Oromia Online - Globalization: Does it hinder or support the Oromo struggle

Historically different Abyssinian governments have generated disunity among The Oromo people and have used it as one of the major instruments to defeat the Oromo at different battlefields. To continue with their rule of political and socio-economic oppression, they have relentlessly tried to keep the Oromo people in constant disunity using different tactics, such as:

Falsification of our history,
Distorting our culture,
Banning our language from being officially used,
Changing names of places into Amhara names,
Differential treatments of different regions and religions,
Pitting Oromos of one area against Oromos in other areas,
Amharanisation, and bribing opportunist Oromo elements through appointments in the government bureaucracies and financial rewards to use them against their own people,
And later on, using the combinations of financial rewards and ideological campaign to discourage, particularly the Oromo elite and youth, from taking part in the Oromo national struggle for liberation, and instead rallying them under the Abyssinian political parties, by creating surrogate Oromo organizations.

This policy of divide and rule of the Ethiopian ruling group is still continuing in a more sophisticated form. On the other hand, in their struggle against the Abyssinian occupation, the Oromo leaders did not make enough effort to co-ordinate their forces and stand in unison against the Abyssinian armies, which were more trained and well armed with relatively modern weapons. Besides the superiority of the Abyssinian firearms, this lack of collective action was one of the reasons for the Oromo defeat. The Oromo people have never stopped resisting against the oppressive rules of different Ethiopian regimes. However, their resistances were fragmented and were never centrally led up until the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 1973. As a result, they could not free themselves from the Abyssinian colonial rule.

Let us look at a few examples from history. When the Oromo in Arsi were fighting against Menelik’s invading army, no help came in their support from the rest of the Oromo groups. Oromo leaders elsewhere showed indifference to the battle between the Arsi Oromo and the forces of Menelik. In some cases, Menelik had even managed to use some Oromo leaders to crush the Oromo resistance in various regions of Oromia. In a similar manner, when ‘two Abyssinian forces led by Menelik of Shawa and Tekele Haimanot of Gojam fought at Embabo in Guduru, in 1889, over the Oromo land, the Oromo leaders watched passively the fight between the two Abyssinian leaders’1 This, according to [Addis Hiwet, 1975: 6], “Determined the future of the Oromo history, for the Oromo chiefs fatalistically shifted masters.”2 Nevertheless, there are important facts, which we have to note here.

However disorganized and fragmented the resistance of the Oromo people against the Abyssinian colonial rule was, our forebears have been able to keep the Oromo oral history, language, culture and traditions and pass them on to the current generation. We are all proud of them. Moreover, we owe them the total freedom of the Oromo people to develop and enrich all that they have bequeathed us with their sweat and blood. To achieve this goal, the Oromo people must first get its freedom. Only free people can, without any restriction, develop their culture, language, economy, creative abilities, and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Only free people can decide their future and determine how they wish to live with their neighbours. Nevertheless, this cannot be achieved in a disunited and fragmented form of political struggle. In the absence of unity and common political action, however large a population may be, it will be ineffective even in the face of a small, but politically and militarily well-organized force. Therefore, unity of purpose and common political actions under a vanguard of political organization are key to victory.

Efforts made to unite the Oromo people

A few Oromos who realized the ever-worsening political and socio-economic situation of the Oromo people under Haile Selassie’s regime formed the Maca Tulama Welfare Association (MTWA) in 1963. Although it was operating within the legal framework of the Ethiopian constitution and officially as a welfare organization, no doubt the founders of the MTWA had political motive at the back of their minds. It was to create Pan-Oromo nationalism and raise the national consciousness of the Oromo people. Its membership constituted Oromos from different regions and religions. It involved more or less all sections of the Oromo population_ workers, intellectuals, students, civil servants, military officers...etc. This Association tried to establish contacts with Oromo resistance forces, like the Bale Oromo movement. It brought the plight of the Oromo people into the light and drew the attention of the Oromo people to the source of their problems.

Since membership was open to every Oromo and it was officially operating, the Association became susceptible to infiltration by informers and security agents of Haile sellassie’s regime. Thus Macca and Tulama was short lived as the leaders were killed, jailed or exiled by the Haile Selassie regime. The government banned the Association and dispersed the rest of its members. Within the short span of life, however, the MTWA had played a historic role in creating and fostering Pan-Oromo nationalism and unity. Since 1991, when it was resuscitated under the Tigrean-led regime, the MTWA has reorganized itself and has been playing a significant role in the struggle of the Oromo people for their rights. As a result, its members have become among the main targets of the EPRDF for harassment, detention and torture.

In spite, of its great contributions to the pan-Oromo nationalism and unity, however, the MTWA had its shortcomings. It was not a political organization with a concrete political program to serve as the vanguard of the Oromo national struggle for liberation. It had no mechanism of screening membership to the Association and it was operating openly within the framework of Ethiopian constitution. Therefore, it was easy target for informers, agent provocateurs and security agents for infiltration, which put membership in jeopardy and rendered the Association ineffective.

A group of Oromos who realized this and the need for a strong secular political Organization with a concrete political program came together and founded the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 1973. It was strictly underground. However, even under those difficult conditions of the Dergue era, the OLF tried to involve Oromos from different Oromo regions and religions, different classes and different sexes. At the beginning, its members were numerically few. Nevertheless, they were solid and committed to the cause of their people. Many of the OLF leaders whom we knew then had all the determination and qualities expected from leaders of liberation struggle. Their intellectual capacities, their vision, their commitment to the cause of their people, their selflessness and their relentless efforts to unite Oromos of all walks of life and regions, their political flexibility and adherence to democratic values __were exemplary. These are qualities lacking in some of the leaders now prepared to embrace the Woyane regime.

Unfortunately, many of them are not with us today. But the cause of their people for which they gave their precious lives, Bilisumma (the Kaayoo of the Oromo people which they formulated) and the name originating from this kaayoo, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) - which is nobody’s property and attached to no one particular group but to the Kaayoo of the Oromo people - are still with us. Every Oromo nationalist who wants to break the chains of oppression and exploitation, who wants to see the freedom of his/her people, who wants a free and dignified life for himself/herself and for the future generations of Oromiya, can and must raise their banner and unite around the Kaayoo-Oromo to wage a concerted all-round struggle against our oppressors. The OLF has made a lot of effort to unite the Oromo people at grass- root levels and raise the political consciousness of our people. In 1991 when the OLF entered Finfinnee, the Oromo people demonstrated their unity of purpose and determination to wage a struggle for their birthright, Bilisumma. Today the word Bilisumma, save for those who measure the freedom of the people in terms of their personal privileges and ambitions under different oppressive Ethiopian regimes, forefront in the mind and heart of every Oromo. Today the unity of the Oromo people at the grass- root level is stronger than ever. This is an achievement, which has come through long years of struggle and sacrifices.

Besides the OLF, there are other independent Oromo political organizations that have made their share of contributions to the national consciousness of the Oromo people and to their unity of purpose. The formation of the United Liberation Forces of Oromia (ULFO) by these political organizations, including the OLF, for a common political action in 2000 has been a joyful moment for all Oromo nationalists. To discuss the activities and achievements of the ULFO since its formation is not the purpose of this paper. Under whatever condition it may find itself, psychologically, this unity has considerable positive impact on the Oromo people.

By unity here, we do not mean numerical oneness. We mean unity of purpose, unity of common political action, wherever we are, to reach our common goal. In this regard, the Oromo communities at home and in the Diaspora - Oromo intellectuals and academicians, Oromo artists and individuals have contributed a lot towards our unity and to our national struggle for liberation. It is important to safeguard the gains we achieved thus far and relentlessly work to further strengthen them.

Current state of Oromo unity

As stated above, Oromo unity at the grass root level is intact. The dream of all Oromos from corner to corner is the same: That is Bilisumma. All the intimidation, harassment, detentions, tortures in the Ethiopian prisons, killings and disappearances which are carried out by the Ethiopian regime and its surrogate organisations could not erase this sacred word from the Oromo mind. The Oromo people did not lack the unity and will to struggle for their Bilisumma. Today regional or religious differences are not factors that can divide the Oromo.

Sometimes, minor contradictions between individuals or groups are wrongly attributed to regional or religious differences. The division of Oromiya into different administrative regions and that of the Oromo people having different religious beliefs are not unique to the Oromo people. Such differences are almost universal in their existence. The problem is our mental attitude, which is conditioned by the poisonous divisive policy of our colonizers who have falsely purported that Oromos of one region are different from those in the other, and Christian Oromos are different from Muslim Oromos. It is high time that we realized this and paid attention to the real source of the problem. We Oromos must stop mirroring merely the oppressor’s image of ourselves.

Besides the poisonous divisive policy of the Ethiopian regime, the causes of our disunity are of course opportunist Oromo elements that have always traded with the blood of the Oromo people. Their loyalties and services are fully dedicated to their colonial masters. These elements are mostly from the urban elites who are educated with the tax-money of the Oromo masses but have chosen to collude with their colonial masters. These are appropriately known as “belly-politicians”. Mostly, they demonstrate loyalty to the oppressor regime on individual basis, unless the regime finds it necessary to organize them in groups. However, nowadays, both for the regime and for the elements that want to serve that regime, creation of a seemingly independent political group has become more conducive to serve their purposes. These elements are bound together by their common personal interests – political, economic or both. Here, neither region nor religion serves as the true basis for the creation of such a group. Of course, they try to use all divisive mechanisms to create disunity among the Oromo nationalists, because they consider any united and strong Oromo force, which can lead the Oromo people to independence, as their worst enemy. The day of victory for the Oromo is a day of humiliation for them. Therefore, they fight along the oppressor regime against their own people. For their personal interests and ambitions are irreconcilable with those of the Oromo people.

The second problem area which can in one way or another affect the unity of the forces of Oromo national movements is the proliferation of miniscule and ineffective political groups which are led by disgruntled Oromo elements who deliberately misuse region and religion to promote their political egos or other personal interests. Basically, they have no principal differences with vanguard political organization of the Oromo people. However, they can have a weakening impact by creating unnecessary fragmentation. Through correct political handling and resolving minor differences it is possible to create major united force and work together for a common goal.

As we have tried to show at different stages, the Oromo masses are not the cause of Oromo disunity. They are the victims of that disunity which is consciously or unconsciously created by elements from the educated section of the population.

Are the Oromo people “A sleeping giant” as some historians like to refer to us? Not at all. The Oromo people are today like an active volcano that is seeking a small crack in the ground to erupt. Nevertheless, it needs a strong organization, which can make this happen. To transform the existing weak organization into the most formidable force or to create a new one requires a leader that has all the necessary qualities of leadership. The leadership in turn requires the unity of all its members and supporters, both at home and abroad, and the full backing of its people. Nevertheless, “People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clean sense of direction”3. The leaders gain the respect of their people through their leadership qualities. They gain respect through their honesty to their people, through being symbols of unity (not being sources of confusion and causes of disunity), through their great vision in charting the future goal of their people and by using their positions to promote the desired goal of their people and not of their personal interests.

Today, more then ever, the Oromo people need a strong organization with effective leadership that can lead them on the road to freedom. This is true for any nation, in any revolutionary or liberation struggle. The Oromo people need a strong OLF to emerge and guide them on the road to Bilisumma. We say the OLF, without undermining other independent Oromo political organizations, because as long as Bilisumma is in the mind and heart of the Oromo people so is the OLF. They have been intimidated, harassed, detained and tortured in this name. They have lost one or more family members in this name. Thousands of Oromo sons and daughters have sacrificed their lives fighting under this organization for the freedom of their people. Therefore, for the majority of the Oromo people, Bilisumma and the name OLF are inseparable. They have paid too high a price in terms of human lives and resources in its name and it is not so easy to dissociate Oromos from this organization. Therefore, they want to see all the Oromo forces, if need be retaining their independent identities, to unite around this major force to be more effective in their fight against the colonial forces.

The Oromo revolutionaries have created and strengthened the unity of Oromo people and its national consciousness through immense sacrifices. This unity is one of the major sources of our might without which we cannot prevail over our adversaries and attain our freedom. “Unity is an organizational value upheld and pursued by all political movements because it enhances the effectiveness of collective action.”4

Shane's harmful development for Oromo unity

Unfortunately for the last four years, the organization has been suffering at the head from an ailing disease, which is gradually spreading to the rest of the body. This has, in one-way or the other been negatively affecting the unity of Oromo nationalists. Some elements in leadership positions in the Shane Gumi Sabaa (SHGS or in short Shane) are becoming a source of disunity and downfall rather than strength and victory. Some elements are carrying the banner of Oromo freedom on the one hand and, the unity and sovereignty of the Ethiopian Empire state on the other hand. They are sending from time to time contradictory messages to the Oromo people. What is their true agenda? It is not clear so far to many Oromos who should find themselves at a loss; hard to mistrust them because some of the Shane members have spent years of their lives in the Oromo national struggle for liberation and have made considerable contributions to the struggle, hard also to trust them because they see them gradually retreating from the fundamental principle and political objective of the Oromo people, the kaayoo.

Just last year this time, in its press release of 25 October 2004, the OLF (Shane) strongly condemned the policy of TPLF government as “brutal and inhuman”, and also tried to expose the TPLF misuse of “…the state power and its resources to commit acts of barbarism against the Oromo and other oppressed peoples in Ethiopia.”5

In the same press release, the Shane made the following call to Oromos serving in the government:

“For those Oromos who are serving as presidents, ministers, ambassadors, military officers, and managers of the TPLF establishment, rather than holding nominal positions that cannot even protect the right of innocent Oromos, we urge you to examine your conscience and take the side of our suffering and justice seeking people.”6

This call has very serious consequences on Oromo nationalists, particularly, on the Oromo youth. It could have resulted in many Oromo nationalists to abandon their jobs or education to join the OLF. In addition, the Shane seemed at this point very resolute to strengthen the OLF and its armed wing, OLA, to fight out the barbaric government of TPLF. However, in reality, the Shane did not make any effort to strengthen the organization and its armed wing to accommodate the people who might have come to join it. To the contrary, deliberate or not, the Shane has made the OLF and its armed wing almost irrelevant in the Oromo national struggle for liberation by disuniting its members and supporters and by turning its armed forces against each other. All the prominent members of the leadership of the organization have been engaged in diplomatic missions to make the current negotiation between the Shane and the TPLF a reality.

Particularly after the ritual democratic election in Ethiopia, the Shane group has increasingly shown a tendency of becoming a junior partner of the EPRDF. Recently, top leaders, including Lenco Lata, toured some cities in the US trying to explain to Oromo communities of their decision to join back with the Ethiopian government, purportedly to embark on a venture of democratization of the empire. But they had no answer to the fundamental question raised by many Oromos as to why democratization would work at this time when they are at their weakest.

This is one of the major worries of Oromo nationalists besides the mushrooming of different small Oromo political parties, which in many cases may end up in the camps of Abyssinian political parties. This is a repetition, in a different form and under a different pretext, of the first few years of the Dergue era, before the Red Terror came and settled the account. Many Oromo nationalists are genuinely worried about these developments, which may have negative consequences on the unity of our people. Most of all, it is a big shock for thousands of Oromo families who have lost their loved ones in the struggle. This situation may prolong the rule of the EPRDF. Yet, it will never change the struggle of the oppressed nations and nationalities for their freedom.

The Oromo people will never compromise its freedom for the privileges that a few Oromo elements may get from the Ethiopian regime. It does not matter whether these privileged elements are new or leaders of OLF who at one time had the trust and full backing of the people. Operating within the structural set up of Ethiopia, they can offer the Oromo people nothing. Even if they may have a good will to change the socio-economic and political status of the Oromo people, it is impossible to do so as long as the structural set up of the Ethiopian Empire remains in place. Because, there has never been and there will never be common and mutual interests of the oppressor and the oppressed that can be reconciled.

Moreover, the Ethiopian structural set up will not change to accommodate the interests of the oppressed nations and nationalities in Ethiopia through the so called Ethiopian democratization as some proponents of this idea want us to believe. Through such a ritual democracy the maximum the oppressor may concede is making little reforms here and there whereby a few elements from the oppressed nations and nationalities get a few posts in the structure, and a small urban elite get job opportunities. Even these petty reforms could take place only if the oppressor starts feeling that there is a compelling reason to do so. Particularly in the Ethiopian context, Oromos cannot expect a better deal than they were offered in 1991-1992 when the OLF was part of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE). Since the withdrawal of the OLF from the TGE, the TPLF government has started scraping even that reform. The new opposition parties like the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), will make it top of their political agenda to expunge article 39 sub-article 1 of the constitution, which is also practically impossible to implement under the TPLF regime. By joining the TPLF regime either as a junior partner or as an opposition, the Shane group wants to reduce the Oromo question into petty reforms.

The question of the Oromo people for which thousands of Oromos have sacrificed their lives and thousands more are languishing in the Ethiopian prisons, is not about reform within the Ethiopian Empire. It is about changing the whole structural set up of the Empire. It is about taking the political power in their own hands in their own country, Oromia, as a free nation first to regain their lost dignities and freedom. Then to decide, as free people, how they live side by side with their neighbours in peace and brotherhood.

Before regaining ones freedom and dignity, however, being partner to the oppressor gives only more legitimacy to the oppressor. We cannot also expect any “democrat” or “progressive” from the oppressor nations to utter a word about the plights of the oppressed nations and nationalities. In Ethiopia, the so-called progressives/democrats and reactionaries of the oppressor nationalities alike, justify and consider their socio-economic and political domination of other nations and nationalities as their birthright. Therefore, rather than trying to abolish the oppressor- oppressed relationship they want to perpetuate it. Under these circumstances it is impossible to resolve the questions of the oppressed nations and nationalities in general and that of the Oromo in particular.

Moreover, in a country where ascendancy to the helm of political power has always been by means of force and that power has usually been sustained by the same means, assuming a radical change through peaceful means, as the “the Oromo-Ethiopians” are now trying to tell us, is dishonest at best; or they have a hidden agenda.

In their quest for change in Ethiopia, Oromos should therefore keep all their options open. To those who pretend to solve the Oromo question under the current regime, to those who feel the thrill of the international opinion rather than feeling “the thrill of challenge”7 facing their people, we ask them to consider the following:

Economic globalization, which of course has political and social implications, is a process, which has been taking place for a long period, at least since the beginning of our struggle under the vanguard of the OLF. Therefore, it is not a new phenomenon, which makes us change the fundamental principle and objective of our people, Bilisumma. Even though the Western world is trying to abolish economic boundaries, the national question is not of yesterday. It is rather “…the central political question of our time.”8Tens of nation in the ex-Soviet Union have formed their own independent states; others are still struggling to be independent. The same is true in the Balkans, in the Middle East, in Spain, in Canada, in Belgium, which is the sit of the European Parliament. Everywhere nations are showing greater tendencies to become independent than keeping the status quo. Therefore, the discourse that the world is becoming one, politically seen, has no justification to make us turn our back on the national struggle of the oppressed nations for independence.

Concerning international opinion: if the international community and governments could not stop gross human rights violations by the Ethiopian government, and if they could not change the century long sufferings of our people and other oppressed nations and nationalities in the Ethiopian Empire, they will have no right to tell the oppressed people what means they have to use to get their freedom. The oppressed nations and nationalities have the right to use all means at their disposals to fight for their birthrights - their freedom and human dignity.

Impacts of defective negotiations on our unity

In principle, there is nothing wrong with negotiation. In any revolution/liberation struggle, negotiation can take place between the government and the opposition, in this case the EPRDF and the Shane respectively, through the arbitration of a neutral third party. If the oppressor feels that the status quo is unsustainable, negotiation will be the best option. However, negotiation under the present circumstances will only lead to confusions and disunity among members and supporters and result in disastrous humiliation. “A partnership of equals cannot be built through a process of humiliation.”9

For the Shane to join the system without delivering the Oromo people any radical change, which would positively affect its economic, political and social life, would benefit only the TPLF regime... At the same time, this move will deprive them the trust and backings the Oromo people have so far given to the OLF and make them impotent in the face of the enemy. The mission of any OLF (Shane) leadership should not be rescuing an oppressor regime or helping another oppressor party to come to the throne. It should be to empower the Oromo people in their own country, Oromiya.

At this very juncture, the priority is not negotiation to go and join the system of oppression. The priority must be to strengthen ones organization and try to unite all Oromo forces_ members, supporters, and communities_ both at home and in the Diaspora. The priority is to solve minor contradictions that might have occurred in the organization and unite its leadership and its regular members to emerge as a strong and credible force. “ We must recognize the proven truth that only with a well organized, mobilized, and politicized people will we develop the power necessary to achieve liberation.”10

Therefore, we want to urge all Oromo liberation forces, Oromo compatriots, Oromo political activists, Oromo communities, Oromo intellectuals and artists, to unite and resist any tactical surrender that compromises the fundamental principle and objective of the Oromo people, Bilisumma.

We would also like to remind those who are adjusting the collars of their shirts and neckties to join the TPLF regime, to think twice before they damage the long history of the Oromo national movements together with their past revolutionary contributions to the cause of their people.

References

Tumsa Kaayyoo Bilisummaa Oromoo (TKBO), ykn Oromo Solidarity Movement (OSM) afaan Ingiliziin, garee mooraa QBO keessatti kanneen Oromiyaa walaba taate argamsiisuuf qabsaawaniif tumsuuf dhabbate. TKBO qunnamuuf tkbo@ittrue.com tuqaa.

The Need for Oromo Unity under Bilisummaa, and
Shane’s Detrimental Moves to Oromo liberation

A brief historical background

Efforts made to unite the Oromo people

Current state of Oromo unity

Shane's harmful development for Oromo unity

Impacts of defective negotiations on our unity

References

The Need for Oromo Unity under Bilisummaa, and Shane’s Detrimental Moves to Oromo liberation

A brief historical background

Efforts made to unite the Oromo people

Current state of Oromo unity

Shane's harmful development for Oromo unity

Impacts of defective negotiations on our unity

References

The Need for Oromo Unity under Bilisummaa, and
Shane’s Detrimental Moves to Oromo liberation