Thursday, September 26, 2013

Ayyaana Irreecha Oromoo: as one of the many ways to celebrate Oromummaa - By Iddoosaa Ejjetaa, Ph.D. | September 26, 2013
Irreecha Oromoo is one of the many ways that the Oromoo Communities have been celebrating Oromummaa, which is neither political ideology nor religious dogma. Oromummaa is a real manifestation of work and life styles of the Oromoo people. Oromummaan jiruu fi jireenyaa ummataa Oromootii. Why do the Oromoo people and respective Oromoo Communities at home and abroad celebrate Irreechaa every year? The way Oromoo Communities around the globe celebrating their indigenous culture is an uplifting. The rationales have given by Oromoo Communities particularly those who are residing abroad are knowledge -based and thoughtful, indeed. The Oromoo people are not only celebrating but also revitalizing and teaching the Oromoo indigenous experience to new Oromoo generation and the world.
I highly commend these Oromoo communities, members and organizers around the globe for being goodwill ambassador of Oromiyaa and its Gadaa culture and traditions. One of such goodwill ambassadors is the Oromoo Communities in Melbourne, Australia. I found a short but concise answer for the question I posed above, and directly extracted from online post for public consumption or educational purposes:
The Irreecha festival is a unique and fantastic cultural celebration that repeats once in a year, and involves special social and cultural activities. It is celebrated as a sign of reciprocating Waaqa (God) in the form of providing praise for what we got in the past, and is also a forum of prayer for the future. It has been observed by the Oromoo people at Odaa Mormor for more than 6400 years and at Odaa Nabee, Hora Harsadii, for the last 1800 years. It has a lot of importance in our community lives. We celebrate Irreecha to thank Waaqa for the blessings and mercies we have received throughout the past year at the sacred places with symbolic meanings, such as hilltops, riverside and shades of big sacred trees. We also celebrate to welcome the new season of plentiful harvests after the dark and rainy winter season associated with nature and creature. Irreecha Festivals bring people closer to each other and make social bonds. On Irreecha festivals, friends, family, and relatives gather together and celebrate with joy and happiness. We celebrate the Irreecha festival to follow our tradition, to work on this fabulous festival and to maintain and preserve the Oromoo culture. The ceremony is celebrated with different kinds of events, such as singing Mareehoo songs, blessing by elders, performing Irreecha rituals and social activities.
As described, celebrating Irreecha Oromoo means celebrating one of the many qualities Oromummaa, which is neither political ideology nor religious dogma. So it should be a sacred duty of every Ilmaan Gadaa Oromoo to celebrate Ayyaana Irreechaa as one family without religious, political and regional affiliations, and uplift their aspiration to revitalize and build the Gadaa Republic of Oromiyaa where Abbaa Gadaa Oromoo shall be the father of the Oromoo nation.
Human psychology notifies that if a person looks at himself as a loser, he believes that others see him the same way and most likely he acts like loser. This changes the mind set and make difficult to act as true-self. As long as an individual Oromoo mind occupied with colonial elements, no doubt that the Oromoo will continue to lose the battle. There is no driver who can take two routes at the same time and no soldier who win the battle with double mind or heart. No one can maintain national identity without consciously built nationalism that based on shared- values. At the same time, nationalism cannot consolidate and become a political domain without practicing and living with these shared values such as Oromummaa.
As people of one nation that had made for peace, justice and equality, therefore, every member of the Oromoo family must celebrate Ayyaana Irreechaa as one family without being influenced by external values such modern religion, political parties and regional affiliations. We all are Ilmaan Gadaa Oromoo who would have shared the following fundamental values:
The Nine Basics of Oromummaa: Saglaan Hundee Oromummaa
1. Accepting Afaan Oromoo as the national language.

2. Accepting Gadaa Oromoo as the source of Indigenous Knowledge Reserve Institution.

3. Recognizing Waaqeffannaa as indigenous sources for moral ethics and spiritual

4. Recognizing the Oromoo value systems are based on first among equals where Abbaa Gadaa Oromoo is the Leader of the Oromoo Nation.

5. Pledging to the Oromoo national colors, Fajji Abbaa Gadaa are Black, Red and White.

6. Recognizing Oromoo national defense has based on Abba Duula’s military doctrine.

7. Recognizing Oromoo political system is the reflection of The Oromoo Gadaa Republic.

8. Understanding the Gadaa Republic of Oromiyaa is our national identity.

9. Recognizing Oromummaa as a motto for Work and Life styles, Jiruu fi Jireenyaa Oromoo.
Happy Oromoo Thanksgiving, Ayyaana Irreecha Oromoo, 2013!
The Gadaa Republic of Oromiyaa Shall is Free by United Forces & Resources of the Oromoo People!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

VOICE OF OROMIA: ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ ታሰሩ - አንድነት የፊታችን እሁድ ለሚያደርገው ሰላማዊ ሰል...

ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ ታሰሩ - አንድነት የፊታችን እሁድ ለሚያደርገው ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ መቀስቀሱን፤ ኢሕአዴግ ማሰሩን ቀጥለዋል
September 25, 2013 (Zehabesha) — የቀድሞ የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬዘዳንት እና የአሁኑ የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ (አንድነት) ሊቀመንበር ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ መታሰራቸውን ብስራት ወልደሚካኤል ከአዲስ አበባ አዘገበ፡ ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ መታሰራቸው የተገለጸው ዛሬ መስከረም 15 ቀን 2006ዓ.ም. ሲሆን ዘ-ሐበሻ ወደ አንድነት ጽህፈት ቤት ደውላ “ዛሬ እስከ ጠዋት ድረስ ሥራ ላይ ነበሩ’ የሚል ምላሽ አግኝታ ነበር። አሁን ይህን ዜና እየዘገብን ባለንበት ወቅት ወደ አዲስ አበባ የአንድነት አመራሮች ጋር ስንደውል ስልኮቻቸውን ያነሱ ሁለት የአንድነት አመራሮች የዶ/ር ነጋሶን መታሰር ለዘ-ሐበሻ አረጋግጠዋል።
የፍኖተ ነፃነት ጋዜጠኛ ብስራት እንደዘገበው “አንድነት ፓርቲ አባላት በጉለሌ ክፍለ ከተማ መስከረም 19 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም. በአዲስ አበባ መስቀል አደባባይ ለተጠራው ህዝባዊ የተቃውሞ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ በሽሮ ሜዳ ቅስቀሳ በማድረግ ላይ ሳሉ መታሰራቸውን ተከትሎ የፓርቲው ሊቀመንበር ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ያዘዝኩት እኔ ስለሆንኩ ልጆቹን ልቀቁ፤ ከፈለጋችሁ እኔን ማሰር ትችላላችሁ በማለታቸው የጣቢያው ፖሊሶች ዶ/ሩ ነጋሶን ማሰራቸው ተረጋግጧል።”
(የአንድነት አባላት በቅስቅሳ ላይ) ፎቶ ምንጭ የሚሊዮኖች ድምጽ ለነፃነት
ፖሊሶች ዶ/ር ነጋሶን ከያዙበት ሽሮሜዳ ወደ ጉለሌ ፖሊስ መምሪያ በፖሊስ መኪና እና በበርካታ ፖሊሶች ታጅበው መወሰዳቸውን የዘገበው ብስራት በቅስቀሳ ላይ እያሉ የታሰሩትን የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላትን ለማስፈታት ሄደው ዶ/ር ነጋሶ በምትካቸው በመታሰራቸው የተለቀቁት የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላትም ቅስቀሳቸውን ቀጥለዋል።
በእሁድ መስከረም 19 ቀን 2005ዓ.ም. በአዲስ አበባ መስቀል አደባባይ ለሚደረገው ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ቅስቀሳ እያደረጉ የሚገኙ ከ28 በላይ ሰዎችን ለማስፈታት ወደ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ያመሩት ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ‹ልጆቹ የፈጸሙት ህገ ወጥ ድርጊት የለም፣ሲቀሰቅሱ የነበሩትም እውቅና የተሰጠውን ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ነው፡፡ቅስቀሳው ህገ ወጥ ነው የምትሉም ከሆነ እነርሱን የላኳቸው እኔ በመሆኔ እኔን ልታስሩኝ ትችላላችሁ” ማለታቸው ተዘግቧል።
ይህ ዜና እክሰተጠናቀረበት ጊዜ ድረስ ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ያልተፈቱ ሲሆን የፊታችን እሁድ ለሚደረገው ሰልፍ ቅስቀሳ ላይ ያሉት የአንድነት አባላት በቄራ አካባቢ ሲታሰሩ የሚቀሰቅሱበት መኪናም በፖሊስ ታግቷል።

VOICE OF OROMIA: WBOn Haleellaa Mootummaa W...

Ayyaantuu News Online : WBOn Haleellaa Mootummaa Wayyaanee Irratti Fudhataa Jiru Itti Fufuu Beeksise - Madda Oduu ABO/MOA | Fulbaana 23,2013)
Humni addaa WBO Hararge Dhihaa keessa sosso’u tarkaanfii gara garaa fudhataa jiruun diina raasaa fi ummata gammachiisuu irratti argama. Akka kanaan Fulbaana 2, 2013 Harargee Dhihaa Ona Mi’eessoo karaa gara Gololchaa geessu irratti miseensa tikaa sirna Wayyaanee Alamayyoo jedhamu irratti tarkaanfii fudhateen akka hamaatti madeessuu irraa waldhaansaaf gara Finfinneetti dabarfamee jira.
Fulbaana 2, 2013 akkasuma Ona Mi’eessoo magaalaa Mi’eessoo cinaatti tika diinaa ummata hiraarsuun beekamu Fiqaaduu Fiqree jedhamu irratti tarkaanfii fudhateen du’aan adabe.
Kana malees humni addaa WBO Harargee Dhihaa keessa sosso’u Ona Xulloo Dabbasoo bakka Jaldoo jedhamutti humna diinaa paatroolii irra turetti haxxee hidhuun haleelee loltoota diinaa 7 konkolaataa ittiin sosso’aa turan waliin barbadeesse. Loltoota diinaa ajjeefaman keessatti gaafatamaan tikaa Olaanaa naannoo sanii Komander Lammaa jedhamu keessatti argama.
Humni addaa WBO tarkaanfii itti fufiinsaan fudhateen Ona Doobbasoo bakka Aynaagee jedhamuttis humna diinaa sakattaa irra ture haleeluun loltoota 8 ajjeesee 5 madeese. Lola kanaanis diina irraa meeshaa lolaa adda addaa hiikkatuu ajaji WBO Godinaa Harargee Dhihaa hubachiisa. Gama kaaniin Gootichi WBO Shawaa keessa sosso’u tarkaanfii gootummaa diina irratti fudhateen qondaala basaasaa diinaa tokko ajjeesee loltoota 2 isa waliin turan haalaan madeessuu beeksise. Tarkaanfii Fulbaana 19, 2013 galgala keessaa sa’aa 8:45 irratti Ona Boosat magaalaa Olancitii keessatti humni addaa WBO fudhateen qondaalli tikaa Wayyaanee Shambal G/Igzabeer jedhamu mana isaa keessatti oggaa ajjeefamu loltoota 2 fi namoota biro 3 isa waliin turan madaa’uu irraa gara hospitaala Adaamaatti geeffamuu ajajni WBO hubachiise. Basaasota diinaa kanneen wayta tarkaanfiin kun irratti fudhatame ummata Oromoo irratti karaa hojii basaasummaa itti jabeessaan irratti mari’ataa akka turan ajajni humna addaa WBO beeksise. Kana malees Qondaalli diinaa tarkaanfii WBOn ajjeefame kun Adaamaa hanga Dirree Dawaatti sosso’uun kan Oromoota hiisisaa fi ajjeesisaa ture tahuu kan hubachiise ibsi ajajaa WBO itti fufuun Shambal G/Igzaabeer dhiheenya kana sabboonaa Oromoo Taammiruu Alamuu ajjeesisu fi abbaa fi obboleeyyan isaa hidhuun irratti roorrisaa jiraachuu beeksise. Tarkaanfii diina irratti fudhatame kanaan ummatni naannoo gammachuu isaa WBOf ibseera.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Azeb Mesfin arrest imminent

September 24, 2013

Azeb Mesfin, the widow of Ethiopia’s deceased dictator, is facing multiple charges of corruption and her arrest is imminent unless she leaves the country, according to Ethiopian Review sources in Addis Ababa.

Political and business associates of Azeb Mesfin are dropping like flies. The biggest one to fall was Gebrewahid WoldeGiorgis, a senior official, who was charged with stealing over one hundred million Birr. Others are leaving the country with their families. Since May 2013, over 50 high profile TPLF officials and businessmen have been arrested on charges of corruption. All of them are associates and partners of Azeb.

Azeb, also known as, the Mother of Corruption, is currently being protected by Abay Woldu, chairman of the ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), and Bereket Simon, former propaganda chief, but both Abay and Berket are being marginalized, and Abay is fighting to maintain his diminishing authority over TPLF.

Irreechaa bara 2013 Kana’ratti Hundi Keenyaa Harka Wal-Qabannee Wayyaanee Haa Balaaleffannu

Baarentuu Gadaa | Fulbaana 24, 2013

Irreechaa bara 2013 Kana’ratti Hundi Keenyaa Bakka Itti Ayyaaneeffannutti Harka Wal-Qabannee Dhiittaa Mirga Namoomaa fi Ukkaamsaa Wayyaaneen Nurraan Gahaa Jirtu Haa Balaaleffannu, Adduunyaattis Sagalee Keenya Haa Dhageessifannu!

Impaayera Itiyoophiyaa keessa ayyaanoonni fi qophiileen sabaa fi sablammoonni biyyatti heeddumminaan irratti hirmaatan danuu dha. Ayyaanoonnii fi qophiileen kun baay’een isaanii kan amantiidhaan walitti hidhaman yoo tahan kaan isaanii ammoo kan mootummoonni abbootiin irree Impaayerittii bulchaa turanii fi jiran dirqiidhaan akka uummattoonni biyyattii irratti hirmaatan taasifamanii dha. Qophiilee fi sirni kabaja ayyaanota uummattoonni biyyattii keessattuu uummanni Oromoo heddumminaan fedhiidhaanis ta’ee dirqiidhaan irratti hirmaachaa ture heddu kaasun ni danda’ama. Kanneen uummanni Oromoos ta’ee saboonni Impaayera Itiyoophiyaa keessa jiran fedhiidhan irratti hirmaatan keessaa ; kan akka guyyaa Irreechaa/Waaqeeffannaa, Iida, fi guyyaa Dhaloota Kiristoosii fi kanneen biroo kaasuun ni danda’ama.

Itiyoophiyaa keessatti qophiilee dirqamaan mootummoonni abbootiin irree humnaan akka uummattoonni biyyattii bahanii kabajan taasisaa turanis heeddu tarreessuu dandeenya. Akka fakkeenyaatti bara mootii H/Sillaasee “guyyaa dhaloota isaa fi hangoo itti qabate” uummanni bahee kabajuun, hiriiruun, isaaf sagaduun dirqama ture. Bara Dargii ammoo guyyaa” Abiyootii” bahanii hiriiraan kabajuu diduun nama adabisiisa, farra warraaqisaatiis nama taasiisa. Bara ammaa; bara wayyaaneen uummattoota Impaayera Itiyoophiyaa keessa jiran humnaan dhiittee saamaa bulchaa jirtu kana keessa ammoo wanti hunduu caalaatti cimee guyyaan hiriiraa fi ayyaanaa mootumichaa dachaa heedduun dabaleera. Kan akka “Ginboot 20, ye higga mangisti qan, ye biheerasabooch qan, Ye baandiraa qan”, fi kanneen kana fafakkaatan hedduu dha. Irratti argamuuniis dirqama.

Qophiilee fi ayyaanoota mootummoota abbaa irreetiin qophaawan kana hundumaa yoo walitti qabnee laallu garuu kan faayidaa uumataatiif qophaawan osoo hin taane; sirnoota abbootii irree kana dheereessuuf kan akka waltajjii holoolaatti tajaajilanii dha. Mootummaan wayyaanee / IHDG ammoo sirumaawuu hiriiraa fi ayyaanoota ofii qopheessee uummattoota biyyattii humnaan irratti hirmaachisu itti hanqannaan yeroo ammaa kana akkuma argaa fi dhagahaa jirru sirna Irreechaa/waqeeffannaa, Guyyaa ayyaana amantaa Musliimaa, Kiristaanaa fi kanneen biroo waltajjii sanarratti argamuun keessas galuudhan akkan ani isin qajeelcheetti deemaa, akkan ani fedhuu fi hawwutti tarkaafadhaa jechaat jira. Guyyaa ayyaanni akka Irreechaa, Iidaa, kiristaanaa fi kanneen biroo kabajaman dabbaloota isaa bobbaasuun amantii gara dirree siyaasa wayyaanee/IHDGtti jijjirat jira. Oggantoonni amntoolee kanaa akka isa faarsan, akka isa deeggaranii fi isaaf sagadan taasisaat jira. Haala kanaanis uummattootaa fi Ordooftoota amntii gar-gar keennaa fi gurshaa adda addaatin qooduun wal dura dhaabbachiisuuf amma danda’e wixxirfachurratti argama. Yoo dafee itti yaadamee deemsi isaa kun gabaabatti cite malee gochaan wayyaanee kun uummata gabrummaa jala jiruf, uummata bilisummaa dheebootee jiruuf balaa guddaa qaba. Oolee bulee rakkina wal-xaxaa uumuu danda’a.

Uummattoonni biyyattii yeroo sirna waaqeeffannaaf, adaa isaanii agarsiisuudhaaf, ykn dirqiisiisa mootummaa wayyaaneetin iddoo tokkootti wal argan/dhufan ykn hiriira adda addaarratti hirmaatan waa heddu dalaguu danda’u. uummattoonni cunqurfamoonni biyyattii keessa jiran shira wayyaaneetiin wal-dura dhaabbachuu dhiisanii iddoo waaqeeffachuuf walitti qabamniittis haa tahu iddoo hiriira adda addaatiif walitti dhufanitti humna isaanii iddoo tokkootti walitti dhufe sana faayidaa walootiif, kabajamuu mirga isaaniitii fi bilisummaa isaanitiif oolfachuu danda’u. Keessattuu uummanni Oromoo yoo itti yaadee, karoorfatee ka’ee mirga isaa kabachiifachuuf iddoon akka Irreechaa, masijiidaa fi mana amantaa kiristaanaa bakka olaanaa qaba. Madda jijjiramaa fi sirreefama sirnaa ta’uu danda’a. Kanaaf fakkeenya guddaa tahuu kan danda’u qabsaawaa mirga gurraachoota Ameerikaa kan ture DR. Maartine Lutter King 2ffaa dha. Ka’uumsi nama kabajamaa fi jaalatamaa kanaa fi Ordoftoota isaa mana amantaa Kiristaanaa ture waan ta’eef.

Har’a Impaayera Itiyoophiyaa keessatti fedhii fi dirqiidhaan Ayaanaa fi qophiilee gara garaa sababeeffachuun walgahii fi hiriirri hedduumaatee jira. Keessattuu ayyaanootaa fi qophiilee fedhii uummataatiin qophaawanirratti kan hirmaatan lakkoofsaanis haata’u fudhatamummaadhan iddoo olaanaa qabu. Sabaa fi sablammoonni hedduuniis ayyaanoota kanarratti ni hirmaatu. Carraan akkasii ammoo uummatoota cunqursaa fi gabrummaa jala jiraniif keessattu uummata akka Oromootiif carraa faayidaa guddaa qabuudha. Kan yeroo ammaa kana biyyoota gara garaa keessatti argaa fi dhagahaa jirus kanuma. Uummanni ayyaanoota adda addaa kana kabajuuf walitti dhufes haa tahu inni dirqamaan mootummaaan baafame eennaa mirga isaa fi bilisummaa isaaf falamatu argaina. Qaanqeen iddoolee sirni amanataa fi aadaa itti gaggeefamuu kaate yoo biyya heedduu keechatti laboobdee abbootii irree waaddituu fi hangoo humnaan qabatanirraa buuftu argaat jira.

Yeroo ammaa kana biyya arbaatti, salaata jimu’aan booda, biyya kiristaanaatti kadhannaa sanbataatiin booda, hawaasni iddichatti argame gaafii mootuummoota abbaa irreerratti kaase yoo jabeessee itti fufu argaa jirra. Kan bilisoomees kan bilisummaaf karaa gahees argaa fi dhagaat jirra. Gama uummattoota cunqurfamoo Itiyoophiyaa keessa jiraniitti yoo deebine ammoo carraan fi iddoon gaafilee akkasii; gaafii mirgaa , dimookiraasii fi bilisummaa itti kaasan hedduu dha. Inni tokko hiriira mootummaan koottaa na deegaraa jedhee humnaan isaan baasurratti isuma mootumaa wayyaaneetti gargaluudhaan jibbaa fi diddaa qaban agarsiisuu fi ofirraa fonqolchuuf gamtaan sochoo’uu yoo tahu; inni lammataa ammoo manneen amantaa adda addaa fi bakka akka Irreechii itti kabajamuuutti gaafii fi jabba mootummaa abbaa irreef qaban sagalee tokkoon ol-fuudhanii adduunyaaf dhageesifachuu dha.

Muuxannoo fi dhugaa adduunyaa kanarratti argaa jirruun abbootiin irree keessattuu kanneen akka wayyaanee uummanni gocha isaanii hiriira bahee akka balaaleffattuf hin heyyaman. Mootummaa akka wayyaanee kan hiriiraa hin heyyamne kana ofirraa buusuuf ammoo carraan jiru uummanni cunqurfamaan akka Oromoo wayitii ayyaanootaa fi sababa adda addaatiin walitti dhufu mormii fi jibba mootummaa abbaa irreef qabu tokkummaan dhaabbatee adduunyaaf agarsiisudha. Isa aksiitiif ammoo sirni akka ayyaanaa Irreecha Bishooftuu fi Oromiyaa Iddoo gara garaatti kabajamuu iddoo olaanaa qaba.

Uummanni Oromoo mootummaa abbaa iirree fi saamichaa wayyaanee ofirraa buusuu fi gocha isaa gara jabinaa kana adduunyaatti muldhiisuuf carraalee qabu hundattuu fayyadamuu qaba. keessattuu dargaggeessi/Qeerroon/ Oromoo karaa saaquudhaan adda duree tahuun fardii dha. Uummanni Oromoo Qabsoo hidhannoo dhaaba ijoolleen isaa ijaaran ABOdhan gaggeeffamu cinaatti bakka jirutti gurmaawee murna isa saamaa , ajjeesaa fi hidhaa jirtu wayyaaneerratti sagalee diddaa gabrummaa dhageessiisuu qaba. wayyaanee ofirraa buusuuf lafa amantaa isaa, aadaa fi duudhaa isaa itti gaggeessuu hundattuu sagalee diddaa dhageessifachuun murteessa dha.

Akkuma beekamu dhuma fulbaanaa kanarra ayyaanni Irreechaa uummata Oromoo guutuu biyyatiiraa dhufu fi jaalattoota aadaa isaatiin sirna hoo’aadhaan ni kabajama. Sirni kabaja Ayyana Irreechaa Oromoon miliyoona hedduun lakkaawwamu irratti argamu kun ammoo sirna achumatti wal arginee Irreeffannee sirbinee, dhiichifnee gallu qofaaf oolu tahuu hin qabu. Akkuma biyyoota Arabaa fi biyyatoo amantiilee biraa hordofan keessatti argine iddoon akkasii madda jijjiramaa fi mirga ofii itti kabachiisuuf socho’an ta’uu qaba. Ummanni Oromootis kana hubachuun sochii isaa cimsee irree tokkoon sirna Irreechaa booda mirga isaa wayyaaneedhaan sarbame gaafatachuu qaba. Kanarratti dargaggeessi Oromoo /Qeerroon/, sabboontoonnii fi jaalattoonni bilisummaa Oromoo uumata cinaa goruun gaafii uummataichaa adduunyaaf calaqqisiisuudhaaf of qopheessuu qabu. uumata sochoosuudhaan, ijaaranii iddoolee akkasii baayyee murteessaa tahanitti akka sagalee tokoon rakkina isaa beeksifatu gahee guddaa taphachuu qabu. Iddoo mirgii fi bilisummaan isaa wayyaaneedhaan sarbamee, ijoolleen isaa ajjeefamaa fi hidhamaa jirtutti dhiichisee, Irreefatee galuu qofti Oromoof Gammachuu hin kennu.

Dhiichisanii sirbanii “kan baranaa kan bara egareetiin nu gahii” jedhanii irreefatanii galuun yoo mana nagahaa, tasgabaahaa fi kan ofii qabaatanii dha. Kan Oromoon keessa jiru gabrummaa dha. Gabrummaa kana jalaa baanee abbaa biyyaa fi abbaa malkaa ta’uuf ammoo hundii keenyaa carraa aragannee fi qabnuun mirga keenyaaf falmachuutu nurraa eegama. Birraan kunis yoos; birraa jijjiramaa, birraa bilisumma taha. Kanaafuu ayyaana Irreechaa bara 2013 kan akka walii galaatti magaalaa Bishooftuu Hora Arsadiitti kabajamurrattis ta’ee Malkaa Oromoon qabu maraarratti mirgaa fi bilisummaa keenyaaf sagalee keenya tokko goonee ol kaafnee yaa iyyinu, Adduunyaatti haa dhageechifannu! Yoo Abbaan iyyate Ollaan namaaf mirmata waan ta’eef!

Maal Dhaammate Gootnii??

Saturday, September 21, 2013

London: Conference on the Human Rights Situation in the Worst Hit Regions in Ethiopia – September 28, 2013

September 22, 2013 at 9:33 am · Gadaa.com

To all Oromos and Friends of Oromo!

A human rights advocacy group, composed of oppressed peoples, have organized a conference on the current state of human rights situation in the worst hit regions in Ethiopia (Oromia, Ogaden, Somali, Sidama Shakacho, Anyuak and Benishangul States).

Coordinated and sustainable effort is needed to make an end to repression and bring perpetrators to justice

Please come & take a part in this important work.

Date: 28 September 2013
Time: 14:00 – 21:30pm
Venue: West Training Unit 16 Merrick Road, Southall, UB2 4 AU, London

The Oromo make up a significant portion of the population occupying the Horn of Africa. In the Ethiopian Empire alone, Oromo constitute about 40 million of the Ethiopian Empire. In fact, Oromo is one of the most numerous nations in Africa which enjoys a homogeneous culture and shares a common language, history and descent and once shared common political, religious and legal institutions. During their long history, the Oromo developed their own cultural, social and political system known as the Gadaa system. It is a uniquely democratic political and social institution that governed the life of every individual in the society from birth to death.

Ecologically and agriculturally Oromia (Oromo country) is the richest region in the Horn of Africa. Livestock products, coffee, oil seeds, spices, mineral resources and wild life are all diverse and abundant. In spite of all these advantages, a century of colonisation by Abyssinia (Ethiopia), a backward nation itself, has meant that the Oromo people have endured a stagnant existence where ignorance and famine have been coupled with ruthless oppression, subjugation, exploitation and above all, extermination. Thus for the last one hundred years under the Ethiopian rule, the Oromo have gained very little, if anything, in the way of political, social and economic progress.

The Oromo were colonised during the last quarter of the nineteenth century by a black African nation - Abyssinia - with the help of the European colonial powers of the day. During the same period, of course, the Somalis, Kenyans, Sudanese and others were colonised by European powers. The fact that the Oromo were colonised by black African nation makes their case quite special.

During the process of colonisation, between 1870 and 1900, the Oromo population was reduced from ten to five millions. This period coincides with the occupation of Oromo land by the Abyssinian emperors Yohannes and Menilek. After colonisation, these emperors and their successors continued to treat Oromo with utmost cruelty. Many were killed by the colonial army and settlers, others died of famine and epidemics of various diseases or were sold off as slaves. Those who remained on the land were reduced to the status of gabbar (a peasant from whom labour and produce is exacted and is a crude form of serfdom).

Haile Selassie consolidated Yohannes and Meniiek's gains and with the use of violence, obstructed the process of natural and historical development of the Oromo society - political, economic and social. In all spheres of life, discrimination, subjugation, repression and exploitation of all forms were applied. Everything possible was done to destroy Oromo identity - culture, language, custom, tradition, name and origin. In short Haile Selassie maintained the general policy of genocide against the Oromo.

The 1974 revolution was brought about by the relentless struggle over several years by, among others, the Oromo peasants. The military junta, headed by Mengistu Haile-Mariam, usurped power and took over the revolution. This regime has continued on the path of emperors Yohannes, Menilek and Haile Selassie in the oppression, subjugation and exploitation of Oromo, the settlement of Abyssinians on Oromo land and the policy of genocide.

Forced to fight against Eritreans, the Somalis and others, many Oromo have fallen in battle. Many others have died on the streets of cities and towns during the so-called "Red Terror" period and in a similar programme that has been expanded in the countryside since then. Massacres in towns and villages coupled with bombing and search and destroy programmes have caused the destruction of human lives, crops, animals and property, have driven Oromo from their land and forced them to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Not surprisingly, this ruthless oppression and persecution of peoples has resulted in the largest flight of refugees in Africa. A very large proportion of the refugees in the Horn of Africa are Oromo.

In its attempt to oppress and eliminate the essential elements of Oromo culture, the present regime has used cover-up words such as 'development, relief, settlement, villagization and literacy campaign' to mislead the world. In fact most of these programmes and projects have been aimed at displacing Oromo people and denying them freedom, justice, human dignity and peace, thereby hastening the process of Amharization or de-Oromization.

The struggle of the Oromo people, then, is nothing more than an attempt to affirm their own place in history. It seeks equality, human dignity, democracy, freedom and peace. It is not directed against the masses of a particular nation or nationality, nor against individuals, but rather against Ethiopian colonialism led by the Amhara ruling class and the naftanyas (Amhara colonial settlers) and against feudalism and imperialism. Thus it is the Ethiopian colonial system and not the Amhara masses or individuals which is under critical consideration.

Today when nearly all of the African peoples have won independence, the Oromo continue to suffer under the most backward and savage Ethiopian settler colonialism. All genuinely democratic and progressive individuals and groups, including members of the oppressor nation, Amhara, who believe in peace, human dignity and liberty should support the Oromo struggle for liberation.

Although the Oromo nation is one of the largest in Africa, it is forgotten by or still unknown to the majority of the world today. Unfortunately even the name Oromo is unknown to many, and this should not be allowed to continu

Seenaa Gabrummaa Dhaaluun Yoom Dhaabbata?

Habaabileen keenya akaakilee keenyaaf, Biyyaa fi ummata seenaa mataa isaa qabu dhiisanii dabran . akaakileen keenya ammoo, Biyya walabummaa qabdu dhaalee, Biyya gabrummaa jalaatti kufte Abbootii keenyaaf dhaalsise dabre . Abbootiin keenyaa fi dhalooti isaan harkaa fuudhes, waan Abbootii isaanii irraa dhaalan bakkatti deebisuuf qabsoo wal irraa hin cinne gaggeessaa haa jiraatan malee, seenaan waggaa 150 olii, gabrummaa waliif dabarsuudha. Qooqa, aadaa, dudhaa, seenaa gabrummaa jalatti sukkumamu walii dabarsaa har’a geenye jirra. Biyyaa fi Ummati kabajamaan kun garuu har’allee gabrummaa jala jira. Dhalooti har’as, imaanaa abbootii isaa fi akaakilee isaa bakkatti deebisuuf, lubbuu isaa bakka bu’aa hin qabne wareeguuf gama hundaan sochii taasisaa jira.

Ani akkan hubadhutti, seenaan gabrummaa wal dhaalsiisuu kun dhaabbachuu kan dadhabeef, hanqina nuuti hubachuu dadhabne lama irraati natti fakkaata. Inni duraa waan habaabileen keenya Biyya walaboomte keessa isaan jiraachise san kan dhaallee nutti fakkaatu fi nu keessa jira jennu caalaa, waan diinni ittin nu cabsu qaama taasifachuu keenya hubachuu dhabuu yennaa ta’u, inni lammaaffaan, gootummaan habaabilee keenyaa innii haqaa nu keessa waan hin jirreefidha. Ni jenna malee, hojiin nu keessa hin jiru. Kun lameen sirritti nu keessa odoo jiraate, karaa dheeraa kana hin deemnu. Walis hin dhabnu. Walis hin danqinu.

Dhaalmaayaa seenaa wal irraa hin cinnee kana keessa, Ilmaan Oromoo addatti dhalooti har’aa waan of gaafachuu qabuutu jira. seenaan inni habaabilee isaa irraa dhufaa dabraan dhaale deebisuuf, tattaafachuun akka jirutti ta’ee, ani dhaloota itti aanuuf, Biyyaa fi Ummata gabrummaa keessa jiruun dhaalsiisamoo, Biyya Birmadummaan ishee kabachiifteen dhaalchisa? jedhanii of gaafachuu qaban. amma yoomitti Biyya gabrummaa fi seenaa gabrummaa dhaloota dhaalsiisaa jiraannaa? dhaalmaan akkasii yoom dhaabbata? eenyu irratti dhaabbata? maaf nu irratti akka dhaabbatuuf wareegama barbaachiftu kafallee seenaa haaraa, Biyya walboomte haaraa hin dhaalsiifnu? jedhanii of gaafachuu qofaa odoo hin taane, murteeffachuu qabu.

Qabsoon Oromoo adeemsa kanaatti jira miti? gaaffiin jedhu ka’uu ni mala. garuu akka amma jirruun odoo hin taane, wareegamni Bilisummaa keenyaaf nu barbaachisu salphaa akka hin taane hubatamee, dhalli Oromoo hundumtu bakka jirutti, gabrummaan ana irratti haa dhaabbatu! jedhee kutannoo seena qabeessa murteeffatee, gamtaan ykn tokkummaan diina irratti ka’uun ala furmaatii biro akka hin jirre, sagalee tokkon muteeffachuun murteessaa waan ta’eefidha. Diinni har’a nu dura dhaabbate jiru, kan afaan qawween qofaa nu dura dhaabbate odoo hin taane, baroota keessa eenyummaa fi maalummaa keenya dhabamsiisuuf kan deemu ta’u irraa, nuutis, diina kana dhaabuuf Qawwee baadhachuu qofaa osoo hin taane, sabummaan keenya akka dhabamuuf diinni waan nu irratti hojjatu maraa of irraa qolachuun barbaachisaa ta’uu nu feesisa.

Gama kaaniin, dhalooti jiru hundumtu amma yoomitti seenaa fi qaba ture jennee dubbanna? jechuun, waan furmaata jedhamee akeekame irratti xiyyeeffannee hojjachuun barbaachisaadha. Aadaan, seenaan, safuun, Afoolli, Maammaaksi kkf, kan abbootii fi akaakilee keenyaa kan dubbannu malee, dhalooti isaan booda jiru, dhaloota boriif maal kaa’ee jira? jennee of gaaffannee seenaa hojjachuuf ka’uun murteessaadha. Aadaa fi seenaa Ummata kanaan sadarkaa barnootaa addunyaan itti jirtu geenyeerra. Eebbifamnee mindaa fufurdaa arganneerra. garuu waan Ummati kabajamaan kun qabu bakkatti deebisuuf sochiin taasifnu hanqachuu irraa, Biyyuma gabroomte, seenaama gabrummaa dhaalsiisaa jirra. Kun yoom dhaabbata? eenyutu dhaaba? gaaffiilee jedhan ofitti fudhannee mooraa qabsoo jabeessinee salphina keessaa ba’uuf hojjachuun barbaachisaadha.

Sabni gabrummaa jala turee fi gabrummaa jibbe, wareegama barbaachisu kafalanii Bilisoomanii, dhaadannoo, gabrummaan nu irratti haa ga’u! jedhu dhugeessanii, dhaloota itti aanutti seenaa gabrummaa dhaalsisu irraa baraaramanii, Biyya Bilisoomte itti kennanii, seenaa haaraa dhaloota jiru ilaallatu hojjatanii dabran. kun gootummaadha. Nuutiwoo?seenaa gabrummaa dubbachuu qofa odoo hin taane, dhaabuuf hojiin haa mul’ifnu. Wareegama malee bilisummaan akka hin jirre dhaloota jiru barsiisuu qofaa odoo hin taane, wareegama ba’u sun firii akka argatuf irratti haa hojjannu. nama wareegamaan seenaa jijjiru ta’uuf of haa qopheessinu.

Dhaloota itti aanu seenaa gabrummaa odoo hin taane, ykn gabroomu itti himuu osoo hin taane, akka itti bilisoomu itti himnee fi waliin dhaabbannee, seenaa haaraa hojjannee, Biyya bilisoomte ijoollee keenyaa dhaalsiisuuf haa hojjannu. Oromoon akkas tureen dhaabbate, Oromoon akkasii jechuutti ce’uu qabna. Hojiin siyaasaa dhimma Oromoo ilaallatu irratti hojjatamu qofaa miti, waggoota 50n dhufaniif gaaffiin Oromoo dhaabbachuu akka hin dandeenye ifadha. Gootummaan abbootii keenyaa seenaa qofaa ta’ee himamu hin qabu. Nu keessas seenee hojjachuu qaba. Onnee seenaa fi gootummaa Ummata keenyaa dubbatu qofa odoo hin taane, kan itti seenee seenaa hojjatu fi dhaloota itti aanuuf seenaa haaraa dhaalsiisu ta’uuf dirqama lammummaa haa gumaachinu.

Seenaan Oromiyaa fi Oromoo seenaa addunyaa keessatti akka hin haqamnetti katabameedha. Waggoota 22 dura seenaan Oromiyaa fi Oromoo beeksiisuu wareegama kafalameen lafa qabatee jira. Amma irra deebinee kan dubbannu hin jiru. Akka haaraattis wanni dhalootaaf himnu hin jiru. Biyyaa fi Ummata wareegamaan beekame kanatti iggitii gochuuf, marxifatanii hojjachuu qofaatu nurraa eegama. Seenaan Abbootii keenyaa har’a akka haaraatti dhaloota kanatti himnu kan jiru hin fakkaatu. Waan waltajjiif qofaa itti fayyadamnus miti. Seenaa saba kanaa bakkatti deebisuuf socha’uu qofaatu nurraa eegama. Seenaa dubbachuuf yoo ta’e, jala deemtoonni wayyaanee iyyuu guyyu lallaban.

Amma Bilisummaa Ummata kanaa kabachiisanii dhaloota itti aanu daandii mataa isaa irra akka imalu taasisuuf, hojii qabatamaatu barbaachisa. Dhaloota of gurmeessee lubbuu isaa diina duratti of kennaa jiru kana dhaqqabnee, akka wareegamni isaa firii malee hin hafneef cinaa isaa hiriiru qofaatu, seenaa durii qofaa haasa’aa akka hin hafne nu taasisa. Kana jechuun, seenaa dabre kaasuun hin barbaachisu odoo hin taane, seenaa haaraa galmeesisuutti haa fulleeffanuu jechuufidha. Dhalooti sadii seenaa wal fakkaataa hojjatee dabreera. Gabrummaa wal dhaalsisuu. Dhaloota amma jiru ammo seenaa haaraa hojiin argamu danda’u, harka keenya keessa jiru, hojitti jijjiiruuf haa hojjannu.carraan hegaree keenyaa nu harka jiraachuu eenyullee ragaaf hin waammannu.

Qabsoon walii galaa Oromoon bakka jiru maratti gaggeeffachuu danda’u baafannee tarkaanfachuun barbaachisaadha. Addunyaa kana irratti wanni diinaaf dhiifne teenye ilaallu tokkollee jiraachuu hin qabu. Bilisummaa barbaanna taanaan, Bilisummaan akka itti argamu danda’u irratti hojjachuutu qoricha. Bilisummaan, Ummata Bilisummaa qabaachaa ture jennee waan dubbanneef jijjiiramu hin danda’u. akka gootoonni keenya, waggoota 150 oliif lubbuu isaanii bakka bu’aa hin qabne akkuma kafalanii dabran nuutis, murtee akkasiin of kakaasu qabna. Seenaan wal fakkaataan yeroo daddabalamu, umama keenya irraa rakkoo qabnaa? jechuutti nu geessa malee, furmaata biro nu argamsiisuu hin danda’u.seenaan gootummaa abbootii keenya maaliif yeroo keenyatti hankaake hafa?

Dhuguma Oromummaa habaabilee keenyaa dhaallerraa? aadaa, qooqa, safuu dhaalle ykn dhaloota itti aanutti dabree jennawoo, waan dhaalle kun waan nurraa eegu maaf hin gumaachinu? Oromummaa dhaallee ittin boonaa jirra yoo ta’e, Gootummaa Oromummaa kabachiisu maaf hin dhaalle? Gootummaan abbootii keenya dhugumatti nu keessa jiraa? yoo jiraate, diina golatti nu seene huunee waliin kan hin duuneef maali? mallattoon gootummaa kanawoo? ijoollee ofii mana hidhaa keessaa reeffa guuruun gootummaa ta’u hin danda’u. salphina malee.

Dhalli Oromoo hundumtu seenaa gabrummaa fi Biyya gabrummaa jala jirtu hin dhaalsifnu jedhee bakka jirutti socha’uu qaba. Seenaa keenya keessatti akaakilee keenya gootummaan kan dhaadheessinu ta’uun qofti bu’aa hin qabu. Nuuti akka isaanii ta’uu hafuun keenya, hanqina ykn qaawwaa seenaa uumaa jiraachuu keenya beeku nu barbaachisa. Gootummaan sun maaf akaakilee keenya qofa irratti dhaabbata? maaf natti hin ceene? dhiiga hankaakeen dhaladhee? jedhanii of gafachuun dansaadha.

Abbootiin keenya, gabrummaa dhaabuuf wareegaman malee, seenaa gabrummaa dubbachuuf hin wareegamne. Warri har’a cichoominaan itii jiranis kanuma. Kanaaf, seenaa gootummaa abbootii keenyaa bakkatti deebisuuf haa hojjannu. gootummaan saba keenyaa nu irra ga’ee maaliif dhaabbate? mammaaksaa fi afolli akaakilee keenyaa qofaa dubbachuun dhaabbatee, dhalooti har’as mammaaksa bara kana keessaa uumee dhalota boriif dabarsuu qaba. Dandeettin isaanii sun maaf nutti hin ceene? maaf seenaa isaanii qofaa kan dubbannu taane hafne? hundu of gaafate gaaffii seenaa jalaa of baasuuf haa hojjatu.

Abbootiin keenya Bilisummaan dhiiga malee akka hin argamne hubatanii of laatan. Nuutiwoo? mammaaksa isaanii fi dhaadannoo isaanii qofaa katabnee ykn dubbannee Bilisummaa argachuu dandeenyaa? kun mataan isaa seenaa hanqina qalbii keessatti galmaa’a. kanaaf Bilisummaa qofa dubbanne eessallee akka hin geenye hubannee, Bilisummaan waan nu gaaffattu keessaa amma tokko gumaachuuf haa murannu. Seenaa haaraa haa hojjannu. amma yoomitti abbootiin keenya jennee hafna? seenaan qabsoo Oromoo gootummaan beekamu, gootummaan isaa dhaloota kanaan mirkanaa’ee Biyya walaboomtee fi ummata bilisoome dhaloota haaraa haa dhaalsifnu.dhalootii kun seenaa haaraaf haa socha’u. Biyyoonni ykn saboonni seenaa isaanii waggoota 400 fi 150 deeffatanii nu irratti dhaadachaa fi burraaqaa jiran. Nuuti woo? isaan seenaa abbootii isaanii dubbachuun qofa hin hafne. hojiin argisiisanii, seenaa abbootii isaanii gabrummaa nu irratti gadi jabeessan. Nuutiwoo? gabroomu qofaaf umamne? moo abbooti keenyatti ba’uu dhabnee, gabrummaa of irratti kunuunsina? gootummaan isaanii, maaf bara keenya hankaake? of haa gaafannu.

Friday, September 20, 2013

VOICE OF OROMIA: Mootummaan Wayyaanee Dargaggoota Oromoo maqaa Mise...

Mootummaan Wayyaanee Dargaggoota Oromoo maqaa Miseensummaa ABOn yakkuun hidhuu itti fufe

September 20, 2013By Qeerrooin Oduu/News1 Comment

Fulbaana 20,2013 Amboo

Mootummaan wayyaanee gaaffii mirgaa finiinaa jiruu fi dura dhaabbannaa miidhama mirga dhala namaa itti jiramu hidhaan ala filannoo haaraa kan hin qabne Godina Shawaa lixaa magaala Amboo keessatti dargaggoota mana hidhaatti ukkaamsaa jira. Akka kanaan Fulbaana 19,2013 Mootummaan Wayyaanee waraqaalee dhaadannoo “ABOn Gaachana Ilmaan Oromooti” kan jedhu maxxansitanii jirtan jechuun dargaggoota hojii dhabdoota mana hidhaatti guuraa jira. Kanneen keessaa
1. Dargaggoo Tasammaa Taaddasaa
2. Dargaggoo Gaaromaa Immiruu
3. Shamarree Katamee Gaarii
Jedhaman mana hidhaatti ukkaamsuun reebichaa fi qorannoon dhiibbaa jabaa irraan gahaa jira. Dargaggoota Oromoo kanneen mootummaan wayyaanee warra isaanii jala adhoksuun nyaataa fi uffataan dararamaa jiraachuun isaaniis beekamee jira.
Mootummaan wayyaanee amala kana kan barate Godina Harargee keessattis dargaggoo Ahmed Jeeylan jedhamu maqaa miseensa ABOn yakkuun mana hidhaatti ukkaamsee jira.

Mootummaan Wayyaanee Dargaggoota Oromoo maqaa Miseensummaa ABOn yakkuun hidhuu itti fufe

September 20, 2013By Qeerrooin Oduu/News1 Comment

Fulbaana 20,2013 Amboo

Monday, September 16, 2013

In Ethiopia, more land grabs, more indigenous people pushed out

A journalist’s visit to South Omo, where rights groups say police have raped women and otherwise pressured locals to leave an area tagged to become a huge sugar plantation, was quickly curtailed by authorities.

By Will Davison | September 16, 2013

HAILEWUHA VILLAGE, SOUTH OMO, ETHIOPIA

(Christian Science Monitor) — As night wore on in a remote valley in southern Ethiopia, one policeman dozed and another watched a DVD comedy on a battery-powered laptop.

Close by, in a clutch of thorn trees and grass huts, an ethnic Mursi man tried to explain to outsiders why he is so concerned for his people, who have lived here as semi-nomads for generations but may soon be evicted to make way for a giant sugar plantation.

“We Mursi [people] do not accept this ambitious government ideology,” the man said of an official state plan to house them in new villages in exchange for their compliant departure. He is speaking in the village of Hailewuha, his face lit by flashlight. Cattle shuffle and grunt nearby.

“What we want is to use our own traditional way of cultivation,” he says.

Ethiopian officials say the Mursi, like a growing number of ethnic or tribal groups in Ethiopia, are voluntarily moving out of their ancient lands; human rights groups say this is untrue.

The ongoing controversy is not new in Ethiopia, and “land grabs” by governments for lucrative leasing deals have become a story across the continent.

For example, in Ethiopia’s lush Gambella region, in the western area bordering Sudan, locals have been forcibly relocated to make way for the leasing of farms to foreign firms. This year, the World Bank and British aid agencies were swept into controversy over charges they helped fund the relocation including salary payments to local officials involved in the clearing of land.

The Mursi have lived in Omo for centuries. Partly for this reason they get frequent visits by tourists and anthropologists alike. Tall and elaborately decorated, their scarified bodies are daubed with paint and ornamented by hooped earrings and bicep bangles.

But now the Mursi may be those most affected by government operations to overhaul South Omo, an area that officials in Addis Ababa are calling economically and socially backward.

The plan would turn this scrub and savanna into about 700 square miles of state-owned sugar plantations that would in turn require building Ethiopia’s largest irrigation project.

The water to feed the sugar cane year-round is to come from the Omo river, and is made possible by Gibe III, a partly Chinese-funded hydropower dam that may be completed as early as next year. The cane will be processed at some five local factories.

The people of this valley, the Mursi, Bodi, and Karo, some of whom number only a few thousand, would need to reduce their cattle — their most prized possessions. Then many if not all will move into enlarged permanent villages.

Controlling the flow of the river will mean the end of an annual flood that makes fertile a strip of land for crops once the seasonal waters recede. An ongoing attempt to control Mursi traditions now means that at public meetings, state authorities implore the group to end “very bad” cultural practices like stick fighting and their characteristic lip-plates.

To be sure, Ethiopian authorities promise new jobs, public services, and plenty of irrigation for every Omo household that agrees to move out.

But this is not the view of international human rights groups who claim that Ethiopia is broadly and constantly harming locals as part of an authoritarian model of development.

In the most recent salvo, the Oakland Institute accused the state of using killings, beatings, and rapes as methods of forcing South Omo residents to accept the sugar cane projects. The California-based advocacy group also accused Western aid agencies and some US and British officials of covering up evidence of the abuses they heard about on research missions.

Instead of investigating claims made by Survival International, Human Rights Watch, and the Oakland Institute, Ethiopian authorities smear them as anti-development.

These groups help “drag Ethiopia back to the Stone Age,” is how the prime minister’s spokesperson, Getachew Reda, recently described Oakland’s agenda.

“We have a scar from them [critics],” says the chief administrator of South Omo, Molloka Wubneh Toricha, about the activists and journalists who make the 400 mile journey from Addis Ababa to the Kenya-border area, hoping to monitor developments. “They try and blacken our image.”

Yet in the single nighttime interview the Monitor was able to conduct with the Mursi, the criticism of the rights groups were echoed: “The government uses our ignorance and backwardness to control us,” said the Mursi man. “They force us to do farming…. Those who have been in the bush shall settle together in common village and be brothers. But our leaders do not accept this.”

It is impossible to verify whether these comments reflect the community’s opinion since officials and police prevented further inquiries by reporters in a trip there in August.

While regional officials at first permitted access to the Mursi, a few hours later, the administration backtracked.

Reporters on an independent visit were forced to camp next to the Hailewuha police station. A security commander regularly called in on a shortwave radio to check that the journalists were still corralled. Senior regional police arrived the next morning to escort them back to the regional capital, Jinka.

Later, apologetic officials in Jinka all had the same explanation: there had been a “misunderstanding.”

Yet rather than a genuine mix-up, the obstruction seemed to stem from a basic mistrust of outside eyes and voices. Mr. Molloka said journalists frequently “divert” the views of residents: “This is what burns our hearts,” he says, “at public meetings we told all the people not to give information to journalists.”

With media muzzled and most civil society initiatives stifled by restrictive laws, there is little independent information about what is happening in South Omo.

Along with the plight of the Mursi, for example, little is known about the impact of as many as 700,000 migrant workers that may move here to work on the sugar cane plantations.

Tewolde Woldemariam, a scholar and senior figure in the ruling party, who left in 2001, and an academician, Fana Gebresenbet, argue that the people, cultures, language and rights of South Omo people, which are theoretically protected by the constitution, are threatened by the new influx of migrant workers.

“Unless the problem is realized and mechanisms to tackle it are put in place, this demographic change puts the cultural and linguistic rights of the indigenous ethnic groups…at great risk,” they wrote for a conference in April at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University. ”If we will be mixed with external people, perhaps we will be exposed to some contagious diseases like HIV/AIDS which we have never experienced in life.”

The sugar and resettlement projects are well-intended but note little authentic official response about possible adverse effects, they wrote.

“The attitude of lumping everyone who raises the possibility of negative consequence of the development project on the local culture as one who wants to permanently perpetuate the pastoral lifestyle for tourist purposes is rampant at all levels of the region,” they said.

An important failing of trying to engineer and control the future of Omo is that local residents are kept from the design and involvement in policies concerning themselves, is the consensus view of a number of analysts sympathetic to the nomads.

As the Mursi man who we spoke to asked reporters late at night: “The government forces us to accept this project. Do you think this is a good way?”

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Call for Oromo Peaceful Rally in Oslo, Norway, on September 14, 2013

September 8, 2013 at 5:45 pm · Gadaa.com

The Oromo Youth Movement in Norway, together with Oromo nationalists, has finished its preparation to hold demonstration on Saturday, September 14, 2013.

Place: From Oslo Central Station to Parliament
Time: 13:00-16:00

The objectives of the demonstration:

Condemning the coldblooded massacre of our people by TPLF/EPRDF federal police in Kofale town, Arsi Zone of Oromia Region;

Call for a reversal of racial and politically motivated sentences on the Oromo University students by the TPLF/ EPRDF;

Condemning the escalating human rights violations, land-grabbing and the ethnic cleansing of the Oromos by Liyu Police of the EPDRF regime in Hararghe, Oromia;

Holding a candlelight vigil to remember the Oromo activist Engineer Tesfahun Chamada, who died in the Kaliti Prison after a horrible and inhuman torture by the Ethiopian government.

We call upon all Oromo and friends of the Oromo to join us on this historical event.

Contacts:
Email: Oromofirst.Oromiya@gmail.com
Tel: +4794724502 / +4746723604

Sunday, September 1, 2013

VOICE OF OROMIA: Accountability in Politics: The case of the Oromo ...

Accountability in Politics: The case of the Oromo Struggle for Freedom/Liberty

By Qilxuu | September 1, 2013

Oppression conceives struggle. Struggle needs organization under a common motive, from a simple aggregation in a tea/coffee party to forming a grand political union running for country leadership with far-reaching ideology. Organizations rise up with objectives and set up goals, and may eventually succeed or succumb, depending on how successfully they managed to come to their final endeavors.

The rise and weakening of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) during the past four decades is a milestone in Oromo history. The recognition of an Oromo region with a distinct territorial integrity and map, the acceptance of the Oromo language as official and instructional media in Oromia state are chief among the achievements. However, the principal objective of establishing an independent Oromo Republic is still far from sight. As a result, in the past two/three decades, we witnessed the sprouting of several political groups from the fundamental root, the OLF, denouncing the original agenda as a failure, and declaring themselves as reformists/revolutionists with a better agenda for the Oromos, and even for the rest of the people oppressed by the Ethiopian Regimes, past and present, based on their ethnic/national identity. Prior to their segregation into smaller split groups, they preached the objectives and goals of their parent organization, the OLF, and won the support of their targeted supporters, who contributed immensely to the success of the struggle, up to life sacrifice. The detention, torture and ultimate departure by death of Alemayehu Gerba, and recently, Tesfahun Chemada, is a case of utmost attention. Note that, had it not for our propaganda, these young Oromos, could have made their choices afterwards, to lead the types of life styles we are leading, on their own: we told them to follow us, but we were not there when they arrived.

It is a matter of fact that these various groups who try to establish themselves on the popular demands for freedom/liberty, are well aware of the damages caused by the opponent as well as the proponents of the idea on wealth, life, and many other aspects of life on the Oromos and other peoples living in Oromia. Furthermore, some of the split groups like the ODF (of Lencho Letta) and “the No Name” (of Kemal Galtu), who acknowledged a defeat in the struggle, more or less bluntly, at least in the case of forming an independent/ sovereign Oromo state, tried to announce a new direction, without any apology for their previous wrong plans /at least for being a part and parcel of a wrong endeavor/ in which the precious lives of many innocent people were endangered and lost all together. Let me ask the new gangs of the Oromo struggle, like the ODF: do you really feel pity for the sufferings of the Oromo people which your mere propaganda as members your parent OLF caused during the past several decades? What is your guarantee if your new plan also encounters a similar ending after sometime in the future?

I’m not blaming you for your change of mind. Anybody can take a different course after an initial decision as the circumstances change. The implementations of our plans may face insurmountable challenges at some steps/phases in their course. We may need to make amendments to make to changing conditions and proceed to our goals or we have to stop our plan all together and set up a new one. I believe both are possible, but with regard to the existing case of the Oromo struggle, the latter seems to be more inappropriate, as we are closer to achieving victory than any previous time in the history of the struggle.

Let me ask you once again: who is responsible for the damages that one or the other party inflicted in this struggle? You may say that you don’t think that there should be anybody to assume the responsibility in such political games, whatsoever. We know that political games may end up with disastrous consequences of incalculable magnitude in human life, individually or collectively.

Accountability does not merely mean the punishment of a wrong doer. It should leave a lesson for the culmination of a repetitive wrong doing. My urge is for the latter. In scientific experiments, repletion of an action several times improves our reliability on the outcomes, but if we change a single parameter it will be a quite different experiment with a quite different result, and does not contribute the reliability. Insisting on a well-planned experiment will bring us closer to our goal each time we try it. Vacillators will never know even their own locations, let alone entering the territory of a reality. As for me, there is nothing more shameful to come together for a welfare dinner party for a newly formed party at the “graveyard” of a parent party while its loyalists are languishing in prison and refugee camps all over the world.

Let’s pray to God to give us the wisdom to come to our minds and be our natural selves!