oromia opposition figures tell a different story. On 2 May, the nationalist organisation the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) issued a press release that condemned the "barbaric and egregious killing of innocent Oromo university students who have peacefully demanded the regime to halt the displacement of Oromo farmers from their ancestral land, and the inclusion of Oromo cities and surrounding localities under Finfinnee [Addis Ababa] administration under the pretext of development". The Addis Ababa regime dismisses the OLA as a terrorist organisation.

While news of the killing of unarmed protesters has caused great concern among many Ethiopians, there has been little coverage overseas. The government maintains strict control over the domestic media; indeed, it frequently ranks as one of the world's chief jailers of journalists, and it is not easy to come by independent reporting of events in the country.

Nevertheless, the government's communique does run contrary to reports by the few international media that did cover the attacks in Ambo, which placed the blame firmly on government forces.

The BBC reported that a witness in Ambo saw more than 20 bodies on the street, while Voice of America (VOA) reported that at least 17 protesters were killed by "elite security forces" on three campuses in Oromia. Local residents maintain that the figure [of those killed] was much higher.

These reports, while difficult to corroborate, have been backed up by Human Rights Watch, which issued a statement saying that "security forces have responded [to the protests] by shooting at and beating peaceful protesters in Ambo, Nekemte, Jimma, and other towns with unconfirmed reports from witnesses of dozens of casualties". One university lecturer said he had been "rescued from the live ammunition", and that it was the "vampires – the so-called federal police" who fired on the crowds.

The Ethiopian government likes to trumpet its higher education system to its western aid backers as a crowning success of its development policy. As billions in foreign aid are spent annually on Ethiopia, the west must be more cognisant of the fact that this money helps reinforce a government which cuts down those who dare to speak out against it.

Inevitably, continued support for such an oppressive regime justifies its brutal silencing of dissent. Yes, the higher education system has grown exponentially over the past 15 years but the oppression and killing of innocent students cannot be considered an achievement. Any system which crushes its brightest should not be considered a success.

Paul O'Keeffe is a doctoral fellow at La Sapienza University of Rome, where he focuses on the higher education system in Ethiopia

=>theguardian